Vail & Summit County

Scattered clouds with temperatures in the 20s and light winds from the north.

I found dense wind slabs and thick crusts in all my snow pits. For north, northeast, and east-facing slopes, I think areas that saw less wind effect from the mid-December wind event and formed thinner, more collapsible crusts are the most dangerous. Based on recent avalanches that have been reported and a lack of recent activity viewed in the alpine today, I think near treeline, and likely the very upper end of below treeline, are the most dangerous. I dug my snowpits in areas with dense slabs of wind-packed snow and/or December crusts that are about 5cm deep. These features in the snowpack helped prevent failures in the weak snow below them. I think it's a sign that the slabs are becoming more stubborn to triggers in areas like these, and you might need to find a "sweet spot" on a slope to trigger a slide. The avalanche I triggered on a south-facing slope was a bit of a surprise. It ran on an older layer of soft, faceted snow buried below a crust and thin wind-packed layer. The grains were small, and I couldn't see a proper "weak layer" when I did a crown profile. The crust, which was just below the most recent snow, was difficult to track through the layer and didn't seem present along the entirety of the crown wall. Given that the snow in the slab was generally moist, and there were two Loose Wet avalanches in the area. I think changing slab properties due to warming may have contributed to the sensitivity of that slope. The slope was close to 40 degrees steep. I'm not sure this problem will persist, but avoiding very steep, drifted southerlies is a prudent move going forward.