Vail & Summit County
SnowpackMichael Remke · Dec 11, 2012 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Cold, with light to moderate breeze along ridge tops. Wind decreased throughout the day, morning winds were 20-30 MPH with significant snow transport and wind loading. By midday, the wind had slowed to 5-10 MPH. Conductive snow remained in the morning with sparse, thin clouds. By mid day skies were mostly clear with a strong cloud band lingering over the Ten Mile and Gore Ranges.
Snowpack
Very shallow snowpack! In many cases only 5-15 cm of recent storm snow (overnight and Saturday night snow storms) rested on bare ground. Where snow already existed, faceting has developed advanced depth hoar with large crystal sizes. I knocked some depth hoar onto a rock and was able to see visible striations without using my hand lens. While touring, tripping on buried objects and slipping on rocks just beneath the snow was a common situation. The only places where the ground was not noticeable was in wind loaded areas on the far east side of the ridge top. Wind slabs easily cracked with little added stress. Cracks shot across and up slopes 50+ feet and several collapses were witnessed. Areas that have held snow since the beginning of the season are very sensitive and touchy resting on the persistent hoar layer. Hopefully a decent snowfall can trigger some slides in the near future so we can start from scratch.