Vail & Summit County
AvalancheRyan Zarter Kreston Rohrig · Mar 7, 2021 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
High clouds and light winds helped keep things cooler than expected near and above treeline.
Snowpack
We traveled on west to northwest to north aspects below and near treeline. Above treeline we traveled over the ridge for a look at south/southeast aspects as well. Below treeline the snowpack was faceted and generally unsupportable. West aspects had a melt-freeze crust on the surface that was also present near treeline. For the most part this crust was unsupportable below treeline, but it would support the weight of a skier near treeline. Aside from at the trail head, the snowpack remained cold and dry in our travels today. A snowpit on a north aspect near treeline revealed a cold snowpack with an unreactive mid-pack slab. Surprisingly, a pit on southeast was also completely cold, dry snow top to bottom, with a couple recent crust near the surface. The majority of the snowpack was super hard 1 finger to pencil slab and locked up facets; much stronger than I expected.
Avalanche
We did not observe any recent slab avalanches, nor did we see any indication of wet loose avalanche issues today.