Simpson 1 avalanche

Wind effect at ridge top on many aspects. Nice powder below ridge top. Very faceted snow at lower elevations. Slab avalanche in open terrain beside trees. See avalanche tab.

Suspected skier remote by another party that skied in the trees skier's left of the avalanche, where snowpack appeared to be shallower (the avalanche had already happened by the time we got there, but wasn't there on our first lap). The avalanche ran on the Dec 2 crust/facets layer. Interestingly, there was a (somewhat old) crown in the same location a week ago, so it appears that the slope reloaded and failed at the same location again today. Thick crown that was quite surprising. Unsure of how far it ran as we did not continue down the gully/avalanche path.

Felt quite cold at ridge top with the light wind.

10-15 cm of new snow in last 24 hours. Makes for very good skiing, but perhaps the Dec 2 layer is reaching a critical loading point in some areas?