A Death at Mt. Baker

**rippah** · 11-29-2006, 04:53 PM

Please be careful out there people!

From the Bellingham Herald Website:

A 36-year-old skier from Vancouver, B.C., died in the backcountry outside the Mt. Baker Ski Area Saturday.

The skier, Henning Faust, apparently separated from his three companions on their last run of the day, according to a news release by Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Jilk, search and rescue coordinator.

Using an avalanche transceiver, his companions found him several minutes later near a tree, unconscious and not breathing, according to the news release.

They tried to revive him using CPR, but were unsuccessful, according to the news release.

The Sheriff’s Office did not release the apparent cause of Faust’s death.

Ski area spokeswoman Gwyn Howat said grooming machines picked up the surviving members of the party once they were near the ski area.

Heavy snow, high avalanche danger and darkness prevented search and rescue crews from reaching the body.

The group had spent the day near Huntoon Point, an area in the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest near Table Mountain.

+++++++vibes to his friends and family. That sucks.

Also see this thread.

r.

**KooKaPooPa** · 11-29-2006, 04:57 PM

that sucks..

**soul_skier** · 11-29-2006, 04:57 PM

too early in the season to be hearing this.....best wishes for his family, and all PNW mags, watch out for treewells....

**ak_powder_monkey** · 11-29-2006, 04:58 PM

lame way to start the season

**MTT** · 11-29-2006, 04:59 PM

Yes sad for everyone.

Impact ingury? Sounds like his freinds did the right thing. (They found him)

+++Vibes+++
To his freinds and family

**ptavv** · 11-29-2006, 05:00 PM

Unpleasent reminder that we need to stay safe out there. Especially in the PNW where there are huge amounts of unconsolidated snow.

**telepariah** · 11-29-2006, 05:02 PM

"near a tree" = treewell?

Condolences to his family and friends. It's sad, just sad to lose another.

**skimoore** · 11-29-2006, 05:06 PM

++++ vibes ++++ to friends and family

I hope this season doesn't end up taking as huge a toll as last season....

**Boomer28** · 11-29-2006, 05:15 PM

Hope this is the last for a while. At least these guys had their BC gear and knew how to use it.

**PNWbrit** · 11-29-2006, 05:17 PM

shit..... + vibes to family and friends

**mtbakerskier** · 11-29-2006, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by MTT

Yes sad for everyone.

Impact ingury? Sounds like his freinds did the right thing. (They found him)

+++Vibes+++
To his freinds and family

It's unclear whether it was impact or treewell sufication.

Probally wont be determined until they can actually get the body out.

**GoldMember** · 11-29-2006, 05:25 PM

Hope this wasn't a board dude. Condolences to his family and friends.

**dk_alaskan** · 11-29-2006, 05:38 PM

++++ vibes going out to his friends and family, makes you stop and think about your own practices when you read something like this

**MrDirt** · 11-29-2006, 05:42 PM

RIP fellow mountain man. Be safe out there guys.

**hutash** · 11-29-2006, 07:03 PM

Bummer, +++vibes to family and friends.

**3snowboards** · 11-29-2006, 07:19 PM

Wow. The friends he was with must be crushed. And everyone has to wait for safe conditions to go back and get him. Same friends will prolly have to help bring him home. So sad.

**PulverSchwein** · 11-29-2006, 08:02 PM

saw the story in the paper here today. The guy was a young lawyer here in Vancouver.

I was at Baker the next day (Sunday) and was very cognizant of the need to steer clear of trees and terrain traps. They had staff warning the hell out of everyone to ski with a partner and out of the trees. Did I though? Sort of but not really. I skied by myself all day on one of those days where you know the danger is close and it could snatch you up in many ways with any stroke of bad luck or mistake. The lure of deep pow and being inbounds can cloud the judgement and make you fuck up, or sometimes shit can just happen. 99.999% of days everything works out.

That day I got taken down on the cat track by a bigass sluff washing off the cliffs by chair 1, out of nowhere. It could have been much bigger but it wasn't. I got stuck in terrain traps that could have been filled with a similar sluff from above at any time that would have buried me but it didn't happen. This guy wasn't so lucky apparently. Guess you just try to be careful, choose your lines wisely, and stay the hell on your feet keeping scary ass shit like this there, but sort of back there in the subconcious. And you keep enjoying the deepness as safe as you can while the getting's good.

Shitty for the family. Hope they get him out of there soon. ++++++

**GapersGoHome** · 11-29-2006, 08:47 PM

Let's have this be the only mishap this year. Positive vibes to his friends, family, and the baker patrol/local mags...

**Spark** · 11-30-2006, 12:26 AM

I think posting things like this is so important. Pulver you've got a good point that people think when they ski inbounds they are safer or put their guards down...I've already caught myself in this mindset. This is a good reality check.

Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

**freddiegemini** · 11-30-2006, 03:57 AM

what is a tree well?

**rideit** · 11-30-2006, 04:15 AM

freddie, it is an innocuous looking funtrap that looks as if it would yeild miles of smiles, but instead provides the potential for :
death at worst,:
panic in the middle,:
and mild humor (if others are watching) at best.
And they are a very serious threat in massive dump cycles in certian types of snow zones.
I have experienced two of the three scenarios as a young (clueless) buck from back east in a MASSIVE first year in Colorado, (18 years or so ago ..)and they scare the shit out of me now.

VIBEAGE!!!!!

If it wasn't massive trauma, that almost makes it more traumatic, if you have ever been stuck in a tree well, it is a 'sysiphian connundrum'.
Hell in paradise, as it were.

**0BernhardFranz** · 11-30-2006, 06:14 AM

Heard about him before.Maybe murder ? Maybe simply heart attack ? Think you underrate that problem if you hike up and ski down.Wasn´t he in Kreitlers movie or so ?

**rideit** · 11-30-2006, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by 0BernhardFranz

Heard about him before.Maybe murder ? Maybe simply heart attack ? Think you underrate that problem if you hike up and ski down.Wasn´t he in Kreitlers movie or so ?

The Troll shit is getting old. As in played. As in Alf, that sorta lack of respect.
Thanks for the respects, Alf.

**shera** · 11-30-2006, 06:41 AM

Very sad to hear about this.

**0BernhardFranz** · 11-30-2006, 06:43 AM

Really ??? How can this happen the way you guys ski .... !!!!!!!!

warning ... never keep sheets and ski in one place ... freak skiing can result from this ... I thought the helicopter in Lech was busy all day ONSLOPE ´´cause he loves flying ... is Mt. Baker any big or cold or what .. don´t trust Mazur and don´t make him angry or appear as competition or he may sort out the situation ... but maybe rather try him as guide if you do ANYTHING on Mt. Baker.It´s Mt. Cooler than anything you know.Mazur does these glacial fissure courses there.But Mazur is doing up to 2 8000 per year so this ain´t toy mountain !!!! I thought it is subsahara ...