Three snowboarders lost east of Crystal Mountain

[altasnob]

Hope this works out for the best:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/u...ry/220929.html

Three Seattle-area snowboarders are missing in an avalanche-prone area between Crystal Mountain and Yakima, Pierce County Sheriff’s officials said today.

The men, reported to be in their 20s and 30s, went backcountry snowboarding Friday and were due back Sunday night at 10 p.m., spokesman Ed Troyer said Tuesday. They were reported overdue Monday.

Rescuers have not been able to enter the area due to the avalanche risk and the inclement weather. An airplane was looking for the party using a break in the cloud cover Tuesday afternoon, Troyer said.

Avalanches have been reported both in the area the men entered and the area where they were supposed to come out in.

“We’re holding out hope because they were dressed for the weather and had gear with them because they were going to spend a couple nights,” Troyer said. They also carried an avalanche beacon.

“We have whole bunch of different possibilities that could be going on up there, but with the weather and avalanche conditions we just can’t get people in there,” he said.

King County authorities, meanwhile, reported two hikers dead and a third injured after they were caught in an apparent avalanche near Snow Lake, in the Cascade Mountains north of Alpental.

The hikers, a married couple in their 30s and a friend, failed to return from a hike as planned Sunday. Bad weather kept rescue helicopters grounded Sunday, but a larger copter from Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane arrived today and picked up the bodies of the dead hikers while rescued their injured companion. He reportedly suffered a broken leg.

Four other hikers were reported trapped by heavy snow on a trail near Exit 42 on Interstate 90. They were caught by Sunday's heavy snowfall in the area, which prevented them from getting back to the trailhead.

One of the four called the King County Sheriff's Department by cellphone and informed deputies that they were stalled two and a half to three miles up the Denny Creek Trail. A rescue operation was begun, but the heavy snows and avalanche danger kept rescue teams from getting to them today.

[Cyber Cop]

Avalanches have been reported both in the area the men entered and the area where they were supposed to come out in.

“We’re holding out hope because they were dressed for the weather and had gear with them because they were going to spend a couple nights,” Troyer said. They also carried an avalanche beacon.

If you're walking into certain danger you might as well be carrying a studfinder and bacon grease. These stories get old. I feel sorry for the rescue crews that keep having to risk their lives for dumbasses.

Vibes for the searchers.

[rideit]

I am glad that they carried 'an' Avalanche beacon.
How do they find these reporters?

[Zeedashbo]

If you're walking into certain danger you might as well be carrying a studfinder and bacon grease. These stories get old. I feel sorry for the rescue crews that keep having to risk their lives for dumbasses.

Vibes for the searchers.

you're a fucking idiot dude. there's a ton of people in the cascades who do big tours/traverses all the time. what the hell do you know about their skills and route that they were taking. i would assume that any person who is going for an overnighter in the winter to have quite a bit of experience.
especially people in these parts who aren't doing the same shit as everyone else i.e. the volcanoes. the fact that they told somebody that if they weren't back by sunday night there was trouble tells me they knew what they were doing. since you're a total douche and have no knowledge of any pnw situation let me inform you something. the avy danger was pretty low up until sunday afternoon. i assume that they expected to be out before the big storm got warm and the danger rose. the rescuers get paid to do a job and they do it well, they wouldn't risk their lives to save someone elses. go learn how to ski backcountry, this doesn't sound like weekend joe getting lost two miles from the highway.

vibes to the lost boarders!!!

[jetski]

If you're walking into certain danger you might as well be carrying a studfinder and bacon grease. These stories get old. I feel sorry for the rescue crews that keep having to risk their lives for dumbasses.

Vibes for the searchers.

Wow...You are harsh... Harsh Harsh Harsh. And quite possibly a big meanie.

Hopefully everything works out and they are hunkered down sharing a granola bar.

[Bud]

here's to hoping that they just got bogged down by all the new snow that came down on saturday night/sunday morning and will be out soon. It was damn slow going on sunday morning if you were out there trying to break trail...it was thigh deep with skis on trying to put in a skin track at snoqualmie pass on sunday mornin'.
If they've got overnight gear, then hopefully they're fine...god knows with all this rain they wouldn't need fuel for making water....

