Avalanche: Butler Basin

Large avalanche triggered as we climbed up the ridge to the South of Butler Basin on the shoulder of Gobblers Knob. We intentionally climbed up the broad part of the ridge to ski some lower angle terrain and enjoy the views. As we walked up the ridge, a crack shot our from the middle tourer north toward the slope. We then heard a loud wumph and saw the slope fracture into large blocks and propogate east down the ridge. Our partner lost his balance a little but thankfully we were far enough away from the slope to avoid being caught. We yelled in case any parties were below and saw no signs of tracks.

We inspected the crown which was about 3' deep at the deepest point. It generally took out most of the snow nearly to the ground, sliding in the weak layer from the last month of facets.

We skied the ridge to the toe of the slide which took out some large, mature aspens. Another party on Reynolds peak had seen the slide and showed up quickly to search for victims or help. We all turned to search mode on our beacons and found no signals. We also saw no other tracks near the debris piles. Very scary conditions with very weak snow below the significant slab on top.