Oregon ‘23-‘24 El Niño Schralpadelic Rumble Thread

[boar2m]

What, interloper's SL?

[interloper]

Any ski can be a pow ski, if you’re good enough
Just like anything can be a sex toy, if you’re brave enough

Somehow you can always make it dirty. I applaud your filthyness.

[interloper]

What, interloper's SL?

You can strap a pair on at your convenience. SL skis I mean.

[boar2m]

TBS’s comment was a little tiny-bit misplaced and but sex is never dirty, whatever tickles your fancy I say. Besides I’m getting tarred of all these political correctness and censorship that goes with it. And thank you but I’m bringing my own SL to strap on my feet next time.

[Tap]

Shot of my screen while editing

[boar2m]

Daaaannng... that look so flowy surfing the mountaing.

[boar2m]

Good talking to you fellows. I'm gonna log off. I think vicotin and whiskey to kill my pain is affecting me a little.....

[TBS]

Shot of my screen while editing

Love the framing. Such a wide open feeling

Was the snow wind affected much in the upper east? Any idea how thrashed out cows face & east bowls got today?

[Toadman]

West Bowls are overrated

And deadly.

Vibes to the family.

https://ktvz.com/news/deschutes-coun...uch-tragedies/

Shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, Mt. Bachelor Ski Patrol received a report of an unresponsive male resort guest in the far West Bowls area off Northwest Express, resort Director of Marketing and Communications Lauren Burke said.

[TBS]

Always a sad situation

From that article

Tuesday's death was the fifth tree-well death at Mt. Bachelor in six years and the sixth in the last 22 years.

That’s a behavioral clue right there
Be careful out there.

[Crippity]

Thanks for all advice and hospitality. Flew PDX Saturday night. Hoodoo Sunday, Bachelor Monday, Hood meadows Tuesday. After what i experienced at Bachelor Monday, I'm sure Tuesday was the tits

[Crippity]

awful about the tree well. I am old these days and i just enjoy my turns and that snow was insane monday it was killing me that i was solo. to that point im too old to take risks especially when every run off cloud was knee deep. but being solo i missed out on what was already an amazing day to be being best day of life. knee deep. and light

[boar2m]

March 1, 2019, I lost my buddy to the same fate in the same place. His son and I were skiing ahead of him down sparks lake run… The conventional wisdom says ski with a buddy and keep him in sight at all times but in reality you are lost in the moment. If you are 100 feet downhill in deep pow days, can you climb up in time? I did not go back to Bachelor for about 2 years after that incident, but I still ski solo all the time in places that I shouldn't. Life is so fleeting but I'm certain we all take calcuated risks all the time. Whenever the tragic strikes, we stop to reflect but then you go on about your old ways. c'est la vie!

[isisis]

Fatality in Eastern Oregon (Anthony Lakes area/"sidecountry") yesterday... 😓
Avalanche Fatality on Gunsight Mountain in the Elkhorn Mountians on 3/6/24

"At approximately 4:37pm on Wednesday, March 6th, Union County dispatch received a 911 call of an avalanche accident occurring on the north side of Gunsight Mountain (8342') in the Elkhorn Mountains near Anthony Lakes. This incident involved two backcountry skiers. One of the skiers triggered an avalanche near the top of the peak while descending the steep and prominent north-facing couloir and was carried approximately 800 vertical feet. The victim inflated an airbag pack and was not buried, but sustained life-threatening injuries. The victim's partner had skied the slope first, set up position in a safe zone, and was not impacted by the avalanche. The partner initiated a rescue and called 911 for assistance. Baker County and Union County SAR teams responded. Unfortunately, the victim succumbed to his injuries at the avalanche site.

A full investigation and report will be forthcoming in the coming days. Our backcountry community is small and we understand the tremendous grief many are experiencing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected."

[interloper]

Sounds like they did everything right. Real sad. Thanks isisis. I'll be skiing almr soon.

[TBS]

Always wondered what they called that chute.

So first skier made it down no problem and second one triggered the slide.
Proving again that a slope is not necessarily safe just because someone already skied it.

But yeah, no idea what they might have done differently. It sucks

Vibes to family and friends. The backcountry community there is small and tight.

