Vail & Summit County

I triggered a very small Wind Slab avalanche on a northeast-facing test slope above treeline.

Below treeline the snowpack is entirely faceted except where there is a hard melt-freeze crust at the surface. Below treeline slopes that face southeast through southwest are melted back to bare ground. The southwest winds weren't loaded slopes while I was out, but there was evidence of drifting while it was snowing last night. It's nice to see some snow on northerly-facing slopes again. Near treeline, the snowpack is much the same except there is more coverage on southerly slopes, and when I got to the upper end of the near treeline elevation band (near 12,000 ft), I found recent drifted slabs over the faceted snowpack. In one of these places, on an east-facing slope, I got a result of ECTPV 15 cm from the surface in an Extended Column Test.