Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Jan 31, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Windy day with gusts in the twenties near treeline. I did not make it above treeline but the wind looked strong as evidenced by large plumes of snow coming off of the high ridgelines. Wind loading near treeline was moderate.
Snowpack
On southeast and east aspects the slab of storm snow from last week has settled to about a foot. Below this slab is a faceted layer that did not produce any significant results in snowpack tests. I found broken up surface hoar buried in the snowpack but there was no consistent surface hoar layer. Overall the snowpack is strong in this area on the aspects I observed and stability is very good.... Slabs of wind-drifted snow near ridgetop did not seem to be reactive but other observers note that the wind today resulted in small naturals and likely easily triggered small wind slabs on southerly slopes near ridgelines.