Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Oct 23, 2019 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Winds were calm below treeline but moderate to strong up high. Snow transport was generally light to moderate as most westerly slopes do not have much more snow to transport.
Snowpack
A few quick hand pits on north slopes below treeline showed 12 to 24 cm of snow from recent storms sitting on the ground. No distinguishable layers or signs of faceting. A report from a forecaster working in Sisters paths near Loveland talked of localized cracking on north slopes on 1-2mm basal facets. Cracking and faceted layer was at about 11,500 feet which was several hundred feet higher than where I traveled.---Snow coverage is still really thin. The only slopes that could potentially produce small avalanches are wind-loaded slope near ridgetop or cross loaded gullies. East and southeast would be most suspect with the recent wind direction but I think you would have to get pretty high in elevation to find old snow layers near the ground on these aspects. Avalanche in these wind-drifted areas are possible though, even if they don't fail at the ground.
Avalanche
None observed. Report of 2- D1 avalanches in the Sisters on Tuesday from GazEx test firing.