Small soft slab

CB Avalanche Center2016-17 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 02/27/2017
Name: Evan Ross
Subject:
Aspect: South East
Elevation: 9,200-11,400

Avalanches:
Weather: Mostly clear sky became partly cloudy in the afternoon. We were mostly protected from winds, but they certainly picked up int the afternoon with plums off the high peaks and swirling snow in the glades above 10,500.
Snowpack: Didn’t travel in avalanche terrain. About 15cm’s of new snow from the last week. At 10,800ft on a south facing 30 degree slope the crust below the most recent snows was stout. On lower angled slopes at 11,200ft the crust facet sandwich was there, but not as concerning looking as seen in other places.

Kicked a cornice off low on coon ridge. It slid down to below the windload and released a small 20ft wide soft slab, 25cms deep, probably on the buried near surface facets. The weakness is there, just needs more of a slab to propagate.