Be careful out there

[SchralphMacchio]

Re: second skier. Statistically speaking the first skier triggers an unstable slope most of the time but not all of the time. Wallowa Avalanche Center hasn’t done an investigation yet but they mentioned that a persistent slab problem (due to buried surface hoar) may still exist in some terrain. Generally speaking, persistent slab problems are inherently more difficult to manage because they don’t always offer up telltale “signs of instability,” they can be stubborn to trigger except for from specific areas and yet once they fail they can propagate across the entire slide path and in some cases in adjacent slide paths of connected terrain (in other words remote triggers in benign terrain can also cause overhead slopes to fail). I have my own experience with this type of problem being involved in a fatal accident about 10 years ago. We don’t know that this Gunsight accident was a persistent slab that failed, thick windslabs can also be stubborn to trigger in my experience (that was the other problem type mentioned in the avalanche forecast; also a thick windslab on top of old persistent slab was exactly the setup that suckered me and my partners onto a dangerous slope that killed my friend).

I bring this up because there’s been a movement for years to shift avalanche training to problem-specific management/avoidance and placing less emphasis on the North American Danger Rating … but the rating very much still exists and gets too much attention / occupies too much working brain space in my opinion. Again we don’t know if any of these things were a factor in this accident. I’m just taking this as an opportunity to note that focusing on managing for the key problem types, and managing uncertainty vs consequences have been the biggest changes I made to how I ski in the backcountry following my group’s accident in 2013.

Thoughts to the friends and family.

[interloper]

Re: second skier. Statistically speaking the first skier triggers an unstable slope most of the time but not all of the time. Wallowa Avalanche Center hasn’t done an investigation yet but they mentioned that a persistent slab problem (due to buried surface hoar) may still exist in some terrain. Generally speaking, persistent slab problems are inherently more difficult to manage because they don’t always offer up telltale “signs of instability,” they can be stubborn to trigger except for from specific areas and yet once they fail they can propagate across the entire slide path and in some cases in adjacent slide paths of connected terrain (in other words remote triggers in benign terrain can also cause overhead slopes to fail). I have my own experience with this type of problem being involved in a fatal accident about 10 years ago. We don’t know that this Gunsight accident was a persistent slab that failed, thick windslabs can also be stubborn to trigger in my experience (that was the other problem type mentioned in the avalanche forecast; also a thick windslab on top of old persistent slab was exactly the setup that suckered me and my partners onto a dangerous slope that killed my friend).

I bring this up because there’s been a movement for years to shift avalanche training to problem-specific management/avoidance and placing less emphasis on the North American Danger Rating … but the rating very much still exists and gets too much attention / occupies too much working brain space in my opinion. Again we don’t know if any of these things were a factor in this accident. I’m just taking this as an opportunity to note that focusing on managing for the key problem types, and managing uncertainty vs consequences have been the biggest changes I made to how I ski in the backcountry following my group’s accident in 2013.

Thoughts to the friends and family.

I believe this specific area (gunsight) had another fatality a few years ago. Thanks for the in depth information. Appreciated.

[noparking]

One of the people involved was one of my best friends and the other was a very good friend. They're professionals in every sense of the word and have spent their lives working in the mountains in every capacity. I read the information that's out there for the public and I have heard the first hand account of the entire day and the event that occurred from those involved. As an avalanche professional (not that it matters), if I were there, I would have made the same decision, and I would have skied it with them.

[Tap]

Everyone here stands united in our humble condolence for the loss you and your community have suffered.

One of the people involved was one of my best friends and the other was a very good friend. They're professionals in every sense of the word and have spent their lives working in the mountains in every capacity. I read the information that's out there for the public and I have heard the first hand account of the entire day and the event that occurred from those involved. As an avalanche professional (not that it matters), if I were there, I would have made the same decision, and I would have skied it with them.

[::: :::]

I just saw last night he was former MHM patrol. I’m sorry for the loss of your friend noparking
Peace to his family, partner & friends

[puma]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss Noparking. Thoughts are with you, your friend, and the families of those effected.

[Toadman]

Everyone here stands united in our humble condolence for the loss you and your community have suffered.

Ditto.

[noparking]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

[Andyski]

Mtb was massive fun today. Wind buffed out a lot of options up high and viz was perfect.