Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 5 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow/Old Snow Interface
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 24 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 20 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Sympathetic Release
- Start Zone Aspect
- East
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3139 m
Sympathetically triggered a long, slow running soft slab entering the notch today, attached is a photo taken from above. Propagation! Upon investigation, it became apparent that the bed surface contained intact buried stellar crystals, which are likely the culprit, though I'm not sure. I didn't dig. I didn't see any surface hoar or faceted grains. The avalanche did not seem to be wind related in nature. I also observed many dry loose point releases today, but none featuring a crown line, or apparent propagation. I'm not getting too excited, as I bet this instability is isolated and won't last.