Results 26 to 50 of 198
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12-27-2013, 04:26 PM #26spook Guest
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12-27-2013, 04:45 PM #27skin track terrorist
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Where the chairlifts do double corks
- Posts
- 527
As soon as you think you know everything, or that you are in control, you are vulnerable and in danger. Being aware of an avalanche hazard will not save your life. Safe backcountry travel and route selection will.
long live the jahrator
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12-27-2013, 06:17 PM #28
^^^
Nailed it. I always say, think like an amateur.There's nothing better than sliding down snow, and flying through the air
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12-27-2013, 08:39 PM #29
Condolences to family and friends.
That's a serious face. Hard to believe snow sticks to that thing.
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12-27-2013, 09:25 PM #30
Condolences to all those affected. Horrible to read about this around the holidays.
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12-27-2013, 09:27 PM #31Banned
- Join Date
- Dec 2009
- Posts
- 7,167
vibes to family and friends of the fallen tribe member
rog
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12-27-2013, 09:43 PM #32
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12-27-2013, 10:22 PM #33
Spent the holiday in Idaho, before I left town last night heard rumors of a snowmobiler also dying in an avy yesterday on Palisades peak. Don't know any other details cept I know Palisades peak is fairly close to Jackson.
Vibs to family and friends of both snowboarder and snowmobiler.Hunting kicks ass.
Chicks dig Labs.
I'll keep my job, my money and my guns and you can keep the change.
From my cold dead hands.
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12-27-2013, 10:43 PM #34
Bummer. Seems like a dude we can all relate to. Time to dial things back to live to ski another day. There is no glory taking the big ride down. RIP Mike.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. -Helen Keller
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12-27-2013, 11:07 PM #35
am I correct in assuming most of the snow on that face is wind loaded ???
it looks like a march/april line not december ...
steep & facets sound ugly in december ...We, the RATBAGGERS, formally axcept our duty is to trigger avalaches on all skiers ...
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12-27-2013, 11:29 PM #36skin track terrorist
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Where the chairlifts do double corks
- Posts
- 527
i think that is an assumption that can be made without making an ass out of anyone.
long live the jahrator
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12-27-2013, 11:45 PM #37trenchman
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Posts
- 4,547
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12-28-2013, 12:25 AM #38
condolences to family and friends.
Originally Posted by from the newsOriginally Posted by from a comment in the jhunderground responding to another comment
i know that 'scary' moderate or "x-moderate" has been discussed in this forum and the avi subforum at ttips when that subforum was active several years back. maybe it should be considered an amendment to the ALPTRUTH conditions, although, it complicates the simplicity of the method. one avi course that i took was near the tail end of a "mod-x" type of "cycle" and this hazard was definitely something that was thoroughly discussed from the classroom to the field and was influential in all route selection and terrain management.
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12-28-2013, 01:54 AM #39Registered User
- Join Date
- Dec 2013
- Posts
- 4
Thx for clarifying the post slide face pic bfr I was in jackson last year and remember looking over at that exact slope with the same type of slide. Gnarly slide area.
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12-28-2013, 09:28 AM #40
Thursday I dug my friend's body out of the apron of pucker face. Check in with Bridger Teton Avalanche in the next week or so, where you will find a thorough recap on what went wrong, what went right and what our main take aways were from this tragic loss of our good friend Mike.
We share because we care and we don't want anyone to ever repeat the mistakes that were made yesterday.
And just an FYI, we weren't a group of uneducated kids out the gates. My self and most of my partners are experienced, avi 1 and 2 certified back country enthusiast that spend more time in gtnp and other remote ranges then you could imagine. The village sidecountry was new terrain and mistakes were made and we paid dearly.
On the red flags and warning signs:
- Yes, there had been avalanches on similar terrain, but most of these slid 48-36 hours to the event. Yes there were slides on the apron of no shadows and pucker but when we were hiking up and we passed Jackson Hole Mountain Guides with their clients heading to no shadows and 4 shadows, we got a false sense of safety.
- Yes,it was warming up but with the winds on that ridge we did not feel the actual temp the face was affected by.
- Cracks and whoomps we're not noticed on a similar aspects earlier. There was no way we could get onto this face and check with out putting our selves in harms way. When we cut the cornice I was roped up on belay just in case but I wasn't about to get on that face with a parachute cord attached to my waste.
- Yes, we had significant wind and snow loading 48+ hours before the event.
We made a ton of mistakes and ignored a lot of signs we shouldn't have. As a splitboarder who spends most of my time in gtnp, i was thrown off by not being immersed in a climb where I spend hours and countless tests/observations regarding what is safe to ski and not. Being unfamiliar to the sidecountry, I should have studied up on pucker because it is obvious we should never have been on that face and we paid dearly with the loss of a great friend.
