Bat Ears Couloir and Bear Basin avalanches

Bear Basin
Northern Madison
Code
SS-ASc
Aspect
NW
Latitude
45.34530
Longitude
-111.37500
Notes

From an observation form:

An intentional ski cut at the top of Bat Ears couloir produced a windslab avalanche with a crown 4-8inches deep and ran about as wide as the couloir . We then continued to ski down. Once in the bottom of Bear Basin, we could see a much larger avalanche that looked to be 1-2 days old. Its disjointed crown was some 150ft wide, but it was hard to tell how deep it was, as its crown was fairly far away and partly blown back in. Parts of the slide ran on the ground layer of facets but looked to be the result of wind load.

I do not have pictures of the Bat Ears crown that we triggered. We exited via Bear basin with our tails between our legs, and hope this bad idea on our part can help others make terrain choices this weekend.

Number caught
0
Number buried
0
Avalanche Type
Soft slab avalanche
Trigger
Skier
Trigger Modifier
c-A controlled or intentional release by the indicated trigger
Problem Type
Wind-Drifted Snow
Slab Thickness units
centimeters
Single / Multiple / Red Flag
Multiple Avalanches
Advisory Year