Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Jan 31, 2018 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

The wind was moving snow but mostly into the atmosphere and not onto slopes. The main effect of the wind is the hardening of the snow surface and the formation of thin, hard slabs of snow in any wind exposed area.

Snowpack

The snowpack in this western area of the zone is fairly similar to other areas. The main distinction is the worrisome depth hoar layer is softer and better developed than some eastern areas. There is also a significant enough slab and snow depth at the upper end of the below-treeline elevation band to warrant concern that triggering a Persistent Slab avalanche is not out of the question. The snow depth is about a meter deep and although the slab is faceting, propagation test show it is still capable of communicating a fracture.--- Once you get below about 10,000 feet, the snowpack is very thin (~60cms), completely faceted, and not much of a concern for avalanches. ---Higher up, at the near-treeline elevation band (around 11,500 ft), the snow depth was up to 140 cms and the structure was poor. Same story as many other places...the thick slab makes triggering an avalanche somewhat difficult, but any triggered avalanche will break near the ground. This snowpack will not be able to handle any significant load.