4/21/2024 Field Report - Vail & Summit County

Elevation of around 13,000 ft. N/NE aspect. Wind slab. Skiier triggered. My group and I begin skiing the N couloir on Quandry on Sunday morning around 10:15am. We descended 1 by 1, and after getting about 1/3 of the way down the couloir a group skied on top of us. We had told this other groups our plans to ski this couloir and they could easily see us from the top. They skied on top of us on purpose. All 3 members of the group proceeded to ski from top to bottom. The third skier triggered a wind slab avalanche, that broke with I think was an 8-12 inch crown. The avalanche flushed out the entire last 2/3 of the couloir. It caught and carried a member of my team. we think this avalanche carried him 1000+ feet over rocks. He was partially buried. We performed rescue, while the team that triggered the avalanche proceeded to ski away.

Approach, up the main ridge from the Quandry Trailhead. Summited, then transitioned and skied directly to the mount of the Quandry Couloir. Assesed conditions and begins skiing 1 by 1.