Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Mar 19, 2024 · Vail & Summit County
Snowpack
I traveled across a northerly-facing (NW, N, NE) above treeline low-angle slope, probing as I went, and found a shallow and variable snow depth. Snow depths ranged from 30 cm to 120 cm. These depths are much shallower than the almost 2 meters of snow in non-wind-affected areas. In two different snowpits, I got hard propagating results (in ECTs) on the basal facet layer. There is no mid-pack weakness or early February layer to speak of. The dust layer is down about 30 to 40 cm from the surface and is not an issue. It looks more like dyed snow about an inch thick than a distinct weak layer with dust particles. I also dug on a west-facing near treeline slope and found a shallow snowpack about 1 meter deep. The basal layer in this west-facing pit was true depth hoar (we haven't had a lot of well-developed DH this year). The 4 to 8 mm depth hoar was sintered and had some strength to it. If this layer were to see melt water, it would fail easily. As for melting and loose wet avalanches, there wasn't any indication that this was a problem in the area I traveled. It was hot and snow surfaces that were getting sun got moist, but it seemed like the clouds moved in before things could get going. Melt-freeze crusts on westerly slope (from the day before) were thin and there currently is not a lot of free water moving through the snowpack.
Avalanche
Most avalanches from the mid-March storm are hard to see. I could make out some small debris piles underneath Crystal Peak and other steep areas. The avalanche coded below is a distinct crown on a northerly near-treeline slope, low down on the slope.