Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 46 m
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 91 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Wind Slab
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2256 m
Aware of the danger, I was skiing a low angle ridge. I made a diagonal ski cut across the top of a short and obviously wind loaded convexity that I did not intend to ski. As I felt a collapse the slope fractured instantaneously and large blocks peeled off the ridge onto the bench below. The crown was approximately 1-4' deep and failed a few inches above the thick (2") early February rain crust where last week's low density snow had readily faceted in the cold temps. It was extremely difficult to hold an edge while skinning on this interface in Mt. Aire north facing terrain before the most recent storm, and moving around the bed surface felt equally slippery.