Vail & Summit County

Broken skies with strong westerly winds at ridgetop. Temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s. No accumulating snow.

Below treeline, there was about 10 to 15cm of new, dense snow, mostly comprised of graupel. The new snow was forming a cohesive slab and was resting on a weak, faceted snowpack. Total depth was about 60 to 80cm. I got some cracking on very steep, east-facing, unsupported slopes, but no avalanches. With more weight, these cracks would easily become slides - maybe another 4 to 6 inches of similarly dense snow. Near treeline, there was a thicker slab and more wind effect - I got cracking on many slopes, especially slopes that were thinner prior to the last two rounds of snow. I dug a pit in one of these areas and got propagating results in a layer of large-grained near-surface facets after taps from the wrist. This weak layer was resting below the slab that started to form around Valentine's Day. A subtle, rain- or temperature-related crust formed at the start of the most recent storm (February 24) under the most recent snow. The weak layer was under a crust, another 10cm down from that crust. The lack of any new avalanche activity under steep easterly ridges suggests we need a bit more weight or wind to trigger another round of natural slides near and above treeline, though it might not take much more given the strong winds and dense snow.