Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Kreston Rohrig · Apr 10, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Plumes of dark clouds filled the sky around blue patches that kept the sun shinning. When the sun was out it was hot.

Snowpack

Below treeline slopes were all that were observed. Flatter slopes were warm and moist, but the snow stayed supportable. Ski pen on these slopes was only a couple inches. Steeper slopes with significant solar input were a different story. Ski pen was much deeper (up to a foot) and snowpack stability was much less. Below treeline is fully isothermic and water is freely moving to the ground. Only a couple isolated wet loose issues were observed.

Avalanche

Despite the weak and warm snow in this area, only a couple examples of wet avalanches were observed.