Vail & Summit County
AvalancheKreston Rohrig · Apr 24, 2021 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mostly sunny day with some scattered clouds and nice lenticulars. Winds were calmer than expected with brief gusts in the higher 20s to 30s (guess). There was enough solar to warm slopes at lower elevations, but near treeline and above stayed cool.
Snowpack
Similar structure near treeline on an east-facing slope as we've seen elsewhere in the zone. Recent wind-drifted slabs sit above a stout crust and facets around a foot deep. This slab/weak layer combination failed cleanly with moderate force on facets below the crust and could have been an issue if we were skiing in steeper terrain. Below treeline, the snow surface was moist trending to wet by mid-day, but with only an inch or less of new snow, loose wet issues were not a problem. Near and above treeline gusty winds were helping keep slopes cool and dry.
Avalanche
Didn't see much in our travels. However, we were starting to see some good rollerball shed out of steep, rocky E-S-W facing slopes above treeline as we drove home around Peak 1 and 2, and above the Ponds in 10-Mile Canyon.