Avalanche Situation

[Mike King]

Colorado sun article. These were three very prominent members of the Eagle Vail community.

3 men killed in avalanche near Silverton identified as prominent Eagle County community members

One of the victims, Adam Palmer, was a newly elected Town of Eagle trustee. Andy Jessen co-founded Bonfire Brewing in Eagle. Seth Bossung managed projects for the county’s energy efficiency department.

coloradosun.com

 

[Rod9301]

Avalanche danger in the Alps, yesterday.


That's probably how it is in Utah and colorado now.

Never ski in conditions like this, buried facets under a lot of snow.

 

[jmeb]

Never ski in conditions like this, buried facets under a lot of snow.

Never ski *avalanche terrain* in conditions like this, buried facets under a lot of snow.

Otherwise, no one would ever ski ever in the Colorado backcountry until mid-April.

 

[Rod9301]

Never ski *avalanche terrain* in conditions like this, buried facets under a lot of snow.

Otherwise, no one would ever ski ever in the Colorado backcountry until mid-April.

Sure, if you ski 25 degree slopes, but then why bother?

 

[jmeb]

Sure, if you ski 25 degree slopes, but then why bother?

Because blower pow on 25 degree slopes can be hella fun?

If it's not fun for you -- fine. But the best skier is the one having the most fun and I'm pretty sure I've had a ton of fun on non-avalanche terrain this year.

 

[Rod9301]

Because blower pow on 25 degree slopes can be hella fun?

If it's not fun for you -- fine. But the best skier is the one having the most fun and I'm pretty sure I've had a ton of fun on non-avalanche terrain this year.

Ok, i realize that people have different objectives.

And, personally, i prefer medium density powder to blower.

 

[Lauren]

It's been a rough week for the backcountry community. Another fatality, this time on the east coast, this past Tuesday. Experienced Skier Killed in Avalanche in New Hampshire’s Ammonoosuc Ravine (backcountrymagazine.com). They haven't released many details from this accident. The skier was skiing alone, and his friends reported him missing Tuesday night. The rescuers found his car on Wednesday morning at a trailhead, and began searching. They located him late Wednesday afternoon, and was able to recover his body.

Quoted from the Article:
"This is the fifth avalanche fatality in the U.S. in a week, following the deaths on Monday of three experienced skiers in Colorado’s Ophir Pass, and last Saturday’s death of a snowboarder in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains."

 

[pais alto]

And now that in Northern California near Etna.
Edit:
Add link to story

 

[LiquidFeet]

There are too many of these. So sad.

 

[Mike King]

And another from Vail.

CAIC

 

[charlier]

The snowpack in Colorado and much of the mountain west is weak and dangerous - today’s forecast is considerable to high, with an Avalanche Warning for the Vail/Summit County, Sawatch, Aspen, and Gunnison zones.

Get the forecast: Colorado.gov/avalanche and stay safe

An informative post from A3

 

[charlier]

A super informative article written by Colin Zacharias. The article shows how using "terrain mindsets" or "rec mindsets" will help you know where not to go.

Terrain Tip No. 4: Know Where Not to Go - Powder Cloud

When it comes to managing the backcountry avalanche risk, that overused dictum know before you go could also be rephrased “before you go… know where you do not want to go”

thepowdercloud.com

 

[Jim Kenney]

This is bad. Millcreek Canyon, Utah: https://kutv.com/news/local/millcreek-canyon-alexander-basin-avalanche

 

[SBrown]

This is bad. Millcreek Canyon, Utah: https://kutv.com/news/local/millcreek-canyon-alexander-basin-avalanche

REAL bad.

 

[charlier]

This is bad. Millcreek Canyon, Utah: https://kutv.com/news/local/millcreek-canyon-alexander-basin-avalanche

So sad and avoidable - thoughout the western states. More people in the backcountry means a greater need than ever for avalanche education.

 

[locknload]

It has been SO unstable out there. This may go down as a record year for incidents and fatalities. It also seems as if many of the incidents involved experienced BD skiers and mountaineers. Condolences and thoughts for all the victims, their families, friends and the entire alpine community. Props to the forecasters and first responders who take on the risk of rescuing victims and recovering bodies...

 

[SBrown]

So sad and avoidable - thoughout the western states. More people in the backcountry means a greater need than ever for avalanche education.

Yes but ....

I don't know who these people were today, but all of them in CO (except one, who was mountain savvy but perhaps not snow savvy) were experienced and educated. Then it's a question of decision making, thought processes, etc. Not sure we will ever know exactly, since a few of them were solo, but to me it looks like possibly education was a detriment. ie, they thought they could outsmart the dragon. They had been there many times before, and it worked out. That sort of thing. No judgment here, just trying to figure it out.

 

[DanoT]

Not sure we will ever know exactly, since a few of them were solo, but to me it looks like possibly education was a detriment. ie, they thought they could outsmart the dragon. They had been there many times before, and it worked out. That sort of thing. No judgment here, just trying to figure it out.

I think that there is a certain euphoria about powder skiing that clouds the mind and leads to poor decision making.

I am not a back country skier but I have noticed myself on powder days inbounds in the past often try to squeeze in that extra powder turn in a unskied patch very close to a tree or ditch or do other riskier things. These days I consciously dial things back in the pow and try not to get too wound up.

 

[Daniel]

Yes but ....

I don't know who these people were today, but all of them in CO (except one, who was mountain savvy but perhaps not snow savvy) were experienced and educated. Then it's a question of decision making, thought processes, etc. Not sure we will ever know exactly, since a few of them were solo, but to me it looks like possibly education was a detriment. ie, they thought they could outsmart the dragon. They had been there many times before, and it worked out. That sort of thing. No judgment here, just trying to figure it out.

Here's some background on the Park City-based skier who died in an avalanche last weekend:

Park City avalanche victim was a seasoned backcountry skier, artist

Kurt Damschroder, who died in an avalanche in a backcountry area near Park City Mountain Resort's Ninety-Nine 90 lift, was considered an "icon" of the Park City backcountry community and a talented artist.

www.sltrib.com

I learned the identity of one of the four who perished in the Alexander Basin area of Millcreek Canyon today a couple hours ago. He's an experienced backcountry skier, as well as an accomplished rock climber and mountain biker. I suspect we'll learn that the other three who didn't survive are equally accomplished and experienced. I'm up in the mountains most days of the week resort skiing and snowboarding. Lots of backcountry trailheads are located along the canyon road on the way to the resorts. On days like today, they are chock-a-block full of vehicles and then some. The Wasatch has received 44" of snow in the last week but the PWL that's plagued the snowpack for many, many weeks remains. The Utah Avalanche Center has been virtually pleading with backcountry enthusiasts on a daily basis to exercise extreme caution but it seems to often be falling on deaf ears. Here's a video from a nearby mountain range (Uintahs) of snowmobilers frolicking in the backcountry today that's illustrative of the danger inherent in the current snowpack:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK-SnENB...=1u4rxl4ub70tt

 

[Jwrags]

Experience does not always make for the best judgement. The same has been shown in surgery where there is a bimodal distribution of complications. There is the early spike because of the lack of knowledge/experience and then a later spike where the experience makes you think you are smart enough to avoid the complication. I would bet the same is true with backcountry skiing.