Quick report
New snow from the past week that hadn’t had a chance to bond properly to the existing snowpack probably contributed to instability. This became especially apparent on the downhill, when we encountered deep pockets of loose, very heavy snow. Some rollerballs and signs of small wet sloughs were visible in Hillman’s prior to the slide, but all had seemed relatively minor and contained. The slide was reportedly triggered by a single skier making a hockey stop above. All four skiers below the trigger point were climbing on the side of the trail and managed to sidestep and avoid being caught in the slide.
Avalanche
Large-ish D1-sized loose wet snow avalanche triggered by skier above me about two-thirds of the way up Hillman’s highway (just below the split) as I was climbing up. Wide enough to clear most of the line and the flow continued for a couple minutes before settling in a debris field about 20-30 feet wide and a couple hundred feet long at the bottom of Hillman’s.