[Shaggy]

If you're walking into certain danger you might as well be carrying a studfinder and bacon grease. These stories get old. I feel sorry for the rescue crews that keep having to risk their lives for dumbasses.

Vibes for the searchers.

Wow ... that's weak.

here's to hoping that they just got bogged down by all the new snow that came down on saturday night/sunday morning and will be out soon. It was damn slow going on sunday morning if you were out there trying to break trail...

If these guys know what they're doing they may have recognized the avy danger had shot through the roof and have made the decision to stay put somewhere. At least that's what I'm hoping.

[BenWA]

An airplane was looking for the party using a break in the cloud cover Tuesday afternoon, Troyer said.

That must've been a wild ride. It was gusting to 40 kts tuesday afternoon in the mountains.

Hope those poor bastards get found, alive.

[KungFu Eddie]

Hope it works out for these guys. Hopefully they know what they are doing better than the three snowboarders who got lost in the BC in Australia a couple of years ago. They dug a snowcave but didn't ventilate it properly. They were found the next summer.

+++vibes+++

[Cyber Cop]

since you're a total douche and have no knowledge of any pnw situation let me inform you something. the avy danger was pretty low up until sunday afternoon. i assume that they expected to be out before the big storm got warm and the danger rose.

Heavy snowfall accumulated late Saturday through Sunday afternoon over several existing weak layers of surface hoar or faceted snow near the ground formed during the fair and cold weather of late November. The heavy snowfall rapidly changed to rain as freezing levels rose rapidly late Sunday into Monday. Heavy rain continued late Sunday through Monday night with most areas receiving some 2 to 5 inches of water equivalent as rain. This produced a widespread avalanche cycle with the danger being elevated to extreme later Sunday and Monday. Two hikers were buried and died in an avalanche above Snow Lake near Snoqualmie Pass Sunday and another in the party was injured in the avalanche and rescued Tuesday.

Do you walk into the middle of a dump for a multiday tour when conditions have changed so dramatically? You're right, I don't know the PNW, but some things are fundamental.

Anyway, sorry for being harsh, I hope they are OK. But the story plays a familiar tune.

[Buster Highmen]

If they went into Morse Creek via the Crystal Lakes Basin-Three Way spine, they should be OK.

If they went in to Norse Peak Wilderness, they made a questionable decision given the forecast for the big dump.

In any case, I hope for the best in the face of the mysteries of why people make certain decisions and how people can be so harsh.

[altasnob]

More info on the search:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...hikers05m.html

The missing riders are Kevin Carter 26; Devlin Williams, 29; and Phillip Hollins, 41.

By all means, I hope they return safe, but I have to agree with Cybercop that they made a very bad decision to venture out anywhere in the backcountry on Sunday no matter how experienced or prepared they were. I can't imagine a more severe avalanche cycle than what we experienced that day (3 ft new followed by heavy rains).

[Hugh Conway]

A slight updated story (no more positive):
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...missing06.html
the pictures are depressing as well - not much snow pack out there

[PNWbrit]

Bump.

http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washin....77b729eb.htmlFor those who haven't/don't see our local news coverage

It's been a week since these guys set off.

I hope there's going to be a happy heading to this but very much doubt it.

Be careful and sufficiently cautious wherever you're going this weekend.....please!

[String]

By all means, I hope they return safe, but I have to agree with Cybercop that they made a very bad decision to venture out anywhere in the backcountry on Sunday no matter how experienced or prepared they were. I can't imagine a more severe avalanche cycle than what we experienced that day (3 ft new followed by heavy rains).

Thirded, you can act like these were experienced guys yet they still made the decision to go out there despite all common sense and red-flags.

[Greydon Clark]

Search and Rescue was flying around the greater Crystal Mountain area in a helicopter all of today and I saw people with search dogs waiting in the parking lot, but according to the local news it was to no avail. It was pretty insane the amount of avalanche debris that was visible at the ski area and the surrounding backcountry.

