Toured up to around 7000' above the Crystal Drainage. From the ridgetop we remote triggered a D2 slab Avalanche that ran fast on the 1/13 crust. The culprit was a small layer of facets buried on the leeward side of the ridge (NE aspect). Most of the drainage held 4-8 inches of new snow on the crust except for just below the ridgetop where wind had loaded it to multiple feet. The slide was triggered from approximately 15 feet back on the ridge. We skied the bed surface down as a safe exit. We did find stable skiing in sheltered terrain, feeling comfortable skiing above 40 degrees in treed areas. We noted a few recent loose avalanches on sunny aspects from the recent storm snow in steep chutes. Interestingly enough, none of the very steep terrain on Nyack slid with the new storm snow - we guessed that may change with a little more loading.
Party (3 skiers total) reported skiing a steeper treed run prior to the slide. On the skin to the ridge above the eventual crown, they saw short cracking on switchbacks and got no results on test slopes. They triggered the slide from about 15 feet back on the ridge, in an area where cornices existed. They didn't hear a big whumpf, though the 2nd skier saw it release in his peripheral vision. It propagated wider about midway down the slope. They found facets on the crust that was the bed surface, and perhaps a little surface hoar. They'd seen a few point releases in the recent snow, but no slabs, even on the headwall of Cascadilla creek. They triggered no additional slides on steeper slopes on their exit, though the snow didn't feel as slabby/ consolidated as up high.
