Vail & Summit County
SnowpackEthan Greene · Nov 23, 2014 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
11,000' and 1200 hrs: 5-15 NW, S2, OVC, vis 0.5 mi, could see disk of sun through the clouds. Above TL: 15-25 W, S2 but intermittent, vis 1/8 to 1.5 mi By 1400 hrs it was snowing S5
Snowpack
The snowpack below treeline remains quite shallow (20 to 40 cm). In most areas there are two layers from the storm cycles over the last 10 days. The pack is much deeper (40 to 60 cm) near treeline with some troubling layers on Nly aspects (see below). Many W and S aspects were scoured down to the surface roughness or with building wind drifts on very shallow old snow. There was significant cross-loading onto Nly slopes with large smooth wind deposits. The only sign of instability I observed was minor cracking, either in wind drifts or around trees and stumps.