Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Nov 24, 2022 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear with light north winds. 13F at the trailhead at 0930. Temperatures increased quickly into the 20s.
Snowpack
The little bit of new snow and northerly winds did form new, soft drifts. East and west aspects had evidence of cross loading. The new drifts and loading that I encountered were all soft and easy to break through. No cracking was observed. There was just enough snow to cover up some of the rocks and grass making route finding a bit spicy. By noon, south slopes above treeline that were sheltered from the wind were showing signs of surface warming, this extended only a few centimeters deep. But still enough that it was easy to make a snowball. This will turn into a surface crust on these specific slopes after tonight. Where I dug near 11,500ft, the persistent slab is losing strength and turning to facets. Though it is weakening I was still getting propagating ECT results ~50cm down on the softer and weak facets underneath. Where I found the old melt freeze crust sitting just above the ground, it still had its structure and did not look like it was breaking down. On east aspects in the shallower areas, the basal facets have nearly fully developed into depth hoar. Some places that had closer to one meter of snow did have basal facets that are showing signs of cupping, but have not fully developed into the large, cup shaped, striated crystals we are so familiar with. Snow cover below treeline remains severely thin.