Avalanche

Avalanche: Butler Basin

SeanSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
38°

Avalanche

Slab Width
15 m
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Trigger Type
Snowboarder
Vertical Fall
91 m
Avalanche Type
Wet Loose
Slab Thickness
15 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
Northeast
Avalanche Problem
Wet Snow
Start Zone Elevation
3048 m

Unintentional slide triggered in the Gobblers/Butler Basin area this morning around 10am. The sun had been shining on the slope for approx. 2 hours prior, however the snow seemed fairly dry at the top. After a couple hundred feet I looked upslope and saw the slide moving at snail pace; it looked like someone had poured concrete down the slope. After moving safely away from the runout zone I hoped to get my camera out in time to capture a video, but was a bit too slow as the debris had just settled. My partner dropped the same line, hoping to examine the crown/sidewalls, and triggered two more smaller sluffs that ran on the original bed surface for a hundred feet or so. As we were leaving we noticed that two natural slides had recently occurred in the area; a wet slide on a southern aspect and a point release on an eastern aspect.