I followed Dr. Jeff's footsteps today (more precisely his studly uptrack) in the burn climbers right of the Vermillion Peak slide path. Previous day and overnight winds had created some windeffect above 1800 meters, namely along the rib that one uses to climb. While I was forewarned by the avalanches that Jeff had kicked off yesterday, I was nevertheless surprised that I managed to trigger a small Sz 2 slab remotely (3 meters) on a 35ish degree glade at 1900m before I could even attempt to ski-cut it. The slab was 30cm thick, 30m wide and ran for 30m on facets sz 1 (likely the January 27 interface?). Keep in mind that this instability will stick with us for a while unless the warming trend that is to be exepcted (hopefully) soon or additional load (new snow) will cause it to release naturally.
Skiing was good, however in the lower elevations the snowpack was not always relyably supportive anymore......
Cheers,
Jorg Wilz
Mountain Guide (ACMG / IFMGA / VDBS)
1-800 506-7177 or (001) 403 678 2717