Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

john morrone · Dec 16, 2014 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

clearing mostly sunny skies with some cumulus growth at mid day. cool , 15F, light NW breeze to 10 mph, minimal blosno at/above treeline. SW-W-NW facing slopes at treeline up to 11,800'

Snowpack

quick hand pit west facing at 11,800. 1 m. HS snowpack. 30cm light cold storm snow remaining unconsolidated with minimal slab characteristics through 1pm, minimal surface solar effect. basal 6-10 cm of 4F facets, mid pack of 1F - p hardness slabs. hard hand shear with clean planar surface (buried surface facet layer?) at mid pack within the firmer slab snow, difficult to shear lower slab from basal facets. S-SW facing open slopes had stout buried meltcrust that light storm snow did not bond well to. W-NW-N did not appear to have this crust. major risk concern was judged to be shallow buried and camouflaged downfall and rocks with local faceted snowpack at and above treeline.

Avalanche

none seen