Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

blase reardon · May 17, 2015 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

HN24 5cm at TH (9750') early AM. Rimed. 10 cm near treeline. HST 20 cm in top of Silver Couloir. Some of that wind blown. S1-2 snow all morning. Skies obscured. Gusty winds occasionally mixing below treeline. Winds W 10-20 mph G 30+ above treeline. Drifting in ski track. Very soggy below treeline on deproach late morning - temps above freezing and storm snow raining off trees. New snow a goopy mess.

Snowpack

Continuous snow above ~10000'. Supportable on skis but not on foot. Old snow surface hard, refrozen about 11000'. Storm snow well bonded but density change 8 cm below surface where this morning's wind drifted snow sitting on colder snow. Cleanish shears in hand pits, some short (<5') cracks while skiing.

Avalanche

SS-ASu-R1D1-N on NW-facing side of steep sidewall of chute about midway down. Maybe 11200' elev. Propagated about 25' ahead of skis, ran 30 vertical feet. Thin wind slab from cross-loading, or denser snow from overnight. A taste of what's likely more widespread by afternoon.