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Thread: Wasatch Conditions 12/13
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02-02-2013, 11:05 PM #476
Last edited by F#*k You Cat; 02-02-2013 at 11:49 PM.
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02-03-2013, 05:20 AM #477Banned
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LOVE IT!
rog
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02-03-2013, 09:21 AM #478Registered User
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^^^^^
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02-03-2013, 09:50 AM #479pura vida
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Everything in white pine had a crust of some sort yesterday. Either sun or wind. Several large collapses noted on upper N/E facing steeps.
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02-03-2013, 12:21 PM #480
Skied Little Water from BCC yesterday, north facing aspens still had cold snow, nice turns. Starting to get some surface hoar forming in the colder protected woods. South facing trees were soup, imagine essentially unskiable if it refroze.
If carrots got you drunk; rabbits would be fucked up.
- Mitch Hedberg
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02-03-2013, 03:47 PM #481
There was a full burial in Silver West Bowl today, 5 foot deep, loss of concisness,
Rescued by partners, skied out on own.Last edited by sfotex; 02-03-2013 at 05:05 PM.
When life gives you haters, make haterade.
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02-03-2013, 05:14 PM #482
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02-03-2013, 05:26 PM #483
Got out the last couple days. Large collapses felt Thursday on mellow west facing shots southern Wasatch 7.5k. Stuck to mellow routes up and down. South aspects seem pretty well bonded, quasi-corn with some crust mixed in up high, mush down low.
Sfotex up North
MarkH schussing some SE Ben Lomond goodness
AOK heading to zee top
Scenic
AOK above it all
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02-03-2013, 06:09 PM #484
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02-03-2013, 06:28 PM #485Registered User
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"Accident and Rescue Summary:
Note: The content here was written by UAC forecaster, Bruce Tremper, who is investigating the accident further.
A group of four skiers spent the day in Broad's Fork skiing several slopes including Bonkers and a couple runs on Great West. On their last run, they skied off the NE side of Peak 9924, which is on the ridge between Broads Fork and Mill B South. It is a 2,000 vertical foot run. The upper half is a 35-degree slope through gladed trees and looks like a deceptively easy descent but the lower half rolls over into a series of cliffs the bottom of the Mill B South drainage.
Two skiers descended partway and waited in some trees. The third skier started down while the fourth skier waited on the ridge. The third skier got about 4 turns into the run when he triggered a large, hard-slab avalanche about 3-4 feet deep and quite wide. He yelled "Avalanche!" to the others below and one was able to grab a tree and the other scrambled out of the way. The third skier was going to deploy his avalanche airbag pack but he impacted a tree before he could pull the trigger. The tree stopped him and the debris washed over him and buried him with his head sticking out. He injured his knee in the impact with the tree. The fourth skier on top came down with his beacon on receive and found the third skier and helped him get out. Luckily no one took the full ride to the bottom because it would most likely be un-survivable because it descended through gladed trees and over several cliffs on its 2,000 vertical foot path.
The injured skier hobbled down, sliding on his rear much of the way. He found one of his skis about halfway down. It was difficult negotiating the various cliff bands. At the bottom, he was able to ski out on one ski. He was obviously very lucky.
We will investigate the slide and provide more details, photos and perhaps a snow profile as time allows." uac
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02-03-2013, 06:37 PM #486Registered User
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^^ guess this was yesterday. real backcountry shit show in the rockies last few days!!!
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02-03-2013, 08:04 PM #487
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02-03-2013, 08:21 PM #488
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02-03-2013, 08:32 PM #489observing free range rude
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That's impressive work by the partners.. glad to hear he/she is ok.
Maybird upper was nice today. Saw a sizeable debris field partially wind covered below the NE face of Pfeiff. NE aspect, 10.5k. W/NW faces seem pretty stable, wind packed/scoured. Tried to trigger a hard as sh*t wind slab @ 10,700 nw facing but couldn't get it to move. Snow below it was decent.
Bootin
Scrambling to the top
No Name Baldy
Pfieff in all her glory
Mission accomplished, chute in center. Can't see track really just bootpack
Inspiration for next weekend
Last edited by Bromontana; 02-03-2013 at 08:47 PM.
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02-03-2013, 08:46 PM #490
Skied East bowl of silver fork all day and exited with a run down the meadows chutes (football field). We headed up to East bowl from Grizzly, lots of sun affected snow on anything the sun hit. Skied 3 runs around Down and out (easy does it) and one run down over easy.
While at the bottom of east bowl our party of 4 all heard a scream. Thought that was strange because everyone in the area appeared to be alright. Skinned back up Down and Out for another lap on Over Easy. Got to the top of Davenport and saw life flight circle around about 3 times before landing.
We spotted a new slide on Silver Fork Headwall (West bowl area). Looked to be about 1-2 foot crown, couple hundred feet wide and ran a few hundred yards through some small trees. Further inspection looked like there was a small slide above a cliff and a bigger crown below the cliff band.
There were maybe 10 other people at the bottom of west bowl by the time we arrived at the top of Davenport. Nobody was in the runout zone of the slide at the time. We decided the best course of action was to stay on the ridge. More bodies would just be in the way considering life flight had been there for about 10 minutes. There was also 2 separate groups leaving the scene. Right after that, Life flight took off and two patrol came down from Solitude.
Glad to hear everyone walked away!
On a better note we had no signs of instabilities in east bowl. Dug a quick pit and didn't notice anything to be alarmed about. Ended up having a great day with no instabilities on what we skied except what we saw in west bowl. The snowpack is extremely variable right now. Watch out, dig lots of pits. The snow is changing constantly right now.Last edited by Wolfmansbro; 02-03-2013 at 09:18 PM.
