Vail & Summit County
AvalancheAndrew McWilliams · Mar 15, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Light snowfall, broken skies, temperatures in the 20s, and moderate winds from the west. No snow accumulation during the day.
Snowpack
Below about 11,000 feet snow surfaces were moist due to above-freezing temperatures. On easterly-aspects near and above treeline, the snow surface was stiffened by recent strong winds and warm temperatures. Ski penetration was only about 5cm and boot penetration was about 15cm. A snowpit profile on an east aspect at about 12,000 feet had a series of wind-packed layers resting on crust layers in the upper 50cm of the 150cm deep snowpack. Below this level were rounding facets that increased in size closer to the ground. On the hand hardness scale, all layers in this snowpit were one-finger to pencil-hard including the basal facet layer. The basal facet layer lacked obvious striations, cupping, or chains and I called these grains facets, not depth hoar. In a snowpit on a southeast aspect at about 11,800 feet, there was a similar depth and structure. However, about 30cm below the surface was a four-finger hard layer of facets about 5cm thick below a melt-freeze crust. Extended Column Tests had hard non-propagating results in both snowpits at this depth. There were no results below the upper 50cm on the snowpack.
Avalanche
Recent avalanche activity on similar slopes was likely triggered by cornice fall.