Unstable windslabs in Shirley Canyon

Big storm blowing on our tour today (6200-8000'). Intense amounts of wind and blowing snow, accompanied by a similar amount of signs of instability in the snowpack. Shooting cracks were obvious and prevalent on any slope that had fresh wind loading, which was varied due to the wild swings in the swirling wind.  Wind slab instabilities were mostly found on NW-N-NE-E-SE aspects. Our group was able to intentionally trigger numerous small (D1) wind slab avalanches, with crowns ranging from 8" to 16". These small avalanches were found on obvious wind-loaded pieces of terrain, and were easily triggered by ski cuts and stomps. We observed 1 slightly larger slab avalanche that was supposedly remotely triggered by a nearby party on fairly low angle terrain(less than 35*). It was difficult to see the slide through the storm, but it appeared to be almost 2' deep and was possibly big enough to bury a skier (D1.5-ish).  We also observed a little storm slab problem, with minor slab issues starting to develop by the mid-afternoon in sheltered areas. Visibility was low all day, it was difficult to get photos of observations.  Overall, we felt like the snowpack was getting very touchy by the afternoon in this zone today with the increased loading. 

Photo: Low vis photo of shooting cracks and small wind slab avalanche, intentionally skier triggered