Vail & Summit County
AvalancheKreston Rohrig · Nov 16, 2018 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear skies with warm temps at lower elevation. Ridgeline winds were light out of the northwest making it feel much colder.
Snowpack
With warm temps and strong solar, southerly facing snow surfaces were getting warm and wet. Later in the afternoon, these previously warm surfaces had developed a nasty suncrust. On north facing slopes and at higher elevations the snow surface remained cold but was heavily wind affected. Check out the attached pit profile for more detailed information. Surface Hoar formed in the last couple of days has been destroyed by sun or wind in most areas but was preserved just below the surface in the pit I dug. The most concerning layer is the old snow from October near the ground. Test results failed on the interface of the dense slab resting above this layer.
Avalanche
None observed