Another problem was group mentality. We were a group of 6 which progressed our comfort on the line. We're we comfortable, no, we were all a little bugged out and even went over SAR scenario if it slid. Right before Mike dropped he asked if everyone was alright and committed to the line and everyone agreed. In reality I think we a had doubts but did not want to speak up being a group of 6 who had spent the last 40 minutes on top of a line.
After it slid is when good decisions were made. We all watched for visuals or a last seen point. A partner was on the phone with ski patrol in 20 seconds. I looked left and right , checking for hang fire and made the decision to descend the face, by snowboarding at the top and climbing/billy hosting down the rocks just above the apron.
Once I got down I started the grid and with the help of Dave Miller (lead guide) probed mike in 6 minutes. Once we had him probed there were more guides and clients all helping dig in a organized V formation. We got Mike's air hole cleared in something like 15 minutes but with the way he settled at the bottom, he didn't have an air hole or room to even expand his lungs.
We had two doctors, ski patrol, guides, everybody reacted so quickly and efficiently. CPR was given for 35 minutes but Mike was flat lined. The rescue effort and everyone involved deserves serious props. In many cases we could have saved a life.
This has been one of the toughest times for our party, Mike's family and friends. Please send positive vibes to Mike and learn from our mistakes.
to ski another day
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12-28-2013, 09:43 AM #41We made a ton of mistakes and ignored a lot of signs we shouldn't have. As a splitboarder who spends most of my time in gtnp, i was thrown off by not being immersed in a climb where I spend hours and countless tests/observations regarding what is safe to ski and not. Being unfamiliar to the sidecountry, I should have studied up on pucker because it is obvious we should never have been on that face and we paid dearly with the loss of a great friend.
Another problem was group mentality. We were a group of 6 which progressed our comfort on the line. We're we comfortable, no, we were all a little bugged out and even went over SAR scenario if it slid. Right before Mike dropped he asked if everyone was alright and committed to the line and everyone agreed. In reality I think we a had doubts but did not want to speak up being a group of 6 who had spent the last 40 minutes on top of a line.
Thank you and extremely sorry for the loss of your partner/friend.I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.
"Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"
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12-28-2013, 09:59 AM #42
^^^^ what he said
thanks for takin the time to post
heed not the mmacqbers whose might think they know better yet lack the risk tolerances to understand.
cherish the memory of your bro, learn from your mistakes and shortcomings
anyone who hasn't fucked up or lost a friend probably just hasn't been doing it for that long or with a driving passion.
"Its what we do""When the child was a child it waited patiently for the first snow and it still does"- Van "The Man" Morrison
"I find I have already had my reward, in the doing of the thing" - Buzz Holmstrom
"THIS IS WHAT WE DO"-AML -ski on in eternal peace
"I have posted in here but haven't read it carefully with my trusty PoliAsshat antenna on."-DipshitDanno
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12-28-2013, 10:03 AM #43
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12-28-2013, 10:11 AM #44Banned
- Join Date
- Dec 2009
- Posts
- 7,167
Well written and thanx for sharing, oceanman. Posi vibes.
Rog
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12-28-2013, 11:46 AM #45
Oceanman - thanks for the opportunity to learn. It was brave of you to share your thoughts and much appreciated.
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12-28-2013, 03:33 PM #46
RIP MIke. Oceanman. Sorry you had to write that, but it was very well written, analytical, and hopefully will be useful to someone out there.
I haven't been to the village in a while, but sometimes miss the days with the closed boundaries. Not for the cat and mouse game we used to play with Patrol coming out of Granite, but knowing we could let slopes sit for days without them getting hammered, thereby making them that tad bit safer than it is today when everyone is charging every slackcountry line soon after a storm. Definitely cause for thought...He who has the most fun wins!
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12-28-2013, 03:51 PM #47
Thanks for the write-up Ocean, very sorry for your loss. RIP Mike.
"I almost feel bad for the guy, awakening the veritable Sauron's Eye that is TGR's sense of entitlement to judgement! " - Joe Strummer
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12-28-2013, 04:32 PM #48
RIP MIke and hopefully you can find some peace Oceanman. That sounds like a nightmare, I hate reading about groups making bad decisions but I can totally understand how it happens. This activity all boils down to decision making and being on the same page with your partners, the group mentality can go awry quickly. It's good to get this message out there and hopefully someone will learn from this, make sure you feel empowered to speak your mind with the group you are skiing with when you are out there, learn trust your instincts.
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12-28-2013, 06:08 PM #49Registered User
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Posts
- 1,572
Thanks for sharing that OM, and sorry for your loss. Lots of good, productive comments in this thread.
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12-28-2013, 07:59 PM #50skin track terrorist
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Where the chairlifts do double corks
- Posts
- 527
It takes awhile, but once you can embrace it and move on, you will feel a new strength that comes with safe decision making in the backcountry. You survived, and now you have a responsibility to teach others, but continue educating yourself, and most of all, ride for Mike.
long live the jahrator
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