Vail & Summit County
AvalancheAndrew McWilliams · Dec 31, 2022 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Heavy snowfall this morning subsided to flurries by noon. Winds were moderate from the WSW at the ridgetop and loading snow. Winds were calm below treeline. Temperatures were in the high teens to low twenties.
Snowpack
There was about six inches of new snow in Montezuma and still snowing heavily when I left the truck. The bottom layer of the new snow bonded well to the old surface. Steep test slopes revealed a weak layer within the new snow that was easily propagating fractures four to six inches deep. This weakness was observed on southwest, south, east, and northeast aspects. I did not travel on north or northwest aspects today. The height of snow on south-facing slopes varied from about 30cm in the most shallow areas to about 80cm in the deepest areas. The snowpack generally consisted of 35cm of new snow resting on about 20cm of faceted snow above a melt-freeze crust. Below the crust was an additional 10cm of pencil-hard facets. Extended Column Tests had easy propagating results at the interface of the snow from Friday night and the snow from Wednesday and Thursday, but nothing deeper.
Avalanche
I had a small pocket of new snow release as a slab on a northeast aspect near treeline, but did not travel down the slope; it was not steep enough.