Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Nov 21, 2024 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear and calm at the trailhead. Moderate westerly winds at ridgetop. Snow transport was mostly over from previous strong winds.
Snowpack
The only obvious sign of instability I observed was in regard to sensitive large cornices above southeast-facing slopes. Large refrigerator-sized chunks would break off when I was far back from the cornice. The cornice fall did not trigger any deeper avalanches on these southerly slopes. On easterly-facing slopes above treeline I found a wind-battered landscape. Several crowns of reported avalanches from Nov 15 looked to be more eroded than filled again. The thickest drifts are in gullies with quickly tapering depths on the side of these features. The thickest layer of basal facets is on northerly slopes at about 20 cm thick. A layer of facets was buried by recent winds over the last few days. This layer looks mostly disrupted on above treeline slopes and more intact on near treeline slopes. I dug on an east-facing slopes near treeeline and got a result in an Extended Column Test of ECTP1 at 10 cm down on this faceted layer. The slab was one-finger hard drifted snow. Looking towards next week's snow, we could see easily triggered and natural avalanches on the currently faceting surface layers or the shallow faceted layer that was buried on Nov 19. As is often the case, near treeline could be more dangerous than above treeline as weak layers are less disrupted and more continous.