Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Apr 8, 2025 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Windy and warm with broken to scattered clouds and plenty of sun.
Snowpack
For dry snow problems, I didn't test the basal weak layers due to the thickness and hardness of the mid-pack slab. In the upper snowpack, on a northeast-facing near treeline slope, I found a thin layer of faceted crystals on a melt-freeze crust 8 inches from the surface. I was able to get a crack to propagate in this layer on 18 taps in an Extended Column Test. This is similar to other areas where we see a thin slab and propagating results, but people aren't triggering avalanches on this layer. This setup of faceted snow on a crust beneath 8 inches of currently dry snow, will be susceptible to wet avalanche should this dry snow warm quickly. For wet snow problems- The recent snow on southerly-facing slopes near and above treeline had mostly melted or consolidated with the existing snowpack. There was some recent, patchy drifted snow that was getting moist. East-facing above treeline slopes stayed cold with the wind and intermittent cloud cover. East-facing near treeline slopes had 8 inches of dry snow that was getting moist but I did not observe any rollerballs or other signs of wet instability on steep slopes. The previously dry snow on northeast-facing below treeline slopes was getting moist. I wasn't around any steep below-treeline northeast-facing slopes to get a good feel for if this was an issue.
Avalanche
I observed small Loose Wet avalanches out of steep and rocky terrain on east through south-facing above treeline slopes of Mt Helen and Peaks 1,2,3. All avalanches were small and harmless. They most likely occurred on Sunday, April 6 or Monday, April 7.