Avalanche

Crystal Backcountry

Jean RuggieroWest Slopes South
View on map
Observation photo 1Observation photo 2Observation photo 3

Quick report

Cracking
isolated

Very soft wind slabs on lee slopes and in gulleys - much softer than wind slabs forming in the same zone yesterday. Isolated cracking on uptrack tests. In most areas we travelled the old snow was still wet and had not yet formed a solid crust.

Avalanche

At the end of the day I accidentally kicked off a very small wind slab 20ft wide x 10ft high that broke at my feet in a steep west-facing gulley at ~6000ft. Nobody was caught.