Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Dec 6, 2016 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
New snow was between 3 to 5 inches. Temperature taken from Vail Pass (10500 ft). There was very little snow being transported today.
Snowpack
The strong winds on Monday ravaged many slopes near and above treeline. Most exposed westerly and southwesterly slopes are stripped back to rock. The winds even stripped some southeasterly slopes. There was little evidence of any consistent wind loading as the strong winds led to erratic drifting patterns....As the snowpack structure on north through east slopes is well documented, I went looking to see how the snowpack is progressing on southerly slopes. On southerly slopes there is an overall lack of strong melt-freeze crusts and the structure looks fairly similar to that of our more shady slopes. The extent of faceting is less than that of north through east aspects, but there is very weak snow near the ground on most south slopes (see attached snowpit). In general there is an overall lack of a connected slab on south aspects due to unfavorable wind patterns and an overall lack of snowfall. Continued cold temperatures and a lack of sun will further enhance faceting on southerly slopes.
Avalanche
No significant cracking or collapsing observed today. Visibility was a challenge, but I could not see any evidence of natural activity from yesterday's wind.