Hankin

Skied some laps of runs 1, 3 and 4A at Hankin. ~40 cm of new storm snow on the runs. Snow was dense and quite supportive as a result of temperature and wind press. Ski pen ~20 while breaking trail. Less ski pen while skiing. Strong S.W. winds at treeline and in the alpine. Visibility was in and out all day. No natural activity noted in the Cardiac area.

A significant natural slab avalanche had pulled out of the bowl above the hut within the previous 24 hours. It appeared to have been triggered by cornice fall/windslab just below the ridge. The crown was blown in somewhat, but appeared to extend ~200 metres through the main gut of the bowl. Debris ran to the bottom of the bowl and stopped before running into any timber (1400 m). Not full path, but fairly significant. Crowns along the flanks looked to be ~40 cm thick suggesting that the slide ran on the interface of the previous firm surface and consisted of recent storm snow. Some rocks were exposed in the start zone. The slide may have stepped down to deeper layers initially, but did not appear to within the main slide area. Visibility was poor during the time of observation. More accurate/detailed obs were therefore not possible.