Red Ridge

cevictorero , Monday 27th February, 2023 5:20AM

On the way up we avoided this slope and took a detour below it. On the way back I decided to check it out since the crossing was at most 20m wide. The snow at the edge and top of the slope was very unconsolidated and I let it lull me into crossing it. I asked my partner to remain at a safe spot until I completed the crossing. A few meters in I noticed the snow firming up on the top , having a more slabby character but I was still able to punch through to the rock without any visible cracking. I eventually anchored myself and kicked with my downhill leg a few times with moderate strength, the slope failed about 4-5m below me without any visible surface propagation from my position, the failure seemed to propagate from the bottom. The width of the slab was around 15+m, with a section of about 5m that was 40-50cm deep at the crown and rapidly tapering from there. Failure occurred on facets (that's what it seemed to me) and left behind a very thin cover of snow (5-10cm). It ran for about 25m downslope and never had all that much speed but someone at the bottom/middle could have been knocked off their feet given that it was unstable bouldery terrain.