May 8th, 2005 - The exit out...

May 8th, 2005 - The exit out of Stairs Gulch. This gulch provides some steep ski mountaineering routes and snow climbs. It is also one of the most dangerous canyons in the wasatch due to glide avalanches that occur on the huge slabs at the top. In May, 2001, some backcountry skiiers were killed during a predawn climb when a thaw the night before caused the snowpack on these slabs to slide, causing an avalanche big enough to reach the Big Cottonwood Canyon Road, some 4,000 ft below.