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02-03-2013, 08:48 PM #491When life gives you haters, make haterade.
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02-03-2013, 09:21 PM #492
We came upon scene as the rescue was underway. We didn't see the avalanche take place, but arrived at the scene as the victim was pulled to standing at the burial site.
The victim in today's Silver Fork avalanche was lining up for a cliff huck on the Silver Fk headwall. Avy was triggered from one turn below the cornice. Looked to me about 30-50' wide and perhaps 1-2 ft deep at the crown. After carrying the skier off the cliff, the debris triggered a second avalanche, this one wider and 2-3 ft deep. The skier's partner was posted up on an opposing knoll shooting photos, and it took him 2-3 minutes for him to reach the victim.
First rescuer on the scene was guide Todd Glew, who had just begun skinning up West Bowl of Silver with clients. He heard the photog shouting, and hussled to the debris. Todd was able to quickly get a low beacon reading of "1" and then hit the victim on first probe strike. Probably <5 minutes burial for the victim but his partner reported that the victim's hand stopped squeezing back just before they uncovered his face. Victim confirmed that he was conscious after tumbling over cliff band, and forced himself to control his breathing when the snow stopped moving but then lost consciousness moments before being uncovered. He found his skis and, speaking with him just minutes after he was uncovered, seemed unhurt and unshaken.
Perhaps worth mentioning, the party at the bottom on West Bowl that was closest to the victim did nothing to aid the rescue. While Glew, the victim's partner, and others raced to help they requsted help as they passed this group, but the party made no move to assist. Instead, they watched as the victim was extracted and then, when a number of explitives were directed their way, left the scene as the dust began to settle. Unclear if they were unskilled/unprepared for an avalanche rescue or just happy watching the world burn. Strange either way.
Edit: One of the many (5? 6? more?) parties in the area called 911 from the ridgeline when they saw a rescue was underway. Other rescuers called Alta Central. After the victim was unburied and pronounced himself uninjured, the rescuers attempted to call off Life Flight/SAR. When the heli began lining up for a landing 20 or 30 mintues after the accident, it became clear that either you cant call off a rescue once it's been initiated or AltaCentral/911 didnt convey the message in a timely manner. Sfotex, can one call off a rescue? Who does one contact to do that?Last edited by The Gnarwhale; 02-03-2013 at 09:59 PM.
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02-03-2013, 09:28 PM #493
^^^^^^^Wow.....
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02-03-2013, 09:29 PM #494
^that is strange. We were on top of Davenport around the time life flight left. We saw that party head back up the hill so we assumed that everyone was ok because they left the scene so figured we could be of no other assistance. Ski patrol also skied by us without telling us what was going on and said they didn't need assistance.
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02-03-2013, 09:56 PM #495
That might've been me, my partner, and other groups heading up when Life Flight arrived. When the victim pulled his skins out an began headed home, we dispersed and were half way back up West Bowl before Life Flight showed up. The group who refused to help in the rescue had disappeared before we started back up.
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02-03-2013, 10:13 PM #496Registered User
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Life Flight/Wasatch Backcountry Rescue can be called off once resources have been deployed but such a communication needs to be made through whichever agency made the initial request for rescue. If you called 911, call them back to issue a "stand down" request; if you called Alta Central first, call them again. To reiterate: In Salt Lake County especially, calling Alta Central (801-742-2033) is the best way to get an effective rescue underway; they will know whether Life Flight or WBR makes more sense given terrain, conditions, other circumstances, etc, and they have more experience dealing with mountain accidents than most 911 dispatchers. Put their number in your phone right now, and carry your phone in the backcountry.
It is unclear where communication broke down in Silver Fork today, but obviously the take-away point is that managing information is hugely critical in successful rescues. Particularly in accidents involving multiple parties, serious injuries, or adverse conditions, communicating with rescue agencies can be just as important as performing a quick beacon search or effectively stabilizing an injury.
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02-03-2013, 10:14 PM #497Registered User
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Life Flight/Wasatch Backcountry Rescue can be called off once resources have been deployed but such a communication needs to be made through whichever agency made the initial request for rescue. If you called 911, call them back to issue a "stand down" request; if you called Alta Central first, call them again. To reiterate: In Salt Lake County especially, calling Alta Central (801-742-2033) is the best way to get an effective rescue underway; they will know whether Life Flight or WBR makes more sense given terrain, conditions, other circumstances, etc, and they have more experience dealing with mountain accidents than most 911 dispatchers. Put their number in your phone right now, and carry your phone in the backcountry.
It is unclear where communication broke down in Silver Fork today, but obviously the take-away point is that managing information is hugely critical in successful rescues. Particularly in accidents involving multiple parties, serious injuries, or adverse conditions, communicating with rescue agencies can be just as important as performing a quick beacon search or effectively stabilizing an injury.
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02-03-2013, 11:49 PM #498
I just read the entire thread and it reminded me of how damn awesome your slice of heaven really is. The mountains and scenery are incredible.
"Powderturds." Laughing my ass off, for some reason it tickles my funny bone more than it probably should. Although the name is most appropriate.
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02-03-2013, 11:50 PM #499Registered User
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Wow. Scary stuff, saw the lifeflight heli from willow today. Glad about the happy ending. In case yer headed out usa/willow way, the turning is good on west facing sheltered, wills skied awesome, main willow was creamy on top, really carveable and fun. USA bowl was shitty IMO, damp manky. Saw a sizeable old debris pile in west monitor along with some older tracks. Skiing is good to really good in spots have fun, safe travels to errybody.
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02-04-2013, 09:49 AM #500
JTrue, nice captures on the BL. Haven't been there in a long time. Thx for the memory jar!
Johnny's only sin was dispair
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