Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Mike Floyd, Jason Konigsberg · Dec 1, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Broken sky with intermittent light snow showers, light northerly ridgetop winds.

Snowpack

Light snow and winds did not build significant wind slabs. Light drifting was observed onto the very top of southerly slopes from northerly winds. Shallow cracking was observed just near ridges.--- Below the treeline, the snow was weak, and faceted with depths of 30-50 cm. We did not observed any significant sluffing.--- At higher elevations, snowpits on SE and SW facing slopes near treeline had a depth around 35 cm HS. These aspects had a 5-10 cm 1F to P hard mid-pack layer around a melt-freeze crust with well-developed facets above and below.--- On north facing slopes there is a layer of weak basal facets, about 15 cm thick, formed from early season snow under an increasingly weak and faceting snowpack. We dug on a north-facing slope about 100 vertical feet down from the ridge and did not find a cohesive slab. It seems that any remaining slabs over this weak structure are just below ridgelines. As you descend the snowpack quickly changes to a faceted pack.