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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Truckee, CA
    Posts
    64

    Eastern Sierra Avalanche Fatality

    http://ktla.com/2015/11/23/missing-u...ir-wilderness/

    Conditions there are very low tide, but the terrain is complex and subject to significant wind transport. Seems like the sort of place where it would be easy to underestimate both the avy danger in general, and the potential to quickly transition between stable and unstable areas.

    Unfortunately, exact details will probably never be known. There wasn't time to investigate the slide during the search and recovery efforts, and in another day or two it will be buried under a new blanket of white.

    The words feel hollow, but RIP Michael and condolences to his family.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    2,356
    Very sad news.

    According to SuperTopo, it looks like he was doing the class 2 "East Slopes" route up Mt. Irvine, which would be an east-facing gulley, and 35-45 degrees throughout a continuous 400 feet of elevation (I'm making some assumptions based on reports). I'm guessing that he was descending, having underestimated how quickly a storm could come in and wind-load a previously dry slope. Rest in peace.
    Last edited by bobz; 11-24-2015 at 01:57 PM. Reason: fixed meters-feet error

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