co-pilot storm and wind slabs

<p>Scary day -- skier-trigged size 2 on a N/NE 40 degree slope just below co-pilot peak. One skier was caught and knocked down but was able to regain footing and ride across the slope to safety. Previous group of ~10 rode the gulley with no problems; just reaffirms that you can't assume a slope or drainange is safe because someone else rode it without problems or because the avcan rating is only moderate. Significant wind-loading was apparent once dropping into the slope and so the skier immediately started cutting across to safety but was still caught when the slope slide on the ~3rd turn. Skier trigged a ~40 cm crown which propogated across the slope. In some areas that stepped-down from the wind slab to storm slab of similar size. You can see in the last photo some shooting cracks along the wind slab which stepped down. Wind loading was extremely variable and unpredicatable; we actually cut our objective short and tried to get out faster. Snow was amazing, of course, but very reactive. Felt a lot more like an interior snow pack than a coastal snow pack. We were expecting more consolidation but with the cold temps and wind the snow was a lot more reactive than expected. On reflection, we should have stayed out of the alpine where the winds were more aggressive. Treeline conditions were just as good and less reactive due to lack of wind loading. With last night's storm-slab now on top of these layers I expect significant risk in this area until these layers consolidate. </p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Mellow slopes, Open trees, Steep slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Snow Conditions

Deep powder.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy, Sunny, Windy.