Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg · Dec 31, 2016 · Vail & Summit County

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Snowpack

I went to look at an avalanche that was reported yesterday and likely occurred during the wind event on Wednesday. The avalanche was in a heavily wind loaded area and was a Wind Slab avalanche and not a Persistent Slab. I was unable to perform a crown profile as the slope angle at the crown was about 44 degrees...I dug a quick snowpit close to where the avalanche occurred and found the same snowpack structure we are finding everywhere else. The HS was 1 meter and there was a progressively harder slab with depth from fist to pencil-hardness. The weak faceted snow near the ground was 4 finger hardness...There was very little wind at any elevation and surface hoar was widespread and standing tall on steep, shady slopes.

Avalanche

No other avalanches observed with good visibility of a lot of terrain.