Thread: Darwin Award Contender: 12' avy debris, 1 beacon & probe, 2 shovels = 'unfortunate'

Accident: Beaver Basin 3/3/2012 (La Sals):

RIP and condolences to those affected. Hopefully others will get a clue after reading about instances like this.

not enough GSA contenders in the crew, otherwise they would be fully stocked.

props to the 60 some volis who helped bring closure to another sad event
hopefully some of his organs can still be harvested/donated and the death sucks don't be that guy messsage is heeded, so it isn't a total loss
Not sure why the UAC has such a hard time getting this bc user group to at the very least carry the minimal companion rescue gear. Let alone the knowledge to avoid these incidents
vibes

Originally Posted by skifishbum

Not sure why the UAC has such a hard time getting this bc user group to at the very least carry the minimal companion rescue gear. Let alone the knowledge to avoid these incidents

human heuristics....seems to be the problem with plenty of other user groups too.

Sad incident, plenty to learn from the UAC accident writeup.

The victim was 12' under, even if they all had gear and were exceptionally skilled in their use, he wasn't going to make it buried that deep. RIP

^^^^^^
No doubt. But what's the point of going into dicey avy danger with one beacon?

This statement has me wondering at the critical moment of cresting the hill was this guy screwed even if he could have turned around?

The first two snowmobiles crossed the avalanche path and regrouped on the other side in the more protected part of the meadow. As the third snowmobile made its way across, the first two started to see "snow dust" coming down the avalanche path and waved the third on. As the third made it to the first two, the fourth snowmobile (victim) crested over the top of the steep hill and into the avalanche path. Vigorously waving for him to cross, the "snow dust" turned into a powder cloud and then debris and powder cloud obscured their vision for over 30 seconds. Once the snow settled, the fourth snowmobile and his rider was nowhere to be seen. The party started to search for their partner immediately.