Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg · Dec 19, 2015 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Clear skies gave way to some high cloud moving in from the west. Light winds down low. Moderate, westerly winds at ridgetop. No snow being transported at all. Warm.

Snowpack

Targeted southerly aspects today. Southwest still are very thin or bare. South and southeast contain a layered snowpack with poor structure. Snow depth ranged from 40-80cms. Hard wind slab over top of fist hard snow. Easy results in stability tests including propagation but the slab is hard and bridging well for now. More concerning was very weak snow at about 50cms from surface beneath a crust. This layer would also propagate in ECTs. See attached snowpit. The bottom line is south and southeast have a persistent slab structure. Limited cohesive slab across a slope, not an issue at the moment unless wind drifted snow is deeper than I found. Triggering the upper wind slab is possible but avalanches would be small with not mid-pack slab to step down to. The south aspects will be something to keep tabs on with forecast snow for this coming week.

Avalanche

Small Sz 1 Wind Slab avalanche off ridgeline. Northeast facing. Unsure of timing, maybe yesterday.