Vail & Summit County
AvalancheZack Novak · Feb 20, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear skies and light westerly winds
Snowpack
Wind slab was reactive spots but distribution and sensitivity were quite variable with depth ranging from 5 to 50cm. Most touchy seamed ~10-15cm
Avalanche
A skier in our group triggered a wind slab on a steep roll ~40° on an E aspect @12,200 ft. The slab fractured and ran below him, triggered from a rocky convexity and ran roughly 30 meters across and 200 meters down. Bed surface was old snow interface. Max crown hight appeared to be ~30 cm but most was shallower. (D1.5 R3) Multiple other wind slab releases were observed in the zone throughout the day, all skier triggered and all others were <d1