Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Apr 11, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear calm and hot.
Snowpack
Climbing the standard trail the surface snow below treeline was frozen for the top 20cm or so but below was moist and unconsolidated. Near treeline on southeast aspects, the snow had become generally unsupportive by 10am. Widespread cracking up to 15m and collapsing was occurring. A snowpit on the same aspect revealed a wet, mostly unconsolidated snowpack. Traveling onto a southeast aspect above treeline the snow depth was overall less. Free water was found percolating and pooling approximately 30cm below the surface on an old melt-freeze crust. The snowpack on the southerly half was very unsupportive and difficult to travel on. I did not observe the southerly half above 12,500ft. East-facing slopes with no previous tracks were punchy and tricky to travel on. Shallow areas were very easy to punch in down to the ground. The northeast slopes I traveled on were more supportive but this could have been due to old tracks. A pit near treeline revealed percolation columns and pooling water as deep as 56cm down. Free water was not widespread but the next good freeze will likely lock up at least the top 1m of the snowpack. The northerly-facing slopes above treeline to 12,800ft looked very wind-affected, but surface conditions were soft and did not appear to be overly affected by the sun in the few places I tested. Overall the snowpack unlocked quickly and travel off-trail yielded surprise trap door conditions after 12:00pm.