Inbounds Avy at Crystal

**AK47bp** · 12-19-2012, 12:45 AM

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/W...?m=y&smobile=y

Close call

**The AD** · 12-19-2012, 10:14 AM

Anyone know where this occurred?

**oftpiste** · 12-19-2012, 10:42 AM

Just past o meadows. Apparently rescue performed by skiers in the vicinity.

**Shredhead** · 12-19-2012, 11:02 AM

She's one lucky girl. Being able to ski down after 10 minutes of immersion, she must of had a decent sized air pocket.

**komo** · 12-19-2012, 12:33 PM

more details on TAY thread here: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing...?topic=26573.0

**AK47bp** · 12-19-2012, 02:20 PM

Copied this from SkiboyJ in the PNW thread, has a little more details. Hope he doesn't mind.

"Did you (or anybody else) happen to be in Northway for the short opening at the end of the day and end up helping with the inbounds slide? I was maybe a minute or 2 behind and ran into the traffic jam to get out of Northway. 2-3 caught (it was pretty panicky so info wasn't great), 1 buried. Calls for probes and shovels so I went up to the front to help. Beacon search was a shitshow b/c people hadn't switched to search mode so there was an attempt to organize a probe line. By the time we could get situated, random probe strikes ended up finding victim who was pinned up against a tree. 5-10 mins under? It's very hard to tell as everything seemed to take longer than it actually did. She ended up being completely fine and skied away. Neither she nor her ski partners were wearing beacons"

**The AD** · 12-20-2012, 10:24 AM

This actually made Good Morning America today. They even interviewed the girl who was buried.
http://gma.yahoo.com/avalanche-survi...3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

**oftpiste** · 12-20-2012, 10:54 AM

If what I'm hearing is correct it would be nice of the media and the mountain to give credit to the skiers who happened to be there when it happened, probed and dug her out before patrol arrived. No dis on patrol, but the folks that rescued her don't seem to be getting much love - not even from the mountain - and they should.

Way to go guys.

Edit: Just now saw the Today show piece. Head of patrol takes credit with no mention of prepared folks who got her out. LIke I said, xtal patrol for the most part rocks, but they really should give credit where it's due.

**hutash** · 12-20-2012, 11:09 AM

Always good to hear a happy ending to these threads. Props to those on site to save her. Getting flushed into the tree well probably helped her.

Another reminder to ski in-bounds with a pack on big days. If you got it why not? Sure it is nice to rip all day without, but having been involved with one in-bounds avi, and being first on site with gear, I feel nekkid without it. Four people went for a ride, but only one partial burial, so lucky all in all.

**Buster Highmen** · 12-20-2012, 11:27 AM

The Today piece credits the patrol.

JoeDaBaker credits random people who were there:
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing...?topic=26573.0 m.

History again.

**oftpiste** · 12-20-2012, 11:32 AM

interesting gopro footage over there.....

**Buster Highmen** · 12-20-2012, 11:51 AM

FWIW:

**AK47bp** · 12-20-2012, 12:47 PM

Yea. Without the skiers it may have been a body recovery, lots of eyes witnessed it luckily.

Great job by random strangers, I will definitely be wearing my pack on inbounds powder days due to this.

**PNWbrit** · 12-20-2012, 02:23 PM

I chatted with the patroller who is seen in the go-pro video yesterday... sounds like it was a complete shit show. And that there are a ton of people who had beacons but no idea how to use them.. had to be shown how to turn them to search mode. Luckily enough clear heads were on hand to actually find the burial.

OFt - I think Baugher's quotes so tightly edited that it's impossible to know what he was actually answering.

Like the fact that some media is mentioning that dog was involved...They did send dog handler out there to check for other burials... it's not impossible to see how that can get turned into "dog rescues cute blond snowboarder".

**oftpiste** · 12-20-2012, 03:01 PM

^^^ figured the same, but was maybe hoping for some props to the locals like Joe maybe on the blog or something. That footage clearly shows it was a cluster, but cluster or no they got the job done.

Makes me think a lot. I don't have advanced skills or real world rescue experience despite formal training, and I can certainly understand how one could default to freeze mode thinking "there's probably someone here who knows more than I do so I'm not going to give orders". Though like J said, someone needed to organize things. In the training I had the take-charge organizing aspect was strongly emphasized to avoid as much of a shitshow as it can indeed become when everyone is in panic mode. Just wonder if I'd have done any better. Probably not, but bless their hearts for getting her out.

**auvgeek** · 12-20-2012, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by oftpiste

In the training I had the take-charge organizing aspect was strongly emphasized to avoid as much of a shitshow as it can indeed become when everyone is in panic mode. Just wonder if I'd have done any better. Probably not, but bless their hearts for getting her out.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts. Hard to armchair quarterback any avy situation. Knowing now that she didn't have a beacon on, it seems like they should have organized a probe line. But I mean, how do you know that beforehand? Glad she was able to get out alright.

