Vail & Summit County
AvalancheBrian Carisch · May 22, 2019 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mix of sun and clouds, with no wind on the protected East facing bowl. Ridge winds coming from the W at appr 15 mph. 20-25 degrees
Snowpack
Hard layer of spring snow with 8-12 fresh falling over the previous 2 days. We watched 2 skiers come down the East facing bowl at 32-35 degree slope.
Avalanche
After the summit of Coon Hill, we decided to ski the North facing couloir. After navigating the rocks/snow from the summit down to the entrance (appr 75ft down from the summit) Skier 1 dropped in for 2 turns where the chute rolls over to appr. 40 degrees. The snow released directly under his skies at a depth of 12-14 inches at it's greatest, spanning between 100-120 feet wide (80% width of the couloir). Skier one was taken down hill for approximately 100-150 feet, but never lost his ski edges, and was able to cut out left under protection from the first major rock system on the left.