Avalanche: West Rustler

It was a small slide, but if I hadn't swam out, I would have potentially been buried and/or carried a couple hundred feet. A good reminder that lots of folks in the alta back country (running laps on rustler), doesn't mean it's safe. There was plenty of sloughing and evidence of non-stability -- you can see it in the bottom left of the photo. I am not sure of the slope angle, just guessed that it was above 30. Wish I had a better photo from the bottom, but I am new to riding avalanches. Our party of 3 was fairly new to the back country and religiously followed uac advisories. If there had been recent avi forecasts warning about the dangerous conditions, we likely would have chosen safer terrain. But, it seems like there were many experienced(?) folks up there running laps, and I warned someone that I was caught, and he continued undeterred.

Alta is closed for the season, and not doing control work, and the terrain should be treated no differently than other backcountry terrain.