Vail & Summit County
AvalancheChase Courington · Feb 21, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mostly Sunny, windy, gusts 30-40
Snowpack
~25cm Storm slab on top of sun crust, some leeward areas were pretty thick wind slab
Avalanche
I was in-bounds at Loveland Basin waiting for the Ridge Cat and looking across the gulch at Coon Hill watching 3, possibly 4, skiers descend the East Face off the Coon Hill summit. Second skier triggered a large slide, from my vantage, as they turned toward the rock exposure. The skier was able to stop at the point of release and then descend down the slide path after it ran. Slide looked to originate at the rocks and propagate across the wind loaded face to run length of the face, it didn't appear to step down although I was across the gulch below the ridge of Golden Bear (waiting on the Loveland Ridge Cat). Ski patrol in-bounds at Loveland triggered many slides during mitigation work.