Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Mar 5, 2018 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Cold and windy. Although winds were strong, wind loading was light due to the strength of the winds. I was near treeline, can't speak for the alpine.

Snowpack

Small slabs building on east to south-facing slopes. The slabs were relatively thin at less than 8 inches thick. These wind-drifted slabs were dense and not bonding well to layer of precip. particles underneath. With the strong wind, distribution of slabs was just below ridgetop and on isolated terrain features at lower elevations.---Out of the wind the new snow of 2 to 4 inches was sitting on a hard crust on sunny slopes. New snow in sheltered areas was not "slabby" and was unreactive.---Northerly-facing slopes near treeline have a snow depth of 150 to 180 cms. The basal weak layers comprise the bottom 60 cms of the snowpack with the top of this 60 cms having the weakest and softest faceted layer at 4-finger hardness. Below this layer the depth hoar is sintering and fairly strong at one-finger to pencil hardness.