Head Wall Slid in Jackson

[truth]

Do I see a pretty big crown above the expert chutes in little bigs pic?

Tough to tell if it's a crown or a traverse track. Let's call it a crown track and be done with it.

[jhjpot]

It might be worth noting here that in this case and the accident in Fernie that killed 8 snowmobilers, it was the 2nd slide that had the most impact.

the killer slide in TB was also a second. The reason the trollers were there and witnessed the guys getting caught in the slide is they were there checking out the first slide...

[powdork]

I have a lovely house, ski all the time and have a job not tied to the local economy so without bias I can say shut the fuck up.
egad- you solely are making me swear a lot today, which i don't like to do.

OTOH, i like it when you talk dirty.

[Shorty_J]

the killer slide in TB was also a second. The reason the trollers were there and witnessed the guys getting caught in the slide is they were there checking out the first slide...

This is a scary thought for me, because despite the fact that I know you should be cautious before beginning a rescue, I've always felt quietly to myself that I'd prefer to risk being killed in the second slide at least TRYING to get my friend out, rather than give up and walk out (where they're pretty much guaranteed to die).

Of course, I've never actually been in the situation, so who knows how it would play out in a real situation.

[tkm5337]

it was nice to feel a larger sense of calm at the mountain today....

our numbers are still screwed for now BUT...I think on the grand scale its sunk in to most just how lucky we all are with how much movement there's been and how safe (in general) everyone's remained.

several patrolmen I caught up with deemed the upper mountain a "battle zone" today.... there was a helicopter dropping bombs on the Crags/ CB prior to opening this morning...pretty rad sight. Huge huge bombs exploding up high ALL day long. A day with no one hurt after all that = huge success. Multiple patrollers were hauling up bombs on the tram all during lunch. Plywood was put up in the restaurant after a crew of 80+ spent the night shoveling out the restaurant and top shack o' Casper. Interesting scoping out various crowns as the skies cleared while the day went on.

Gondi was open by about 130-2ish and was up on Casper when they shut down the traverse over to Ampitheater at about 3 because they were anticipating big movement. Approximately 30 rounds on the Howitzer were fired since yesterday afternoon.

Morale of the Couloir/F&B guys seemed to be improving. Recovering from cancellations will prove a challenge, but seeing the sun today was a boost and this is a nice break in storm systems for everyone to regain their heads....

[My Pet Powder Goat]

jhunderground.com now has some aerial pics of the headwall slide.
http://www.jhunderground.com/2008/12...uth/#more-1809

Thank you for the link. great article as well.

looks like a sketchy place to put a building, but what were the other options?

Awe-inspiring and sobering. ...just glad it did'nt turn tragic.

[upallnight]

i'm not really interested in debate, but i wanted to post a few photos of crowns observed within JHMR's boundaries.

i believe the ski patrol to be doing (as always) a tireless job with their control work. i also believe that seeing these (and other) photos reminds people that we are playing in real MOUNTAINS and must treat them with respect. personally, i believe that to be the very appeal of JHMR. even the inbounds terrain requires the rider to adapt to it (the mountain is not dumbed-down).

(i've modified my photographs to enable you to see the crowns a bit better.)


headwall (left); casper bowl (right):


casper bowl (right):


close-up of tower three/toilet bowl

[splat]

Nice shots, uan.

[BFD]

Thank's for the photos, the trail map doesn't do it justice. That's definitely not a mountain to be skiing if your relying on someone else to tell you if it's safe.

[cramer]

Cramer-- I'd really think about editing your post up. Are you calling patrol and mountain ops greedy? Or upper management? Yes, there is inherent risk when snow danger is high. But can you fault a premier ski resort during times of a failing economy to want to tap into the biggest tourist week of the entire season? The money made over these two weeks is what helps keep the various department afloat. Not to mention its effect on surrounding local business. Bombs WERE and ARE dropping daily.

