Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Jan 29, 2019 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
The wind was not loading all slopes. Isolated places along the Tenmile Range looked more in the moderate range but light loading around visible peaks in the Gore. Where I traveled wind loading was most significant right at treeline.
Snowpack
Recreational trip---Although wind loading wasn't significant today, the past week or so of wind and small snow amounts have stacked thick one-finger hard slabs over thin faceted layers. I didn't observe any obvious signs of instability but I would be avoiding any wind-loaded slopes as northeast and east-facing slopes look fat. I dug on an east-facing slope near treeline (11,600 ft) and found a deep snowpack @ 185 cm and I got several propagating results in different faceted layers from 1 foot deep to about 3 feet deep. I did not dig down to the ground.---I got off the established skin track at 11k feet and found suprisingly supportable snow and easy trailbreaking. Quite a difference from the Sawatch. No lack of slab at the upper reaches of the BTL elevation band in this area, possibly due to recent extensive loading.