Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 11 m
- Weak Layer
- Density Change
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 6 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 13 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Intentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- North
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2987 m
Went for a quick dawn patrol up Scotties. Kicked off a couple cornices (yes we checked down below) down the N/NE slopes once we were on the ridge and got nice small 4" soft slabs to crack and sluggishly slide their way down the ~34* runout. Maybe 20 or 30' wide and not much energy. Decided they were manageable and after clearing out the top of our line, dropped one the mellower shots into the bowl.
First skiier triggered a crack maybe 70' down the slope. Still looked fairly benign, consequences were low, so the second skier dropped and caused the soft slab to scoot down about 15'. Third and forth individuals descended the same line with no reactivity from the slab-- the angle was too low and the slab didn't have enough energy. It was 35-40' across, 5" deep and only ran maybe 15-18'. I think the snow from two nights ago had been battered by the wind/consolidated some and this new snow that had loaded last night was failing on the density change.