We were working our way up the ridge on the left side of the top of the Mtn in the photo in order to access the bowl/Hansen lake above. Up along the ridge line we were working our way (left to right in the photo) and it wasn’t steep or dangerous but very deep. It was so deep that I had trouble making my way up the ridge line at the very top and where you can see the large dead black tree in the upper left of the photo I began to trench and get stuck so I had to turn down and lose elevation to stay moving. I realized I had lost too much elevation and couldn’t make it back up to the ridge line and would have to drop down the steep face as my only option to get down due to the steep slope I had descended into and also the deep snow that wouldn’t allow me to get back up to my group. I radioed a friend up top to get eyes on me while I descended because I didn’t like the steepness of the slope. I was trying to side hill over to a spot where I would have a straight shot down the hill with no trees in my line. As I sidehilled across I saw a large crack shoot from either side of my skis so I jumped backward off of my sled as hard as I could and sent it down with the avalanche. I landed with my butt on the edge of the slab and my feet on the stiff lower layer of snow that had just become exposed. I radioed to my friends that I was okay and they all kept eyes on me while I recovered my sled and rode to the bottom. I had my Avy bag deployment handle in my hand but hadn’t pulled it yet when the situation stopped.