Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg, Kreston Rohrig · Apr 16, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

We were on the windward side of the range so it was hard to judge wind loading. Expected that it was moderate to intense onto easterly slopes. Storm snow from the past few days is about 12 inches.

Snowpack

Few signs of instability on the westerly slopes that we traveled. Any snow that is sheltered from the wind is bonded well to underlying crusts. No storm instabilities noted and sheltered areas are relatively safe. We tested some slightly wind-loaded slopes and found minor cracking in the most recently drifted snow, but again snow from earlier storms is bonded well to a crust 12" down. Minor sluffing on very steep, sheltered slopes. So...the main concern for now is wind drifting into thick slabs on easterly slopes and then once it warms up there is plenty of snow to shed and Loose Wet avalanches will be pushing D2 in size. Any wet or dry avalanches will stay on top of the thick, knife-hard crust with very little chance of any avalanche stepping down or gouging deeper.

Avalanche

None observed. Poor visibility.