Reactive windslab on Wawa

cmurrayschlitt , Thursday 14th November, 2024 4:15PM

Went for a ski on the North side of Wawa ridge, found wind affect on E / NE aspects, HS 40-50, deeper in loaded areas. Triggered a size 1 wind slab from the toe of a small NE roll and remote triggered a second sz 1 slab on the same feature that did not move. Estimated crown depth 30-50cm, ~15-20m wide, running ~10m. Slab broke at shallow spot near rocks with a small stepdown noted, suspect it failed on facets above the Oct 21 crust, but did not look closely at the crown due to hangfire. We retreated to more sheltered and low angle terrain and found acceptable skiing in open trees where wind effect was less present. Still early season conditions with lots of rocks to hit out there. Learn from our mistake and keep it mellow if heading into the alpine this weekend.

skier triggered from toe of slope, top of crown broke ~10m above, see quick summary for info