Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 40°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 18 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow/Old Snow Interface
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 122 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 46 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Intentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- North
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3139 m
I triggered this avalanche with a ski cut but I almost blew it. While dropping into the N facing Keyhole entry into Cardiff Fork I made a small ski cut in the corner of the entry chute that produced a slow moving sluff, I was thinking of just diving in and skiing it fast to avoid sluffing out the whole chute and having to ski the bed surface, but I came to my senses and decided to ski cut the entire chute before skiing. This ski cut initiated a wind slab avalanche that propagated across the whole chute and into the trees. The slide ran on the old hard bed surface from before the 40 plus inches of new snow we got this week. The crown was 2 feet at the deepest part but averaged around 18 inches and had a obvious staunch wall 300ft down. In retrospect I realized that the steep chute had been cross loaded by the NW winds and if I would’ve just dived in I would have taken the ride, not getting buried but most likely gathering up my gear and feeling dumb. It was a good reminder that it’s not over until it’s over.