Were headed towards Superior/Little Superior looking for exit out of Cardiff back to LCC. Uncomfortable with an easy shear I have seen on South facing over the last 1 1/2 weeks and decided to exit via a little less steep option..... West Hellgate. Using ridges to mitigate exposure we released a sizable soft slab on a steep south/southwest facing gully wall. When partners came around corner and saw the size of the crown and the propagation cracks they were shocked. I had the feeling that had it been ten or fifteen degrees warmer this could have propagated much further and been a little out of hand if someone had been down in the gully. Complex terrain offers both safety and trickeration with this snowpack.