Wind slab in Crouchers Ridge

Avalanche

mikepower83 · Feb 10, 2020 · Gros Morne

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Quick report

Weather
windy, cloudy
Ride Type
mellowSlopes, convexSlopes, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes
Riding Quality
Amazing
Snow Conditions
deepPowder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Strong Westerly winds for 48 hours prior / during a visit to South West Gulch cabin. 30+ cms of snow had fallen 48-72 hours ahead of incident on Crouchers ridge, just south of Beaver Pond, near the 450-480 meter contour line. Terrain was not especially steep. Near the top of the tree line, after coming over a small convex rolling piece of terrain I triggered a slab that was 20-25 meters wide, and with 20cm crown. Was taken a few meters down the slope but stayed in my feet and not buried. We suspect it was a wind slab. A similar, but smaller, incident happened to another member of our party the day before in Japan trees on a similar aspect (facing East). These 2 incidents were non-consequential but confirmed our decision to alpine areas.