Essex

Quick report

Toured near Essex today. I found 12 inches or so of powder on top of a stout crust. The crust went away at upper elevations. Surprise sun deteriorated the powder quality quickly and it was heavy and rollerballs by the afternoon. Skied S and SE

Avalanche

Size

D2 R2

Type

HS

Aspect

NE

Trigger

AS

Elevation

7000 ft

While skinning up the ridge, I was careful to avoid stepping into NE terrain and attempted to stay right on the ridge itself. Well, apparently I wasn’t careful enough and most of the NE slope ripped above me which was enough to knock me off my feet. There were no whumpfs or cracks or warning signs. I was honestly surprised at the speed and ferocity of this slide. It took only one step onto this aspect for it to rip. It failed maybe a foot and a half deep. I didn’t stay around to investigate further because I was pretty spooked.