Vail & Summit County
SnowpackAndrew McWilliams Ian Fowler · Feb 5, 2024 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Single-digit temperatures quickly warmed to freezing with calm winds and scattered clouds.
Snowpack
We observed a snowpack that was just under a meter deep below treeline down to 9,500 feet and was about a meter and a half deep or more near treeline on northerly and easterly slopes where we dug. We observed very minor cracking and collapsing while ascending and noticed some recent avalanches that likely ran during or just after the most recent storm. The majority of these slides were loose snow avalanches, but we observed three that were slab releases. In a snowpit on an east-facing near treeline slope, a crust/facet combination below the most recent storm snow is the primary layer of concern. We observed propagating results in an Extended Column Test (ECT), propagation to end in a Propagation Saw Test (PST), and a sudden collapse in a Compression Test (CT) on this layer. A recent avalanche near this snowpit location on a northeast/north aspect ran on a surface hoar layer at this same depth. ECTs on the surface hoar had no results, probably because the slab above was so soft the layer just got compressed, but a PST needed only a cut length of 35cm before it crossed the whole block. With another storm on the way, we will likely continue to see avalanches break on these layers.