First person avy account, lessons learned.

[srsosbso]

This is old news by this point, as this event occurred in April 2011, but anyway, a few lessons in this story. One is a confirmation of the importance of human factors in decision making, as per much of the current avalanche research and data. The other is my experience of being in a slide.

We were skiing at Kootenay Pass, B.C., late season. Four skiers, an experienced group. Two are former ski patrol directors, one of them teaches backcountry avalanche courses, the other has his ski guide ticket. I've got many years of touring in myself. So, really, no shortage of experience here, ie. no excuses.

We skied north aspects most of the day, including two runs down a clearly potentially dangerous slope. (see first attached photo, from another day.) We skied this slope very carefully and cautiously, without incident. In retrospect, having got out of there safe and sound, I think that, perhaps, we subsequently had our collective guard down.

Later in the day we were exiting on east facing slopes. There were numerous indicators that this was a very different snowpack, including:
-These slopes had been in warm sun all morning long.
-There was a decent sized cornice overhanging the slope.
-The snow was heavier and denser by feel.
-One of our party launched off the cornice and stopped just about dead on landing, because the snow was so much denser. That in itself should have given us pause. Then another one of our party traversed above him to retrieve his pole and released a very small slab that just oozed down around the cornice hucker. And all we did was laugh. A lot. Yeah, I know. But at the time... well, it was funny.

Anyway, as you can see, the slope looked very benign- second and third attachments below. Not steep, lots of trees, and small glades. And so, in spite of the aforementioned indicators, and fueled by our jocular late day mood, we jumped in. I made one turn over a subtle roll over and the small glade/bowl released. I tried to ski out to my right but the fracture propogated that way and the whole bowl went.

Everything I'd ever read about what to do in a slide went out the window and I acted completely on instinct. I was not thinking about anything like dropping poles, releasing skis, swimming motions, any of that. My first thought was "Those trees are coming at me really fucking fast." That is literally how it seemed- me stationary, and the trees coming uphill towards me. I was sideways and didn't relish hitting those trees like that, and so I got my feet below me. I hit the first tree hard enough to crush a DPS Wailer and break a dynafit toepiece. I saved my ribs and spleen, but tweaked my knee and got flipped upside down by the impact. Now I'm heading downhill, headfirst and on my back, under the slide snow and into the next set of trees. All I could think of was a) hitting the trees head first and b) being buried in this position and how long it might take them to get my head uncovered. So I did a back roll, ended up in a sitting position, and popped out. I finished waist deep in loose debris- easily self-extricated.

You can see the tree I hit in the center, and me amidst the debris below. The slide carried down about 600 vertical feet through the trees below me- it would have been nasty to have been rinsed through there.

Lessons.
1) Don't let your mood affect your decision making.
2) Stop and assess different slope aspects carefully.
3) Don't underestimate benign looking slopes and small glades.
4) Trees become the enemy in a hurry.
5) Some people stay calm and remember what they have learned in a stressful situation. I am not one of those people. I agree that it is likely 'genetic', as others have said elsewhere.
6) Experience can sometimes lead to increased risk.

[icelanticskier]

thanx for sharing. nothing quite like taking a big ride, and yes, easy for folks/text to say how you should take a ride and how you shouldn't. well it's one thing to qb on monday morning and a whole other thing to be qb for the big game. fuck what everyone sez, all you can do is try to stay alive.

staying calm is key tho and i attribute that to keeping me alive/injury free......along with luck. of course.

kootenay pass is a nice spot, been years since i last toured round there. talk about low hanging fruit. terrain trap central from what i remember as well.

rog

[LeeLau]

Interesting. Another low angle slope that could hurt/kill.

[bfree]

I can't see exactly what's going on in the pictures (maybe you can mark them up?), but it certainly doesn't look like that shallow of a pitch. In any case, thanks for sharing.

[srsosbso]

The pitch above is quite shallow, but it certainly steepens at the roll over where it fractured (roughly 30cm fracture line, that you can see to the right.) Very small glades, as you can see. Not the sort of thing to make you worry, even though you should, obviously, as it turned out.

[totaliboard]

Glad youre alive dude. Slides like that really change your perception. do you have any close up pics of the crown line?

[srsosbso]

No, no closeups. Those two pics are all there is. You can see how beautifully, brutally clean the fracture line was.
I should say that on the far side of the roll over it was definitely in the 30 to 35% pitch range, steep enough to slide. Classic convexity. It released just beyond where my buddy in the dark grey jacket is standing. I was skiing straight below him. The failure propogated way right into shallower terrain as you can see, and all funnelled towards where I am standing.

[srsosbso]

And just to be clear, my point about how I reacted was more about me and my behavior in a panic situation than any sort of comment about the wisdom of traditional recommendations. I just reacted in the moment and didn't really think at all about what I have been taught. Fortunately that worked out in this particular instance, but I truly fear that in another setting I might not do what I should, perhaps, do. I understand that many, maybe most, of us do just that in a crisis- unless we have physically practiced the 'right' thing, which is hard to do in this sort of situation.

[srsosbso]

I can't see exactly what's going on in the pictures (maybe you can mark them up?)

I'm no wizard with graphics, but I've tried to do this in a fourth edited attachment. Legend as follows
1) Where i started skiing. The roll over is just fall line from there. Slope released on first turn, I think.
2) Crown
3) Tree I hit. I was going to the right when it went and traversed a bit before getting knocked down, so I was pretty much in the center of it all when I was being carried.
4) Where I ended up. That's me standing after self extricating from waist deep snow.
5) We found deposition down close to here.