Avalanche at Bridger Bowl????

[tone capone]

Bozeman locals are as green as could be as they just got open gates two years ago.

That area is sketchy as hell to start something like that in, as there are very few options of how to get out

Open gates have been for 4 years now. It's the lift served mentality that is the problem. When we could skin up Slushmans and have much more conservative terrain as the first sidecountry options, there was more respect. Now all the dipshits that can't even ski (the ones that traverse mundys bowl into an abomination) just head out of bounds and ski the first thing they see after slushmans gets tracked out, which is in about an hour. They don't even realize that it is the single most exposed and deadly trap anywhere out there, they just ski it because they see it from the lift and other people are skiing powder there, and well, it sucks to ski tracked out crud all day in slushmans with a half hour liftline. At least all the gapers and girlfriends used to just ski the slushmans skin track and meadow area instead of the sketchiest face in the bridgers when they wanted to ski pow instead of tracked out shit.

That face is a problem because you can't put 500 morons an hour up that lift and expect them to behave. End of story. It's the evil temptress. It's the biggest heuristic trap I can think of anywhere. While I have adapted in my own way to the new lift and have scattered myself much further most of the time in search of safer turns, I would be thrilled to have slushmans and the bottom gate back for the rest of my ski career here. Slushmans was the perfect sidecountry stash, Saddle is a whole different game.

[Vermonter]

This is only speculation, i cannot confirm a damn word of this, but a friend of mine at bridger told me 11 people are currently missing. Any type of confirmation on this? i hope im not spreading any rumors, hope this isn't true and that everyone is alright, scary shit

[$cooters2]

saddle was just waiting....saw it go from above. could have been very bad..about 20 people on top of saddle when it slid. and we all know the only way to ski saddle is 10 at a time

[Bunion 2020]

http://www.mtavalanche.com/photo

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

ho-lee-sheet! that's a big'un

[tone capone]

I counted at least six people skiing down to the crown in my photo from Powder Park. All at once. I'll post in a while. I haven't heard anything about 11 people missing, I heard that they think no one was in the slide and that it was triggered by someone dropping a cornice, possibly accidentally.

[$cooters2]

kid dropped his pack with skis on it and broke the cornice

[john c]

Well put by tone capone. This is a death trap of slackcountry and the most dangerous face in the Bridgers. The patrol is trying to mitagate this risk by closing the lift at times. As for how it was triggered. Probably just a natural. A skier will most likely have little to no effect on a layer that deep. What probably happened is the slab just settled in and stiffened and the alarm bell rang. The full weight of the new load tipped the scale once in settled and stiffened a bit. Saddle peak is nowhere to be when even one red flag is flying. In this case we had multiple. Huge new load, multiple layers, on the ground sugar, all on deadly terrain. Avy mitagation 101 would point to even the most green of backcountry skiers not tempting that beast right now.

The west side does get skied. Not by many but it makes the east look safe. It is another no go zone as it is a sugar factory. It has half the snow and it all goes to sugar and ends in terrain traps and thin rock bands. This is where there was an incident last year that required a heli evac.... Fingers crossed that this bullet has been dodged.

[AfroMullet]

A skier will most likely have little to no effect on a layer that deep.

the slab looks much, much thinner on lookers right of the crown. if it's as thin as it looks there, a skier would most definitely have an impact.


also, why are there at least 2 skiers on that hangfire, and especially at one time..?

[Lexi-Bell]

This is where there was an incident last year that required a heli evac

Not gonna drop names but the very same dude who needed that evac last year is credited with pics from todays slide atop saddle peak on the GNFAc site.

Just sayin. Wise up already.

[beaterdit]

Damn, that is effing gnarnia. Reminds me a little of north baldy here at the bird times a factor of two at least. Lots of vert lots of consequence, no where to hide. Hopefully this ends well but it would be a miracle. Looks like it may be though. That run looks sick if it ever stabilized though. With my lack of back country travel lately I'd leave it till spring.

Good luck Bridger folks!

[tone capone]

From powder park:



Zoomed in.



I count 4 on the hangfire, 2 below. I realize I wasn't there and can't say much about the situation the people were in, but really, could this many people on the slope have been avoided on a day like today? I still can't believe how little respect people have for each other on that face. People need to communicate with members of other parties out there, let each other know what their plan is. I mean were all skiers, talk to each other up there.

[andrewjesaitis]

Open gates have been for 4 years now. It's the lift served mentality that is the problem.

It's all about the mentality of the sidecountry. Sidecountry trips make me much more nervous that pure BC for a bunch of reasons. First, if you have a couple hour skin in front of you, you have a lot of time to ponder the conditions and open your eyes to the consequences of a poor decision. Second, is just the fact that you have more time to study your line and you want to make it count. Easy access inspires a lot of "I think it goes" decisions. Finally, on a full blown tour your group (usually/hopefully) feels alone and you automatically adjust your risk tolerance because you are self reliant. That just doesn't seem to happen in the sidecountry.

I think as you gain experience you are able to force the mindset. But, you often can't make up for the lack of information you get when you are out for a tour. Maybe you didn't get the avy report? You definitely didn't hear the cracking and woofing as you skinned in. And it is much harder to get your less experienced buddies to stop and dig a pit.

