avalanche in the Jewel Basin Hiking Area near Bigfork Montana

[chiller]

Haven't seen this posted yet. Slide happened while they were hiking and death was from asphyxiation. Such a bummer, vibes to the family and friends.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/aut...cfd4059ab.html

[danimal's dead]

Posted: Friday, February 3, 2012 9:00 pm | Updated: 9:58 pm, Fri Feb 3, 2012.

Fatal avalanche started at ridgetop cornice By JIM MANN/The Daily Inter Lake Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments

"Mark Albee and his brother Iain knew the avalanche risk was high and were attempting to avoid danger by staying high on the Swan Crest, but they unknowingly skied over a cornice, triggering an avalanche that killed Mark Albee on Wednesday.

The body of the 42-year-old Bigfork man was recovered by search-and-rescue personnel Thursday at about 12:30 p.m.

“They had been up on the ridge and they knew the avalanche conditions were significant,” said Flathead County Undersheriff Jordan White, who was involved with the recovery effort. “They had some crown fractures along the cornices on the ridge. They were trying to stay on the ridge to stay out of danger and they didn’t realize that they were on a cornice and that would be really easy to do.”

The cornice, a wind-loaded snow ledge, fractured and started an avalanche that carried Albee several hundred feet down a steep east-facing slope between Wildcat and Twin Lakes in the Jewel Basin. White said Albee’s brother probably was no more than a few feet away but escaped the collapsing cornice. Both men were highly experienced in backcountry travel with many years of experience in Jewel Basin during the winter.

White said the brother attempted to descend the slope but could not do so safely, so he skied back to his vehicle to call for help.

“He knew if he went down there was a likelihood of triggering another avalanche,” White said. “It would literally take a couple of hours to get down there safely. He figured the best decision was to get out and call for resources. He also knew that the likelihood of being able to survive an avalanche of that magnitude would be limited.”

The avalanche was triggered at an elevation of 7,100 feet. It had a vertical drop of about 500 feet, and a run of 600 feet long and 200 feet across.

The avalanche was reported at about 2 p.m. Wednesday. The ALERT helicopter was dispatched but could not reach the site because of low cloud cover. A ground response was launched, but that also was complicated by weather.

“The complicated part for us was the incoming storm system,” White said.

North Valley Search and Rescue, the Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol and Flathead National Forest personnel were staging from the Hungry Horse Reservoir side of the Swan Range, attempting to reach the site through the Wounded Buck drainage.

Flathead County Search and Rescue staged from Camp Misery, the main access to the Jewel Basin. But as darkness fell there was heavy snowfall.

“By then the snow was dumping so much that we were in near-zero-visibility conditions,” White said.

While more than a foot of snow fell on the Swan Mountains, the search was suspended Wednesday night with plans to resume in the morning with the same strategy.

White was able to get to Wildcat Lake by helicopter at around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, but cloud cover prevented the helicopter from reaching the avalanche site until about 11:30 a.m. With more people arriving by snowmobile, there were 10 searchers at the site around noon.

White said the search initially was concentrated on slide debris at the toe of the avalanche, where searchers were able to pick up sporadic, weak signals from the transceiver beacon Albee was wearing.

“But there was nothing we could lock onto,” he said.

The searchers then turned their attention to a smaller debris deposit about 150 feet upslope.

“There we received a strong beacon signal and we were guided right to the victim and he was under about five feet of snow,” White said.

Albee’s body was recovered and transported out of the area by helicopter. More than 60 responders were involved with the search effort."

from the dailyinterlake.com by Jim Mann

[danimal's dead]

I ride up in the Jewel a lot in the spring, it must have been crazy deep up there right now, we've had 7 feet of snow in the last 20 days up high as of Feb. 1. Vibes to the family.

[AsheanMT]

^^^ The 3" we got on the Big Wednesday night was 10" down there. Many of my friends were down there with Nordic Ski Patrol and SAR but they were kicking off slides all night and couldn't get in. I've had a lot of mixed reports on how it actually happened and am holding off on coming to any judgements until Stan Bones issues the GCAC incident report. Big bummer all around. I love the Jewel and go there often. Have not gone out this winter since November due to the snowpack. That trip was in the Jewel as well.

++++Vibes++++ to all involved and especially to the Brother that was unable to save his twin.

[AsheanMT]

GCAC Incident report can be found here if any are interested.

[neufox47]

Wow, missed this the first time around. Thanks for posting the official report. Condolences to lain and the rest of the family. In a season of terrible avy accidents, this one may be the most chilling to me.

I am a bit curious if he could have skied down the avalanche path, or if it was impassable. With a 5' burial he probably wouldn't have gotten to him in time regardless.

I'm guessing the professionals would say that lain made the correct choice, but I don't know that I could ever do what he did. I think I would probably attempt a rescue regardless of slide concerns if it were my brother. I'm not saying that going after him regardless is the right thing, just what I THINK I would do. Either way, the idea of my parents losing both their sons in one incident or knowing that one of their sons suffocated while the other stood by horrify me beyond words. I can only imagine what he's going through right now.

[AsheanMT]

Wow, missed this the first time around. Thanks for posting the official report. Condolences to lain and the rest of the family. In a season of terrible avy accidents, this one may be the most chilling to me.

I am a bit curious if he could have skied down the avalanche path, or if it was impassable. With a 5' burial he probably wouldn't have gotten to him in time regardless.

I'm guessing the professionals would say that lain made the correct choice, but I don't know that I could ever do what he did. I think I would probably attempt a rescue regardless of slide concerns if it were my brother. I'm not saying that going after him regardless is the right thing, just what I THINK I would do. Either way, the idea of my parents losing both their sons in one incident or knowing that one of their sons suffocated while the other stood by horrify me beyond words. I can only imagine what he's going through right now.

I felt the same way. Whether right or wrong choice I'm posititve I would not have been able to leave my wife under the debris.

Things I took away from this incident:

1) I always bring my phone with me. If he would have had his he could have made that call within minutes instead of hour(s).

2) Fucking Cornices!!! I will continue to stay well far back from the ridge. If i think I know where the cornice ends and safety starts, I'm gonna be another 15' from that line and maybe more. The ones in the Jewel are especially big!

3) You're the only chance for your partners survivor! Do not leave! I'm sticking to that one but I know I'm arm-chairing and wasn't there.

4) I don't care if I get laughed at for bringing a rope and harness with me when I go to the Jewel. We've used them to assess slopes there in the past and one could have been used to get down on that slope.

Its unfortunate that this happened. Condolences once again to the family and friends affected. The only hope is that others will learn from this horrible incident so as to prevent another.