Avalanche: Ben Lomond

I skied straight off the top of Ben Lomond. My two companions stayed high and chose to traverse Southeast. I skied about 500' down the slope, saw that my companions were traversing Southeast, and chose to follow their line.

I traversed a small ridge into an area of wind-blown slab. A break appeared in front of me, triggered by my weight. It shot straight across the slope, and I was immediately caught in the slide. As far as I can tell, it broke about 16" deep. I would put the angle of the slope at approximately 35+ degrees. The slide carried me approximately (as far as I can tell) 500'. I was never buried, which I believe was due to the hard layer under the wind blown slab. I finally got pushed to the side as the slide stopped. I was about halfway down the slide path, from the break at the top to the bottom of the debris field. I was able to ski away, as my skis stayed attached.

Lesson - never separate when in the backcountry. My friends had not witnessed the slide. I was very lucky!!