Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Barrett Langendoerfer · Dec 15, 2019 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Vail Pass area, Ptarmigan Hill ENE aspect, 11,900ft Slope angle mid 30's Cloudy, light winds, cold temps @15F

Snowpack

Area received @24 inches of snow in last 4 days along with considerable W and NW winds. South Ptarmigan also released under the cornice, visibility was difficult with flat light and i could not see enough to speculate on the size. We were told the East ptarm face ran when a small club cat climbed the ridge from lookers left in the photos. i see a lot of dirty snow so i am guessing it released at the ground/basal facets.

Avalanche

Ptarmigan Peak East face estimated as SS-AKr-R3.5/D2.5-G. Slide wrapped around terrain to lookers right out of sight. i could not see enough to estimate the South ptarm slide