Good stuff, and worthy of discussion. Though much of it is sort of Pass-centric, I think the lessons learned can apply to many heavily used backcountry areas. I’ll cross-post my comments from Steve’s site:
I think people need to stop criticizing “Skier X” for risking the lives of unknown others. Not really a legit argument in the context. He has NO responsibility to UNKNOWN parties below him. His primary concern is managing the hazards the he and his party are exposed to.
It’s the 100% the responsibility of the parties skiing through the runout to manage that hazard appropriately. Not the responsibility of the party thousands of feet above.
To criticize the skier for managing avy hazard on the slope he and his party were about to ski because of potential “bystanders” below is misguided and, to me, just another example of how many Pass locals seem to downplay the very real hazards of the area.

Deep slab instabilities are the scariest. Low probability, HIGH consequence. Quite a few years back a guy was killed when he triggered a slope in the Canyons sidecountry. The slope probably had about 100+ lines down it, completely tracked out and he happen to be the guy who found the sweet spot.

the.big.van: the “unknown” just means that it shouldn’t necessarily stop someone from mitigating avy hazard on a slope they’re about to ski. It’s the skier’s responsibility to know when he’s in avalanche terrain. Doesn’t get much more basic than that. An avalanche descending from above, whether it be natural or accidentally/intentionally human triggered is a HUGE part of the ballgame, and a part that doesn’t get given much respect around these parts (Bozeman and Jackson).

As a backcountry skier/boarder/biler, it’s your responsibility to manage that avalanche path/runout the best way you can based on your level of acceptable risk. That there might be other skiers above you who could bring something down the poop chute should be a huge part of your equation. This is terrain management 101 and hopefully not new to you or anyone else on here.

“Bystanders” was used in my post because that’s the light other people, on a different forum post, portrayed anyone crossing the SE Face avy path to be. Sorry for the cross-posting confusing. You and I both agree that people skiing across this avalanche runout should be aware of the hazards, not “bystanders”. That was the point I made on the other thread too.

I guess this is where I differ from you (and many on Steve’s post too). Maybe attempting to trigger something in that path makes Greg a douchebag, maybe not. I think the important part is that behavior like that occurs, a party’s primary sense of responsibility should be keeping each other safe (which Greg was doing), and people skiing in/below/across avy paths and runouts need to be HYPER aware of objective hazards (especially on Teton Pass) and manage the terrain appropriately.

wow 😯

rode Taylor last year, but not that slope – it was tempting but the consequences looked major.

all I can say is it probably wasn’t the best decision to ride that slope that day, even for experienced locals.

hangfire was mentioned somewhere – had the slope already slid or was that term missued in this situation.