Sawatch

Avalanche

We triggered an avalanche from a shallow area in a north facing gulley near 11,500 feet. We were booting up through shallow snow over rocks, but the other side of the gulley had a large wind drift. The avalanche failed on dry facets near the ground (2-4 mm depth hoar). Slide was 1 to 4 feet deep and 120 feet wide. It did not gouge much in the track, but ran about 1000 feet. We were at the corner of the crown when it broke. We had to walk down the rocks to get back out.