Vail & Summit County
AvalancheRyan Lewthwaite · Jan 6, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
A very windy day in the mountains. The skies were scattered with fast moving clouds and moderate northwest winds. Snow was blowing into banners near ridgelines and being deposited near treeline and in lee terrain features. The air temperature was 7.3F with a wind chill much colder.
Snowpack
The moderate northwest winds were actively transporting snow around the near and above treeline terrain. Scoured north and west aspects were contrasted by billowing north and east aspects near treeline. The wind effected snow was variable in thickness as you moved across the landscape. Exposed slopes under 35 degrees showed localized cracking under-foot and exhibited hollows sounds. The upper snowpack has a mixture of wind firmed snow layers and decomposing fragments. There are several melt-freeze crusts in the mid and lower layers of the snowpack, most are surrounded by persistent weak grains. The most concerning layer is composed of facets and resides below a melt-freeze crust at 88cm from the ground. A propagation saw test near this weak layer showed that the slab above these grains can fail, likely stepping into older problem layers of the snowpack.
Avalanche
Avalanches from the previous days were filling in rapidly with wind blown snow. No new avalanches observed.