Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Feb 15, 2017 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

No wind except for a ~10 MPH westerly breeze at 12k ft ridgeline.

Snowpack

There was minimal Loose Wet activity in the time I was out today. Air temperatures were in the mid-thirties but with only a few inches of recent snow there is not a lot of snow to be entrained in a wet avalanche. The only terrain producing Loose Wet avalanches was very steep, rocky, and southerly-facing areas...As for the Persistent Slab avalanche problem, I found a faceted layer 40 cms from the surface on below treeline northeast to east slopes. The layer propagated a fracture in tests only on northeast aspects. Results were ECTP21 and 26 (sudden collapse)....Future concerns will focus on significant faceting happening below a melt-freeze crust that is 5 cms from the surface. This melt-freeze crust was noted on below treeline easterly aspects.