Getting spicy

Above Stanton Lake, we found widespread storm slab instabilities developing by the end of the day, and a natural cycle is underway.

• By this afternoon, we experienced consistent shooting cracks, skier and remote-triggered slides, and saw naturals in the storm snow, 6" to 12" deep. Slabs were thicker and propagating wider in wind affected terrain at higher elevations.  They were smaller, thinner, and easier to manage at lower elevations.  
• At mid-elevations, we experience several collapses, shooting cracks, and got propagating test results in facets above the Groundhog Crust, buried 18" -24".  We saw one large (D2) natural persistent slab avalanche that was triggered by a smaller wind slab. 
• Snowfall rates increased through the day, becoming heavy by 4 pm.  Moderate southwest winds with strong gusts at ridgeline were blowing and densifying snow. 
• We stayed off of terrain steeper than 30 degrees at mid-elevations and rode in steep terrain at lower elevations using "sluff management" techniques to handle the smaller, predictable storm slabs while being extra cautious of gullies.