Mt. Vaux Skier-Accidental

Party of 3 went for Mt Vaux. Saw some old wet loose avalanches, presumed from the previous warm spell on the way up (seen in pictures, lookers left). While ascending saw no signs of instability and snow was dry at all elevations, despite consistent solar exposure. Average HS in the path was over 1m. Transitioned to boot packing at about 2700m at 14:30 where air temp was -11. One member of the party was moving quickly and was about 20m from the ridge and triggered a large 2.5 wind slab avalanche at 3050m. Suspected failure plane was the arctic facets layer. Other 2 members were about 30-40m below and were able to run out of the path to a safe spot, climbers left. Eyes were kept on the skier caught for about 100m until out of sight. After a quick transition and change into search mode, search party rounded a corner and were able to see the caught skier about 200m below last seen point on top of the debris. Luckily, no one was harmed. Avalanche ran from 3050 till 2050, at a quick glance the crown looked to be 30-40m wide and 60-70cm deep. Sections of the debris were over a meter deep and up to 50m wide. Overall, we were extremely lucky. One ski was lost. Learning points: Always beware the wind slab at the top of lines Wear helmets when there's any sort of overhead. None of us were for the ascent. Skier caught was extremely lucky not to hit any rocks. Take skins off when transitioning to boot packing. Ripping skins costed us time. Spacing. Spacing gave the two skiers time to run to a safe spot and avoid being caught. Have a sat phone. None of us did. There was cell service, usually in the backcountry there isn't. Picture #4 is the choke that the caught skier slid through about 100m below the crown. Pictured after the avalanche when caught skier was confirmed safe.