One thing I continue to think about is carrying skins in the resort anytime there's a chance of a slide. I'll carry skins if I have them cut for my skis, but I rarely ski my bc skis in the resort these days. Wonder how much easier it would have been for the rescuers if they would have had skins with them.

**oftpiste** · 12-20-2012, 04:10 PM

too much time used up putting skins on perhaps.....

**capulin overdrive** · 12-20-2012, 06:45 PM

Cell phones, go pros, beacons, no beacons, etc. etc.

Carlie fox saves the day! Appears maybe a tree well was a good thing this time?

Props to those who helped!

**hutash** · 12-20-2012, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by oftpiste

^^^ figured the same, but was maybe hoping for some props to the locals like Joe maybe on the blog or something. That footage clearly shows it was a cluster, but cluster or no they got the job done.

Makes me think a lot. I don't have advanced skills or real world rescue experience despite formal training, and I can certainly understand how one could default to freeze mode thinking "there's probably someone here who knows more than I do so I'm not going to give orders". Though like J said, someone needed to organize things. In the training I had the take-charge organizing aspect was strongly emphasized to avoid as much of a shitshow as it can indeed become when everyone is in panic mode. Just wonder if I'd have done any better. Probably not, but bless their hearts for getting her out.

It is an interesting sensation to experience, one I hope to never repeat. The best thing to do is practice, practice, practice. You will not (or at least I didn't) think clearly. It seemed like I just reacted to the situation, but I must have been thinking because I did most everything right. I wrote a TR about it, and BloodSweatTears wrote up his experience a few years ago as well. It seemed like I just switched into action mode, and I attribute that to practicing enough times that it was just automatic.

The only real mistake I made was starting the beacon search as soon as I got into the slide path, not in the deposition zone. I did have the presence on mind not to head directly into the path, but went down the side and entered what was likely a safer area. Four people were caught, and the guy I was skiing with and I tried to watch and keep track of them, but that was the hardest part as a couple of them went under a couple of times. I wasn't sure if someone was buried or not, I thought some one was, but fortunately not. I was first on the scene with my ski partner, but the only one with a beacon so took charge until patrol arrived in just a few minutes time, and let him take over. Turned out there were a couple of patrolers on the lift with full view and they felt there were no burials, but they had Recco on site within a few minutes, and the dog within 15-20?

Scary as fuck watching an avi break right at my feet and see four people swept away. I still can recall the whole thing quite vividly. I hope nobody has to go through this, but highly recommend an Avi I course for anybody that likes to ski the big lines even at resorts. I ski with a beacon and pack on any day after a significant storm; plus I may go slack country and am already prepared. In bound slides like this are surprisingly common. Props to patrol, and all they do, but they are human, and mountains are fickle bitches. I few years ago Mammoth had a huge in bounds slide on Climax after several people had been down it. I talked to the patroler who shot it that morning, and even in hind sight he didn't know what he would have done differently. Fortunately no full burials, but they spent the rest of the day working a probe line, and hoped no bodies showed up in the spring.

edit to add: The DVD put out by Pieps is well worth watching. I think you can still request it from their web site. I watch it at least once a season, usually more.

**jmedslc** · 12-21-2012, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by oftpiste

If what I'm hearing is correct it would be nice of the media and the mountain to give credit to the skiers who happened to be there when it happened, probed and dug her out before patrol arrived. No dis on patrol, but the folks that rescued her don't seem to be getting much love - not even from the mountain - and they should.

Way to go guys.

Edit: Just now saw the Today show piece. Head of patrol takes credit with no mention of prepared folks who got her out. LIke I said, xtal patrol for the most part rocks, but they really should give credit where it's due.

i'm having trouble finding the today show piece. Link?

**Amphibious1** · 12-22-2012, 08:17 PM

couple of thoughts from someone who was there
- First off, great job everyone that was there, to jump into action. really proud to be a part of it. Numbers are what saved this girl.
- we were all confused by our false positive beacon readings (possibly due to cell phone, go pro, transmit mode, etc. interference???)
- there was an effort to organize a probe line, but,
- it was extremely difficult to move around in this much snow, so near impossible to organize, most were probing in their immediate vicinity and around tree wells, rolling over, or big step to the side to do it again
- it would have been nice had patrol taken this opportunity to educate the public about being prepared to rescue your partners, and not rely on patrol exclusively. In particularly since the prepared general ski community clearly rescued this girl.
- there were many patrollers not wearing a beacon (which I find astounding)
- this was an epic lap

doughboyshredder · 12-22-2012, 08:23 PM

Patrollers not wearing Beacons? Sounds downright negligent in my opinion.

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**hutash** · 12-22-2012, 08:27 PM

I take it a lot if people were skiing with gear? How many do you think?

I find it odd a 'troller did not have a beacon, but he might have been on the shitter when the call came in... Literally caught with his pants down?