Full path avy in Melissa's zone on Duffey

Quick report

Weather

warm, cloudy, windy, wet

Ride Type

alpineSlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

wet, crusty, heavy, windAffected

We accidentally triggered a full path avalanche in the Melissa’s zone on the Duffey on Saturday under "moderate" avy conditions. It was on the southern, wider Melissa’s line. We were the 8th and 9th people to ski the zone but were attempting to ski the ridge to avoid going into the bowl feature, ostensibly to stay safe. Slide released from pretty much the top of the skiers left ridge feature and took most of the snow from the skiers left side of the bowl. Crown was about 20-30cm at the deepest points of the release. Likely ran as a wind slab on a crust layer given the west facing aspect but I could be wrong. I was on the slab when it released but it was relatively slow moving so I was able to ski off of it pretty quick onto the underlayer but not without getting quite frightened in the process. In the pic you can see where ski tracks appear magically. I’m guessing size 2 or 3 but I don’t really know how to measure that so happy to let the experts weigh in on that.