Death sucks: Don't be that guy

**Lindahl** · 01-25-2012, 10:09 AM

Good words, Makers, even if you're strolling the line on SFB verbage.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but for clarification, it appears the EVI dude's intention wasn't necessarily to ski Old Mans (just the "safe" Old Mans trees). It seems like his intention was just to cut the gut to play with the snowpack. Fuck me... that's some scary shit, especially solo. Definitely punching the dragon in the teeth and trying to run away.

Originally Posted by JoeStrummer

I can't decide who I find more irritating, all the Jewish grandmothers on this site who think you will get killed at the trailhead on a 4/5 day, or the self-appointed Jedi Knights who read some Tremper on the crapper and think they are the Stephen Hawking of Snowpack. But after reading the claptrap above, I think it's the latter.

+1

They're not just here, they've infiltrated my Facebook too. A buddy and I were talking about checking out a few mellow tree lines in the gut right off the road at LL pass on Monday morning (never opened, bummer). We were using Faceebook since the Georgetown cell tower was out. A retard who shall not be named decided to butt into the conversation with this gem:

Originally Posted by Retard Avalanche Nazi

Really?!? You read the news last night/this morning and thought it would be a good idea to even discuss skiing backcountry today? Don't be a fucking idiot.

Even funnier is that he's spent almost every ski day of this season in the terrain park and posting Epic Mix photos with his bro-brahs.

**PappaG** · 01-25-2012, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by Lindahl

We were using Faceebook since the Georgetown cell tower was out. A retard who shall not be named decided to butt into the conversation with this gem:

Even funnier is that he's spent almost every day of this season in the terrain park.

Let's get real, and come out with it fuckhead. You and your partner seem to think skiing compaction = sure sign of safety. Hope Darwin doesn't beat your head in the ass. Keep posting about your fucking "sluffalanches", every time you drop some 15-20' rock, everytime you ski a super rad line while forgetting to film it.... yeah, don't forget to tell us all that you did forget to film your awesome escapades. Because EVERYONE is dying to see the footage.

The way the snowpack has been, I have no reason to be anywhere but the terrain park until it snows, and when it does, I'll be hounding the powder within the confides of in-bounds terrain. My risk tolerance is as high as anyone else's but I know when it's not worth it, and right now and likely for a month, it won't be worth it. You've been at this game for what, a year or two and already you're an expert? Keep telling people about whumpfing, how shitty the pack is, how no one but you and your partners should be out there only to go out yourselves. Snow is sliding in tight trees at barely 20 degrees, so yeah, when some fuckhead is claiming skiing compaction at Loveland Pass to be the same at the resort AND THAT MEANS IT'S SAFE... newsflash, IT FUCKING AIN'T. But keep at it because the comedic value is sky high.

**Bunion** · 01-25-2012, 10:27 AM

Not E. Vail but scary shit nevertheless. This is akin to rolling rocks down a mountainside and opps, shit someone could have been in that terrain trap. Sorry dude we were just doing our part in the name of personal avalanche control.

By Brandon Zimmerman, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
January 25, 2012

A skier triggered a huge avalanche down the southeast face of Taylor Mountain on Tuesday afternoon, covering the Coal Creek trail for 500 yards with debris up to 30 feet deep.
Skiers and members of the county search and rescue team believe nobody was carried or buried in the slide. The path is just west of Teton Pass, north of Highway 22.
Earlier in the day, an avalanche carried a snowmobiler down part of Horseshoe Bowl above Phillips Bench and north of Mount Glory. He was partially buried and dug free by companions, according to the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center.
“As today’s avalanche events showed, the weak foundation of this year’s snowpack translates to prolonged periods of instability after new storm events,” the center’s 5 p.m. avalanche report said.
Forecasters predicted continued “lethal conditions on avalanche-prone terrain” and said slides similar to those on Tuesday should be expected Wednesday.
David Fischel, who had skied up Coal Creek earlier in the day, stopped in his tracks on his descent Tuesday afternoon. Before him was an avalanche debris pile so big it ran across the drainage and up the opposite hillside.
“It was huge, just huge,” Fischel said. “It was pretty impressive. The whole bottom of the gully was filled with debris.”
The slide filled the drainage with trees and snow. Teton County Search and Rescue searched the debris Tuesday afternoon for victims.
The avalanche center said the crown of the slide was 6 feet deep. The debris took out skiers’ tracks and some of an uphill skin track. It ran over the site where snowboarder Kevin Marriot was buried and killed following a cornice collapse in 1995.
The creek bottom is the normal exit track for skiers descending Mount Glory to the far west. The slide ran 30 feet up the opposite side of Coal Creek drainage, according to the report.
The skier who triggered the avalanche, who asked not be identified, told the News&Guide he was with two others when he
intentionally set off the slide from the south ridge of Taylor Mountain. He is an area resident who said he has more than 20 years of experience skiing the Teton Pass backcountry.
He said the slide occurred between 1 and 2 p.m.
“We were making our ski check control work before embarking on our run,” he said. “I intentionally triggered it.
“But I didn’t intend for it to be so large. I was quite surprised at the size of it.
“It took [out] four ski runs [tracks] from the night before as well as four ski runs from today,” he said. “It took eight ski runs down with it.”
The skier was minimally caught in the slide. He skied the rest of the way down to make sure no one was buried, skiing over rocks and exposed terrain along the way.
Fischel, who lives near Tetonia, Idaho, skied down Coal Creek a short time later to discover the grisly aftermath. He knows the slide could have ended differently for him and others.
“Fortunately, nobody happened to be down there when that thing slid,” Fischel said. “It would have been a fatality. I’m hoping this will be a lesson for folks who ski up there. They put people like me at risk.”
The skier who provoked the avalanche expressed relief that no one was believed buried in the slide.
“We’re very happy no one was in the channel,” he said. “I’m sorry to make one so close to the road. It’s tough, because I consider this my home hill. Unfortunately, we probably won’t be skiing up there the rest of season. It was a full-depth avalanche.”
Jay Pistono, Teton Pass Ambassador, was on the pass when he saw the dust cloud from the slide. He immediately went to the scene.
Pistono said the debris ran to within about a quarter-mile from the Coal Creek parking lot. The debris was 30 to 40 feet deep in places, he said.
Like others on the scene, Pistono was amazed no one was injured.
“It’s a matter of luck no one was there,” Pistono said. “A lot of people ski there.”
The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center was reporting “considerable” avalanche danger Tuesday. A winter storm last week brought between 4 and 6 feet of snow to the Tetons. Another round of snow dropped an additional 4 to 8 inches Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
The center said avalanche danger will continue to be considerable in the Tetons through today. It updates forecasts twice daily on its website, www.jhavalanche.org, and by phone at 307-733-2664.

**Lindahl** · 01-25-2012, 10:32 AM

Thanks for coming out of the closet.