Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Feb 21, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Above freezing at the trailhead. The sun made traveling uphill hot. Winds were moderate at ridge crest and generally light once off the ridge. Only a couple of peaks had obvious wind veils (most of the snow has blown away).
Snowpack
The wind has done damage to the snowpack above and near treeline. In many places windward slopes (westerlies) above treeline have been stripped of snow near ridge crest. Leeward slopes have also felt the effects of the elevated wind speeds. Many easterly slopes were stripped or heavily wind effected leaving sastrugi. Old ski tracks were visible. Traveling on easterly slopes over the wind loaded snow provided adventure as some places were breakable, some chalky and other bulletproof. Loading patterns over the last couple of days were not typical, loading farther down on slopes was observed as was "tiger striping" and signs of saltation. The new loaded snow was highly variable. On average the thickness of the slab was 20cm and as much as 35cm. The hardness ranged from 4 Finger hard (on the hand hardness scale) to Pencil/Knife hard. In loaded areas that were able to be affected with skis (4 Finger to thinner areas of 1 Finger hard), no shooting cracks were observed. In areas that were undercut fractures in the slab were isolated to the length of my skis. During a quick test pit focusing on the upper snowpack, I observed a 1cm layer of small facets 30cm down resting under a 26cm 4 Finger hard wind slab. This was all resting on a Pencil hard layer 16cm thick. Test results were isolated to the thin facet layer 30cm down. Compression tests scored CT11SC and Extended Column Tests scored ECTP11. I skied down south-southwesterly slopes around 1400. Wind sheltered aspects above treeline were becoming sun effected approximately 5cm-10cm down. The snow was not soaked, but it was very easy to make a snowball with a gloved hand. Overall, the snowpack in this area is variable. Above treeline I was still able to find places with near bottomless feeling snow (near rocks and protruding bushes, trees etc). Though it felt like Spring, it's a long way off.