Slushman's is especially dangerous because its not just the avy conditions. There are so many gnarly lines with high consequences that are easy to ski into. At least the ridge has the 15 min hike to sort some people out.

I remember touring up Saddle in high school and it was an undertaking (especially if you didn't use the gate at the bottom of South Boundary). We only skied a couple lines back there for the reasons I listed above. Now when I'm out in Slushman's I don't always like the feeling I get. Maybe it is because it's my first season back since the lift went in and I haven't shaken the thought that it is BC terrain. I don't know, it makes me uneasy though.

I don't know what the solution is. Maybe you close the lift to the public, but keep it inbounds forcing people to skin. That way there would be a little "BC" training ground, which might be a good thing since every other person in Bozeman seems to have touring gear.

[tone capone]

But, you often can't make up for the lack of information you get when you are out for a tour.

Indeed. Now people are forced to make a descision from the ridgeline.

Maybe you close the lift to the public, but keep it inbounds forcing people to skin. That way there would be a little "BC" training ground, which might be a good thing since every other person in Bozeman seems to have touring gear.

Well put.

[Wymontchoppers]

Or we just leave it alone! Plenty of US resorts have open boundaries and people die all the time. I think the board and patrol have done an outstanding job of managing things thus far. Without Slushman's chair and open boundaries, Bridger goes from world-class to mediocre.

[tone capone]

^^^^^^World class beat ski hill anyways. I don't know, alot of people had alot of great pow runs over there before the world class lift and the world class traverses and the world class crud after an hour on a pow day.

[john c]

Not gonna drop names but the very same dude who needed that evac last year is credited with pics from todays slide atop saddle peak on the GNFAc site.

Just sayin. Wise up already.

Wasn't gonna add that, but.... I thought meat got ripped from the bone in the avy last season? Surprised he is back to teach us all his special brand of avalanche knowledge? You know, the avy center doesn't know shit but I do, good to go kind... Closing the lift ain't the option. Closing the gate may be the end game. This is highly consequential terrain and would not be touched by true backcountry users with the sort of snowpack that the Bridgers have right now.

[Wymontchoppers]

Tone Capone- I can understand that. The Slushman's Buttress was my first "tour" up here as a college freshman, and I lapped it many times that season. I still prefer it lift accessed, even with the traverses and tracked out chop. You don't need me to tell you about the plentitude of safe(r) lines OB accessed more quickly that the old skin up Slushman's. Probably hold good snow even longer too. If the skiers didn't beat out the snow back when Slushman's was skin-access, the elements did.
Anyway, just throwing my 2C out there. I think management has done a great job thus far, and while the sob story about losing epic skin-accessed powder turns in slushman's is valid, I prefer being able to play in all kinds of terrain I shied away from back before the area was "controlled".

[telestoner]

just spoke with a ski patroller who saw the whole thing from slushmans lift and was part of the search and rescue operation. no bodies found yet, after hours of tranceiver and dog searching. apparently it happened first thing and only a few folks had dropped in prior to the slide, and all those are accounted for. debris went 600' below the get-back trail. miracle that nobody died.

[tone capone]

I prefer being able to play in all kinds of terrain I shied away from back before the area was "controlled".

Well whatever, we could go back and forth on that one for 10 pages but no good will come of it. I too think that patrol has done a great job considering the very unique circumstances, it just is what it is now. Now it's a tyranny of the idiotic majority. It used to be a great place to earn safe turns and even ski a sick line now and then, now it's a management problem and a feeding frenzy complete with a mad dash out to Saddle during high and considerable danger. The situation there is way beyond the ability of any ski patrol to mitigate with a lift to the top and an open boundary.

Oh wait, there's always the Forest Service. Count on our illustrious Federal Government to find a solution that will make everyone happy.

I'd rather them close the lift than the boundary that's for sure. After all, everybody in Bozeman has touring gear now anyways, might as well go back to what worked in the first place.

Peace I'm out. That's all I care to say. Have fun, see ya out there in the quest for safe turns.

[telestoner]

I'd rather them close the lift than the boundary that's for sure. After all, everybody in Bozeman has touring gear now anyways, might as well go back to what worked in the first place.

A lift that nobody is allowed to use - that would be so bridger bowl!

[Eleventy]

it's a tyranny of the idiotic majority.

As is everything else in this world..

I'm not very familiar with Bridger, so I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about.. But, why not go back to the way it was, where the boundary is open but not from the ridge? Ski Slushmans? Fine.. but to access Saddle, you skin in from below.

[telestoner]

I'm not very familiar with Bridger, so I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about.. But, why not go back to the way it was, where the boundary is open but not from the ridge? Ski Slushmans? Fine.. but to access Saddle, you skin in from below.

I don't think there's a safe skinning route that's practical, except right under the lift.

[midwest_skier]

Damn, I remember talking about this last week....

[fez]

As is everything else in this world..

I'm not very familiar with Bridger, so I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about.. But, why not go back to the way it was, where the boundary is open but not from the ridge? Ski Slushmans? Fine.. but to access Saddle, you skin in from below.

it would be an enforcement nightmare.

think of it this way tony, wont be much point skiing slushman's for a while this year.