Houston Telkwas

10-20 cm of recent snow had been transported into wind slabs in the alpine by southwest winds. Slope testing in steep alpine terrain did not release any slab avalanches in areas that have seen a lot of use this season. One rider in the "Meat Cache" triggered a size 2.5 wind slab above a hard crust down 60 cm on the first attempt to ride in this area. The "Shoot-out" area saw extensive use without any releases. There were over 100 riders in the area for the return of the "Annual Poker Ride".

Rider triggered slab avalanche as we was turning out of the climb. Rider saw fracture propagate across the slope away from him. Fracture at trigger point 60 cm then tapered down to 20 cm at far end of propagation.