Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 18 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 10 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Intentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2774 m
This was an intentional trigger from a ski cut off the ridge just north of Steam Mill Peak. Crown depth varied from 1 to 6". The new dense snow was not bonding well - lots of cracking and easy shears along the uptrack. Quite a bit of wind out there today, even in sheltered areas. Some graupel. Skiing was fairly 'meh' thanks to the inverted and slabby conditions.
I'd expect this storm snow instability to settle out rapidly, and I didn't see any signs of deeper issues down at the crust layer... however, there is now enough cold snow from the past few storms (~15" at 9k feet in this location) sitting on top of this bombproof crust that I'll be wary of the sun warming and waking up this slab as the weekend progresses...