Vail & Summit County
SnowpackMike Floyd · Apr 17, 2021 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mostly calm, cloudy, and light snow at times (s-1). A low ceiling limited visibility above treeline. At ridgeline there was light wind out of the north, but it stopped at times. Clouds lifted to broken skies as I returned to the trailhead.
Snowpack
The new storm snow was about 6 inches deep, still cold, and bonding well to layers beneath. Little evidence of recent wind. No instability observed near and below treeline where I traveled on north, south, and east-facing slopes. A snowpack stability test on a northeast facing slope near treeline was unreactive. (ECTX) The new snow rests on a 10-20 cm thick one-finger to knife hard slab/crust over a pencil hard 50 cm thick midpack slab. There is lots of snow available to build wind slabs if it occurs before any significant warming. I don't expect avalanches breaking into deeper layers than the storm snow. On southerly slopes, I expect a shedding cycle of small, new snow avalanches when the sun warms them. It might wait a day at upper elevations if temps are cool. Midpack is strong with lots of dirty snow in the upper pack from dust events, recent melting, and probably from the sheer acreage of bare ground that has been exposed for a lot of the winter in this area. Above treeline was poorly covered, and the only dependable coverage was on north and east-facing slopes. Other areas were shallow with occasional rock fins giving some warning of the sharks beneath.