[Hugh Conway]

Search officially ends, men presumed dead

Ouch, 5 in that storm cycle

[Airpoppoff]

Search and Rescue was flying around the greater Crystal Mountain area in a helicopter all of today and I saw people with search dogs waiting in the parking lot, but according to the local news it was to no avail. It was pretty insane the amount of avalanche debris that was visible at the ski area and the surrounding backcountry.

I saw the same today, The Search and rescue had 2 Heli's dropping S&R off at every point.

[rideit]

This, unfortunately, is the downside to the current popularity of BC activity.
I believe that retail stores need to really, really step up education campaigns about avalanche risk.
I also think that every single piece of gear that is intended for BC use should have a hang tag with a primer on avy risk, along with links to educational resources. Links on EVERY manu's websites should also be implemented, IMO.
hmmm...expect to see some threads on this.
I think it will be my new campaign.
Any industry folks lurking tht may be receptive to this?

[BanditXXX]

Thirded, you can act like these were experienced guys yet they still made the decision to go out there despite all common sense and red-flags.

Where is Carlos Mencia when you need him?

"Dee duh dee"

When it's avy time, just make it Miller time.

The mountain will still be there in a week or two. Just come back another day......

I guess those three won't......................///////////////

[BanditXXX]

This, unfortunately, is the downside to the current popularity of BC activity.
I believe that retail stores need to really, really step up education campaigns about avalanche risk.
I also think that every single piece of gear that is intended for BC use should have a hang tag with a primer on avy risk, along with links to educational resources. Links on EVERY manu's websites should also be implemented, IMO.
hmmm...expect to see some threads on this.
I think it will be my new campaign.
Any industry folks lurking tht may be receptive to this?

Retail stores educate? How about if people get their heads screwed on straight.

I don't care how much gear you have or how much education, mother nature rules. If you forget to respect the mother, then you have to pay.

With your life. End of story.......................

[rideit]

just a raw guess, (besides the fact that you are most likely a troll)....


You are:
A: under 25
B; don't actually live in a mountain environment
C: have never lost a friend to an avalanche.
D: all three.

As far as retail stores educating, have you ever attended an avalanche clinic at, say, a RETAIL STORE?

Many, many people have had their 'heads screwed on straight' by said clinics...or where, exactly, do you think people gain basic avalanche education?
In the parking lot on top of Teton Pass?

What is your point...education, sponsored by the retailers who sell BC gear, is useless?

Please elucidate, drunken troll.
I am assuming that you, personally, don't actually know that much about snow science, just a LOOONG guess.
Por Favor.

[tromano]

Sad story. Anyone with minimal experience going for a multiday trip outdoors knows that its a good idea to check the conditions report (weather, avie, tides, whatever) and plan accordingly. This isn't something new that people need to be educated about. Its common sense stuff. If people don't know about avie reports then education could help them to find out what resources are available.

[Shaggy]

Sad story. Anyone with minimal experience going for a multiday trip outdoors knows that its a good idea to check the conditions report (weather, avie, tides, whatever) and plan accordingly. This isn't something new that people need to be educated about. Its common sense stuff. It might be easier for people if avie reports were integrated more closely into the weather reports for different areas.

Wrong. I know people here in Whistler who go BC without shovel, probe, beacon or any training. And as rideit alluded to, they're usually under 25 and havn't lived in the mountains for very long.

[jfost]

I'm sick of the "holier than thou" BS...

Sure, some of the accidents in the BC are due to poor decision making... but not all. You take a risk everytime you go out in the snow... that's part of the game. Armchair quarterbacking is easy when it is not you out there. Maybe these guys were playing it safe in a meadow and a bear got 'em. Who knows!?! It is not necessarily a commentary on the increased popularity of the BC these days (though it may well prove to be when the facts are revealed). We need to learn, not chide. Teach even, if you're qualified.

The wilderness is unpredictable, maybe it was stupid to be out there Sunday, but maybe they were supposed to be home before the conditions change. When you take on mother nature, you can lose anytime. Even when you think it is "safe".

Point of rant = saying people are stupid because they died isn't helpful, IMO...