Vail & Summit County
SnowpackScott Toepfer · May 7, 2016 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clouds rapidly increased early morning. Cumulus clouds grew & lightning began just a little bit before 10 AM. At house, not far away as crow flies, I got .06" of rain by 1 PM. Temperatures began to fall after 10 AM. Big banners off Peak 10. Not much new snow up high, but some strong south winds moved what they could.
Snowpack
Snow on early approach was wet, ~ 9,700 ft. Not much of an overnight freeze, with lows last night mid to upper thirties. Melt Freeze crust gained thickness as we gained elevation, but never very significant, with boot penetration to ankle in the lower track around 10,000 ft. Surface crust was some 1 to 2" thick. Above 11,000 feet a much better freeze and more supportable melt freeze crust. This never thawed before lightning chased us down.