General Observations

Near Cropley Chute, 2100' elevation WSW facing, 38 degree slope below rock and timber. Dan Kirkwood and I had skied E. side of Fruit Bowl earlier and found dust on crust and punchy crust with windblown powder. Nothing worth repeating. But no slab movement or signs of settling. All our descents were on ski cut powder, with crust underneath. We moved toward Cropley and looked for a representative slope w/o much exposure. We laid out our pit and began digging. Dan took a moment to tap the snow and listen for a drum or hollow sound. Wow. The top new layer propagated 100' up above us and released, stepping down to the next tombstone quality layer and churning it through the trees below us. Some of our gear was lost, and buried. The crown was 3"-6" and 10 meters wide, the avy ran 100 meters.2-3 feet deep. It took several beers to return to normal, but we can definitely say that 'bridging' is not an element of the current snowpack, tender windslab and remote triggers are likely.