Your location says youre in the Bay Area....are you at the mountain every single morning HEARING the rounds upon rounds of detonation? I'm gonna say NO. If you ever peek into the war-zone that is Patrol, or even read up on the diligent reports, studies...all the numbers and science involved in snowpack evaluation, route evaluation etc. I think you'd think twice about saying "they just get dumped on and this is a mistake". Nobody is losing their jobs over a natural catastrophe. Peoples decisions will be looked at more carefully, more for the sake of PR, but NO ONE can ultimately control nature. But these folks are risking their LIVES to help it along at least.

"Let people go" "See what happens" "If you cant ski safely inbounds....." Holy shit dude. Come on. The majority of people posting in this thread all live and work here. Your comments, while you may find validity in them, are being broadcast to people (myself included) who are extremely shaken up. What has happened over the course of this week is bigger than us. Our season thus far is a tale of extremes--- not enough and now too much. We all make extraordinary sacrifices to live in a place like this and do NOT need your unwarrented pessimism when times are already tough

bad timing asking my questions. Original post was deleted. Just kind of scary to me that i could be in a resort and be hit by an avi. I was by no means questioning the patrollers, etc. I was questioning management and well, where our technology is at to control nature. Scary stuff either way, i appologize for my original latenight drunkin post. Glad to see everyones ok and i hope lessons were learned. Looking forward to the stoke from you guys. Once again, stupid drunking post, i appologize.

[tkm5337]

hats off to the removal and apology. muy bueno

[F.D.V.]

I agree! Definetly some nice shots!

I dig the black and white as well...

Nice shots, uan.

[johna]

uan - great photos to put things into perspective. can't give patrol enough praise for all of the hard work they're doing out there. in light of their precautionary measures in additional bombings and delaying the gondi - the headwall slide, although taking out some serious structural damage, resulted in no injuries/fatalities which is ridiculously lucky. so huuuge props to all those involved in a tireless effort to make the safest environment in the worst of conditions. keep it up boys

[babybear]

OTOH, i like it when you talk dirty.

hmmm. what does OTOH mean?

[johna]

"OTOH
Shorthand for On The Other Hand, OTOH is commonly used in text based communications such as chat."

i really should be doing work ...

[The Suit]

I don't have time to annotate this shot, but if you follow a line from the lower left corner to the upper right, you see (in order) the Laramie Bowl/Flip Point crown (left and below Tower 3), Laramie cliffs, and Hanging Snowfield.



Larger photo is here.

[ActionJackson]

Thanks Suit and upallnight for all the great photos. A lot people need to see these shots. It tells a pretty solid story of where the big problem zones are. Wish these were published in the News and Guide for all to see.

[The Suit]

Looking to the south I can't see much natural activity. Doesn't mean it's not there.

Looked a little harder this morning and I can see three big crowns to the south. One appears to be above Rock Springs - maybe Lost Lifty. Another is on the fin that separates Pinedale & No Name canyons. Last one is on Rendezvous Peak, above and looker's right of St. Patty's. All are steep and north facing, but that may not be meaningful since that's pretty much all I can see from here.

[ActionJackson]

The green river traverse under Fat Bastard is a death trap.

Suit, can you see Powder 8s and Cody? Whats up there. Cant see from way down in Rafter J but can hear bombs.

[The Suit]

Suit, can you see Powder 8s and Cody? Whats up there. Cant see from way down in Rafter J but can hear bombs.

Powder 8 bowl is intact. I can see the tops of Pucker & No Shadows. Pucker looks clean. No Shadows looked like it had a small crown in it yesterday, but I can't seen anything in there right now. Most of Four Shadows is obscured from here, but what I can see is clean. The upper part of No Name face is clean, and I can't see any evidence of activity on Four Pines, except the cliff bands at Drew's. The north facing chutes into Jensen all had activity showing on them yesterday.

[babybear]

it will be powder 8's to certain death if that thing has not gone yet. yikes.
photos are so helpful guys. thanks so much.

[ActionJackson]

Lets do this all over again.

[SkiSax22]

well hopefully this next round is a bit more stable if some of that raincrust got yanked out

[rideit]

Well, there is a whole new raincrust that formed in the last few days.
Lucky us.

[SkiSax22]

fantastic, well looking forward to my trip out to you guys next monday anyhow, ill keep my fingers crossed that it settles well