Vail & Summit County

I remotely triggered a large avalanche by walking on the ridge above Lost Lake.

The slab of snow that formed from early January storms is mostly faceted. In sheltered areas, below this faceted slab, are larger facets to the ground. In drifted areas, the faceted January slab sits on the hard wind-packed layer from the mid-December wind event. This layer is hard to get through with a shovel. I did not find distinct rain crusts. On east through south-facing slopes, the snowpack is a little more complex with thin melt-freeze crusts with faceted layers above and below. With all that said, the main layer of concern is the most recent near-surface facets. Strong northwest winds created thick slabs. Even in places where I found very thin slabs, this recently buried weak layer collapsed. Although this recently buried layer is where avalanches will break, larger avalanches could occur in places where the snowpack is entirely faceted in the path, causing slabs triggered by ridgetop to entrain most of the season's snowpack.