Careful in the Wasatch!

[thefortrees]

A friend got caught in a slide yesterday but thankfully made it out OK. Lots of avalanche activity in the Wasatch right now. Key takeaway - just because there are tracks doesn’t mean it is safe. Report here:

https://m.utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanches/35752

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Glad your friend is OK. Sobering write up.

Didn't no name slide during the last storm?

[hafjell]

Key takeaway - just because there are tracks doesn’t mean it is safe

Yes. Hard to act upon when in the back country because the tracks seem to confer safety. "If it was going to slide, it should have by now." Note the perfect avalanche angle too. Happy your friend is ok.

[Skidog]

A friend got caught in a slide yesterday but thankfully made it out OK. Lots of avalanche activity in the Wasatch right now. Key takeaway - just because there are tracks doesn’t mean it is safe. Report here:

https://m.utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanches/35752

so this doesnt appear to be yesterdays incident.???? 2 caught, one stayed on top..other buried and saved by RANDOM PROBE HIT....both flown to local hospital...both ok...Same area of Snowbasin. Happened late yesterday afternoon. 4-5pmish if I recall news reports correctly. could that really happen 2x over the weekend?

[glademaster]

This incident (the one that appears twice on the UAC page) was not at Snowbasin, nor was it inbounds, it was in the No Name area of the PC/BCC ridge.

That's also why it shows up on the SL UAC page and not Ogden.

[Skidog]

This incident (the one that appears twice on the UAC page) was not at Snowbasin, nor was it inbounds, it was in the No Name area of the PC/BCC ridge.

That's also why it shows up on the SL UAC page and not Ogden.

ahhhh my bad..sorry.....why they gotta have da same names man....

[glademaster]

ahhhh my bad..sorry.....why they gotta have da same names man....

Haha, I agree, it's confusing as hell, similar to "I'm heading to Dog Lake, want to meet me there?" In all fairness, it took me about 10 minutes of searching different avy reports and news stories to deduce that. Slow day at the office, eh?

[Skidog]

Haha, I agree, it's confusing as hell, similar to "I'm heading to Dog Lake, want to meet me there?" In all fairness, it took me about 10 minutes of searching different avy reports and news stories to deduce that. Slow day at the office, eh?

I figured I'd get the answer here quicker than my lazy ass searching for it.

Glad everyone was ok in both incidents. I guess the above was the one I caught Craig Gordon talking about on the Sunday news..like 18 tracks/skiers 19th triggered or something. He didn't mention the name, the having the "no name" reference with the snowbasin incident yesterday had me massively confused. Glad I wasn't the only one kinda.

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[Bunion 2020]

Mid-80s shot of the No Name outside of PC.

[baron]

This group , next to Solitude? Was said to be extremely experienced....

Did they dig a pit ,and actually check the slope they were on???
...yea its a funky snowpack ,maybe would not have seen a bad layer lol)

But ,I am curious if they looked at a pit they dug ,before skiing.

I find that Wasatch skiers rarely follow protocols in the backcountry.... skinning up bottlenecks/ to close to cornices / not digging pits / skiing above other groups skinning / skiing terrain traps / no beacons coming from the side-country access / there's more I imagine

No Offense/just some awareness stuff /I hope your friend recovers quick

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Props to the partners, SSP, and lifeflight for doing an amazing job under difficult and dangerous conditions and evacing the victim in such a short time. Hope he is well.

[Ermine]

This group , next to Solitude? Was said to be extremely experienced....
...
I find that Wasatch skiers rarely follow protocols in the backcountry.... skinning up bottlenecks/ to close to cornices / not digging pits / skiing above other groups skinning / skiing terrain traps / no beacons coming from the side-country access / there's more I imagine

I think it's the water. Yep, has to be the water, Trollholio.

How is it different here than other places? Loveland Pass? Mt. Rose chutes? AZ Snowbowl? Even Rogers Pass where there is a high degree of professionalism, many of the skin tracks go right up the valleys where guess what, there are guides and others triggering slides and skiing above you...the mouse trap...not to mention naturals (sunhit on some high East facing peak funnels a slide down and smacks you in the morning before you've even warmed up).

Risk tolerance? Education? Familiarity? Group Size? Normalcy Bias? ...money? the Money Shot? (probably falls under scarcity)
www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias

[zion zig zag]

This group , next to Solitude? Was said to be extremely experienced....

Did they dig a pit ,and actually check the slope they were on???
...yea its a funky snowpack ,maybe would not have seen a bad layer lol)

But ,I am curious if they looked at a pit they dug ,before skiing.

I find that Wasatch skiers rarely follow protocols in the backcountry.... skinning up bottlenecks/ to close to cornices / not digging pits / skiing above other groups skinning / skiing terrain traps / no beacons coming from the side-country access / there's more I imagine

No Offense/just some awareness stuff /I hope your friend recovers quick

Meh. Edited for snark.

[skifishbum]

i rarely make bc slope assesment mistakes from home in my arm chair or on the web
i hope youre blessed to continue to not make them everywhere
and me and my crew are blessed to get away with ours.
best believe them guys aint rookies and learned from all their mistakes
had a friend take a ride and loose some gear in siverfork earlier this month
and thankfully hes alright too
and another blow up his icey pelvis
i skinned skied my thigh into a low tide stump last week
and left a hellofa mark
being careful whlist engaged in skiings never a bad call
ftw
i thought it was good snark

[cravenmorhead]

Wasatch isn't my zone, but I thought this was a great accident write-up.

[Ermine]

Wasatch isn't my zone, but I thought this was a great accident write-up.

(mental note) Nice to have a terrain feature where they got spit out w/ slide going down on both sides of them: https://utahavalanchecenter.org/site...ler-pano_0.jpg

Yea, and this is concerning. I AM surprised we don't lose more each year?

"Once Skier 1 & 2 realized they were ok and had survived, they quickly became concerned about the potential that other people had been in the runout zone. Fortunately, at the time of the avalanche, no one was below and no one else was caught. There easily could have been. A group of 7-8 people had been walking up the trail which follows the summer road. They were only dressed in light hiking gear and not prepared for avalanches. This avalanche occurred directly in front of them as they hiked uphill. This is a very popular area with users of all experience levels. In fact, when Skier 1 & 2 reached the bottom of the slope, there were at least 15 people in the area looking at this avalanche."

[thefortrees]

Wasatch isn't my zone, but I thought this was a great accident write-up.

What an amazing report. Lots of good information to ingest here, and lessons to be learned.

I was surprised to see how obvious the weak layer was in the first two pictures of the slide. I’ve only got about 4 years of backcountry experience, and have only dug a handful of pits - is the obvious weak layer common? I’ve avoided digging pits often because I feel like I’d rely too much on the results as the primary data point in a go/no decision, but I may start digging a pit more frequently based on these picture.

[Rossymcg]

What an amazing report. Lots of good information to ingest here, and lessons to be learned.

I was surprised to see how obvious the weak layer was in the first two pictures of the slide. I’ve only got about 4 years of backcountry experience, and have only dug a handful of pits - is the obvious weak layer common? I’ve avoided digging pits often because I feel like I’d rely too much on the results as the primary data point in a go/no decision, but I may start digging a pit more frequently based on these picture.

at what point in the season would this snow pack be safe to ski on then? how long for the freeze thaw to stabilize that weak layer? scary seeing it like that

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[Rossymcg]

it'll be safe once those facets round I guess. your guess is as good as mine as to when that will happen. it's been a sketchy season out here, still is.

it was like that last season over my side.


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