Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Ryan Zarter · Jan 29, 2024 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Overcast skies, calm winds, and temperatures approaching freezing. Clouds were clearing out as I was driving home from the field in the afternoon.

Snowpack

I traveled primarily on southeast to southwest aspects below and near treeline today, with a short excursion on to more a more westerly aspect. Southerly slopes at this elevation all had a thin melt-freeze crust and evidence of surface warming over the last couple of days (roller balls, pinwheels, and some small loose wet avalanches). Surface conditions were less impacted by recent warm temperatures on the west-facing slope I traveled on. I found an average snow depth of 65cm on a southeast aspect where I probed around in the Whistler West start zone just below the old Obellx tower pad. The snowpack was a slab sitting on top of facets and depth hoar. I had propagating ECT results about 40cm below the surface and just below the slab. There were a couple of thin melt-freeze crusts at the snow surface, and another at the top of the depth hoar layer from much earlier in the winter. The snowpack on a nearby west-facing slope was deeper, though with a similar structure to what I found in Whistler West. However, there were no melt-freeze crusts present, the weak layer is about 70cm below the snow surface, and the slab is harder. It also took a few more taps before I got propagating ECT results below the slab.