Vail & Summit County
AvalancheKreston Rohrig Jason Konigsberg · Dec 1, 2018 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
An overcast day with periods of socked-in, low visibility. Rarely were there breaks in the clouds to view wider terrain. Lingering snow showers persisted throughout the day and added another couple of inches by 2pm. Calm winds and cold temps made it feel like winter.
Snowpack
The coverage was surprisingly good for Dec 1. Snowfall since Thanksgiving has settled into a supportable slab close to 2' thick. This provided a good riding structure for the snowmobiles and has formed a decent barrier from rocks and other ground hazards. What lurks below this layer is still not so great. Weak facets from October and early November have not bonded and continue to propagate failures in stability tests. We dug on a NE facing slope near treeline and have found this snow structure to be reasonably consistent with other parts of the zone. The main takeaway is that it is getting harder to trigger avalanches but if you do, the slab is going to be larger and more dangerous.
Avalanche
None observed.