Headed up into the Summit Park area above I-80 for a late afternoon stroll. On the way up my partner was getting shooting cracks off the ridge and collapsed the slope 2 times. Skied down a brushy slope starting at 8000'. Got sucked into a brushy patch and looked to my left and saw an open slope. Was about to yell up to my partner to ski the left line because it looked more open, but decided to check it out first. Started to sidestep over through an aspen patch and when I came out of the trees I noticed that the open patch which I had been looking at seconds before had avalanched remotely from stomping through the trees. SS-ASr-R2-D2-O. The avalanche occurred on a steep convexity that was 40 degrees. The bed surface was 35-36 degrees and the debris ran into a terrain trap 200' below. The fracture propagated out ~125' down canyon. Avg. crown depth was 16-18" but was 24" at it's deepest point. Weak layer was the Feb. 10th surface hoar layer. Crystals were 6-10mm potato chips. We did a crown profile to see if we could also find the Feb. 16th surface hoar layer. It was hard to pull out, but we found it 15cm(6") above the 2/10 layer. These surface hoar crystals were 3-4mm and the layer was stubborn in snow pit tests. In one piece of debris you could see that the slab broke at the 2/16 SH layer. At the crown profile we got an ECTPV Q1 while trying to cut the back of the column. Of interest was that slope angle was very important. Anything less steep than 35 degrees and we got an ECTP17 Q2 and an ECTP 22 Q2. Also of interest was that the slab was 4F, but the bed surface was solid 1F, which I think is why the 2/10 layer is more reactive than the 2/16 layer in this location. My partner made the comment about the observation recently which noted that the areas that are usually "safe spots" are the places that can catch you this year. This area mirrors what is going in Lambs Canyon right now. I didn't have my camera to take pictures, but took a few with my phone. They weren't large enough files to be worth posting. Might try to go back and snap a few shots tomorrow.
Photo and comments by Ed: I'm just attaching a few photos of the slide in Summit Park from a few days ago. It's a pretty impressive slide for the area, and it hammers home the lesson about the depth hoar lurking on these mid-elevation spots that are normally safe. The only thing I'd add to the report the guy sent in is that there was also extensive wind-loading in the area, which is pretty normal for this aspect. The slide is actually on the side of SP that rarely gets gets skied because it gets hammered by the winds.