Donate to the 2024 Spring Campaign to help rebuild the UAC website.

Avalanche: West Rustler

Observer Name
Angela
Observation Date
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Ski Area » West Rustler
Location Name or Route
West Rustler
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
West
Slope Angle
31°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
12"
Width
30'
Vertical
300'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments
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.
Coordinates