Large explosive triggered slide at Y.C. crown

Today the YC Ski Patrol conducted avalanche mitigation work above one of our roads. The area is outside of our ski area boundary and receives no skier traffic. A 2lb explosives charge was detonated from an aerial tram and triggered a R4/D3 avalanche that ran to the ground on depth hoar. The crown was 4', The max path width was around 250', and it ran 350 vertical feet to the bottom of the runout zone. The elevation was 8400' on a ENE aspect and max slope angle of 36 degrees. Two sections of road, which were controlled for traffic, were buried with an estimated 15-20 feet deep deposition pile. We’ve seen this path go big in the Spring, but we can’t recall it ever going quite this big. Photos courtesy YC Ski Patrol.