Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg · Jan 15, 2016 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Obscured to broken skies at 9 AM. Short periods of S-1 snow from 10 AM to noon with little accumulation. Wind was calm below ridgeline and moderate from the west at ridgetop. Snow transport on to lee slopes was light. New snow amount was 4". Snow depth (HS) was around 100 cms below and near treeline. HS in the start zone was about 60-80 cms.

Snowpack

Snowpack is mostly faceted in the limited area that I traveled. On east and southeast aspects, at all elevations, there is either a fragile melt/freeze crust or stouter wind crust below the 4" of new snow. Below the crust is all facets to the ground. The sun crust was very fragile, thin, and collapsible.---The wind was transporting low-end amounts of snow onto lee slopes just at ridgetop. No cracking was observed in wind-drifted snow.

Avalanche

No new avalanches observed.