Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Jan 20, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Cold and mostly calm with high clouds increasing through the day. Higher peaks had signs of more easterly winds in the morning while on approach to the trailhead.
Snowpack
There was evidence of wind-loading on upper elevation slopes lee to the WNW. On the above and near treeline slopes we traveled on, the fresh load was soft (Fist to 4 Finger hard) and no cracking was observed. Near and below treeline the snowpack was supportive even on hard turns despite a approximate 1m depth. On wind sheltered slopes there was 20cm-35cm of new snow that was bonding well to the old snow. Pit data showed a snowpack comprised of mostly soft but supportable facets with moderate compression test failures on the basal facets. A Propagation Saw Test on the same layer had a 40/100 END failure. The only avalanche activity noted were a few small pockets (less than 10m x 10m) on steep rollovers with notable shallow areas.