Thread: Sled triggered avalanche POV

There's a pointer to this on the Bridger Teton NF afternoon avalanche advisory today.



I'm not trying to second guess the guy, but am I right in thinking that rock he goes around just as the slide starts is an indicator of a thin spot in the snowpack, and thus a potential starting zone?

Cool video suit, go figure it would break around that rock

lucky slednecks

Yup, you are right in thinking that. Alpine variable snowpack, facets easy to trigger from the thin spot by the rock.

Amazing that they were able to run it out- I don't recommend that as a usual strategy, but glad it worked for them.

Discussion here - http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125433

http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125433

Originally Posted by LeeLau

http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125433

Geez - I thought we were self-righteous and quick to call other people stupid ...

Thanks for the link, Lee.

Thanks for the link Lee, that is an interesting view into the slednecking world.

I like how so many people are jumping all over that guy, but only one or two people are actually posting some of the clues that they missed or did wrong that put them in that situation.

Amazing how so may people there say things like well it is always high avy danger but that is not going to stop me from going up high because I have never seen that slope slide. Classic example of heuristic trap.

He took quite some time to get back on the throttle. Perhaps he was trying to shake all the crap out of the bottom of his strides.

wow, that's crazy. aside from highmarking around a weak point on a loaded slope, gotta say that is some good riding. he did the right thing by pinning it and not looking back until he got to the other side of the gulley. guy is so lucky he made it over that wave without dumping the sled.

Jesus, we were up sledding yesterday and are heading up again today... scary stuff.

Whoa. WOW.

Originally Posted by sierraskier

wow, that's crazy. aside from highmarking around a weak point on a loaded slope, gotta say that is some good riding. he did the right thing by pinning it and not looking back until he got to the other side of the gulley. guy is so lucky he made it over that wave without dumping the sled.

Yeah, I though that wave was the really interesting part, what was it cause by the variation in the snows velocity's, or some feature?

The "wave" in the video is snow from the disintegrating slab flowing over an obstacle on the slope. You can often see this phenomenon in small avalanches or in the first few seconds of a large avalanche ( before the flow characteristics change to mixed motion ). Watch the snow flow over/around obstacles and notice how similar it looks to surf pounding rocks or water flowing in a course.

Here's a different video with great illustration: http://vimeo.com/1868541

At 2:30 seconds, the snowboarder triggers an avalanche. Watch as the slab releases and the snow begins to flow downhill. You'll see a lot of "splashing" as the flowing snow encounters obstacles on the slope. At about 2:53 you can watch the flow character of the avalanche change entirely.

How inspirational for the sledneck community.

Originally Posted by The Suit

Geez - I thought we were self-righteous and quick to call other people stupid ...

Yes - Monday morning quarterbacking is for everyone

Highmarking is just the Gene Pool sorting things out. This is a pretty mild transgression. I have seen stupidity far beyond this. Check out this sweet double high-mark induced slide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IItP7dVoYc

Highmarking is just the Gene Pool sorting things out. This is a pretty mild transgression. I have seen stupidity far beyond this. Check out this sweet double high-mark induced slide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IItP7dVoYc

Dude, that was gnarly. Obviously the guy was less than smart about the situation, but he was a lucky bastard who didnt freak out when the snow was coming. I cant believe they were going up that hill with all that wind-whipped snow.

Originally Posted by Teton Skid

"No Waaaaay"


um, yes way, dude, right into th terrain trap gully funnel

Good thing there were only two sleds caught in that slide. Had there been more, those filming and providing the insightful color commentary - "No way," and "Oh my God," sounding too much like Sarah Palin, dontchaknow - might have been unable to count that high. Ditto on the gene pool. Lee Ving, and Fear, had it right; Let's have a War!