Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 36°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 9 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 152 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 30 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Intentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- East
- Avalanche Problem
- Wind Slab
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2865 m
I ski cut the first chute and was able to get the skier's right side to rip out about 30 feet wide and a foot deep. The fracture wrapped around the nose feature and may have propagated into the 2nd chute. The second chute ran as well but I didn't have good eyes on it when I was watching the first chute run so I am not sure if it had already run. The snow ran all the way to the bottom into the aspens. When I ski cut the 3rd chute the snow broke down to 1.5 - 2 feet deep and ran quite quickly through the aspens at the bottom. This slide was only about 25 feet wide but without an exit a skier would have been strained. Cider Chutes has been repeating all year long. It seems where old slides have previously occurred this year, new snow is not sticking. That said Dutch Draw, North Bowl, Sound of Music trees and McDonald, all sites of previous slides on the PC ridgeline, are likely very suspect and should probably be avoided until proven otherwise.
Sorry no pics. I tried for about 20 minutes but the visibility went south by the time I got an angle on the slope for a pic.