Vail & Summit County
AvalancheMatt Kennedy · Feb 10, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
CLR, 0C, Calm
Snowpack
Along my ascent I took a handful of obs as I worked my way out of tree line and up into the alpine. 11,690’ South facing slope. HS 200cm. Hand Shear broke on isolation down 20cm on a 1cm melt/freeze crust. There were two prominent crusts in the top 30cm. Similar results at higher elevation but the crusts were on top of wind affected snow. 11,690’ East facing slope 26deg HS 200cm CTE planar on 1mm facets down 15cm. No other results, including yarding on column. Mid pack was right side up from 1F to P+ down 175cm. There were 4 easily identifiable 0.5-1mm rounding facet layers in the mid pack. Bottom 25cm was rounding 3mm DH. Could almost make a snowball out of it. Lots of small rollers coming off exposed West facing slopes below tree line. Snow was grabby and wet in those areas.
Avalanche
Saw an old Size 2 slide on a predominantly S/SE slide path. The slab released on a NE to E portion of the start zone. Witnessed a few Size 1 Loose Wet slides on SE slopes above tree line. I intentionally triggered a Size 1 windslab on a south facing slope near 12,200’. I was able to stomp on a small wind lip from above and got it to go. This certainly aligned with the forecast for the day.