Vail & Summit County

Clear, bluebird skies visible in photos. Warm up during the day. Freezing temperatures tonight, followed by colder temperatures.

Two large natural Wet Slab avalanches on above treeline east-facing slopes below ridgetop across the valley are a good indicator that water is reaching the basal facet layer. On an east-facing slope at 12,300 feet, a snow pit with a total height of 87 cm an Extended Column Test produced a propagating result on one tap from the elbow (ECTP 11 ) on a layer 25 centimeters from the surface. The slab broke at the top of the basal facet layer and then down to the ground for half of the column. Water was pooling on a crust just above the fist-hard, moist basal facets. The upper snowpack was a series of crusts with melt forms and very wet snow at the surface. On a northeast-facing slope near treeline at 11,600 feet, a snow pit had no result in an extended column test, but water was pooling about 30 centimeters from the top and the faceted basal layers were moist all the way to the ground. If there had been more of a slab here, I think I would have seen a similar result to my pit higher up. On a nearby steep test slope, I easily pushed a loose wet avalanche which broke at the ground. On slopes where there isn't a slab, it seems like gouging loose wets are the primary concern.