We found this large soft slab avalanche around 4 PM. It seemed to have run sometime recently but it was hard to tell just how recent with the strong winds and intense precipitation off and on throughout the afternoon. We assume that this slab was inflated by the constant stream of wind driven snow onto this slope. We also assume that this could have released as a result of a cornice fall, seeing fragments on the slope and cracks in other cornices. A natural release under the affect of rapid loading is also a possibility. Regardless, it seems to have come down on it's own. It was a miserable time to be on the West Desolation Ridge so we didn't stick around too long but it looks like it ran on the recently buried near surface facets. Nearby they were still fist hard.
Combing narrative from duplicate observation: Just skiers left of the main West Desolation ridge is a shorter steeper slope which was being actively windloaded when we walked up on this avalanche, just barely starting to fill back in the crown. We don't think we remotely triggered it, we didn't feel or hear any collapses nearby but it was pretty fresh. This avalanche failed on faceted snow near the ground, pictured below, and on previously buried near surface facets. The crown in the photo with the observer was a deeply windloaded pocket. It appears that a steeper part of the slope above released and brought this lower portion with it. The terrain immediately below the crown was a mere 27 degrees. The slab was 4f- at it hardest.
