Quick report
I dug a pit at the top of the M3 chute on a n aspect slope. I wanted to see if there was a persistent weak layer (there wasn't) and if the two crusts underneath our last two storms were reactive. If anything the crusts were less pronounced than when I dug a pit in a similar zone on Thursday 1/4. An extended column test showed no fracturing or propagation aside from consolidation of the recent storm snow. We were surprised that a slab formed and by the smoothness of the bed surface. The pit we dug must have captured an aspect with a less-pronounced crust and with more wind consolidation than the slope that slid. Speculating, the roll that slid was more open to the sky and may have had buried surface hoar that was not present in the more sheltered chute where we dug a pit.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 7600 ft
We intended to ski a ridge on skier's right when descending M3, approximately halfway down. My partner was skiing along the top of the ridge when a slab broke loose on a convex roll going to the right into a gully (n-ne aspect). The crown was approximately 12" deep and 20' wide, though I did not traverse onto the bed surface to confirm either dimension so these are very approximate. The slide ran roughly 300 vertical feet. The skier was not entrained in the slide and was able to traverse to safe ground.