Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Mar 28, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Calm, clear, and hot. Approximately a 40-degree temperature shift from morning to the hottest part of the day.
Snowpack
Below treeline off the skin track, the snow on the easterly half was mostly supportive with 10-20cm of recent snow on top. Once near treeline the depth of the recent snow varied greatly depending on how exposed to the wind the terrain was. The crown lines on the northeast face of Peak 1 reported on March 24 had completely filled in and only a little of the debris was visible. On the east ridge near and above treeline I observed the snowpack depth at near and greater than 2m deep on the south-southeast side. I was not able to get below the ridgeline pillows on the northerly-facing terrain to probe average depths. The crown lines on the southeast face of Peak 1 that were reported on March 24th were mostly filled in. The crown from the upper snowpack wind slab was not visible. The crown from the deeper avalanche further down the face was barely visible. The debris piles were covered but still visible lending to their size. I dug a pit on a southeast-facing slope at treeline, the snowpack was on average over 2m deep. I observed 28cm of recent soft snow sitting over another 20cm of relatively, soft rounding snow. Below that rests a .5cm thick melt-freeze crust. This crust was 4 Fingers hard on the hand hardness scale. I would describe this as a "zipper crust". It was easily breakable on its own, but under 48cm of recent snow, it was holding strength. An Extended Column Test in the top 1.5m of the snowpack yielded a result on top of the melt-freeze crust, ECTP14. Below the melt-freeze crust was a 55cm thick layer of rounds with increasing hardness up to 1 Finger. I did not dig much below this layer as affecting anything deeper would be difficult. Other parties traveling in the area reported that they could feel a layer below them collapsing as they broke trail. This is most likely the thin, buried melt-freeze crust. While skiing and riding they were not able to feel the crust. Above and near treeline the snow on the southerly half was thickening with the direct sun and temperatures, but was not getting wet. Below treeline was becoming greatly affected. While traveling below treeline on my exit after 1:00pm, I was able to kick off a few wet sluffs on steep micro slopes in the trees (38 degrees) involving only surface snow sliding on an old melt-freeze crust. The depth of these was 10-20cm. At lower elevations, slopes facing more northerly were still cold, but you could feel the effects of the high, end-of-March sun. The snow was very gloppy. Extra skin wax was a must.