When things go to shit

[Bunion 2020]

https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/19826

^^^ Recent incident in a nearby mountain range.

Try to imagine being there, what started as a great day, lots of new snow and probably a very high enthusiasm level.

Your group is ascending up what you have decided is a reasonable route and the slope you are on releases and all 4 of you are caught and swept.

2 of you manage to grab trees and stop while the other two are strained through timber. It is now bad.

You extricate yourselves and begin a partner rescue, the site is far from reliable additional response and I have no idea what the cell reception is like at the actual site.

One friend is severely injured and the other is either severely injured and dies while you try to help or is dead by the time to get them dug out.

Details of the full rescue are still not available but should be soon.

In the past week well over a meter of new snow has fallen on a very weak layer and on top of a good sliding layer then the wind picked up, nearly 20 avalanches have been triggered and there have been some really close calls.

This incident and post serve to remind folks of how quickly what was going to be an epic day becomes a nightmare and dovetails into the What to carry thread as well as the threads urging people to take a first aid class.

Please discuss without judgement. The pictures from the GNFAC are sobering as hell.

[Meadow Skipper]

Somber thoughts. It reminds me that avalanches and wildfires have some similarities, like how quickly things can go to absolute shit for people. Knowledge, diligent watchfulness, and anticipation are key.

[Buster Highmen]

Sad.
Condolences to the family of the victim.
I think we all assume trees are safe places.

[John_B]

Here is a specific link to the 6 minute video producted by GNFAC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=...&v=B6T7SQNvwsQ

As someone who is currently looking at hut/yurt bookings for next winter this hits home even more.

[yeahman]

Sad story. Condolences to family, friends, and first responders. I feel incredibly lucky to have skied backcountry many years and never been involved in an incident. I quit about fifteen years ago. Just decided skiing backcountry powder is awesome but not worth the risk. This is an entirely personal decision that everybody has to make for themselves. I certainly understand the allure.

It is unexpected when such a heavily treed slope slides, but at 38 to 40 degrees that's getting pretty steep.

[S_jenks]

Damn Seeing shots of the wind-loaded crown really sent chills down the spine:

[S_jenks]

Very tough to read through all of that. The Bell Lake area is a very beautiful place, yet every time that I have been there, summer or winter, that wind was always blowing. If you pass through the area during the summer months, you'll notice that there really isn't much underbrush or vegetation to anchor the snow (beyond the early season), so it something were to rip it could really propogate.

Topping out at the ridge was like a frozen wasteland, with the wind scouring away snow:



It definitely made us more cautious during early season tours, but even then we still were arrogant enough to ski slopes eerily similar to the one in the accident. This one is above the lake itself back in Nov 2015:



Despite the cool terrain, you could never ignore the volume of wind that moves over the ridge lines each day. The leeward slopes certainly demand extra scrutiny, but in this case it seems like they would have had a difficult time discerning that the wooded area had been exposed to significant wind-loading. Might seem obvious from the flight photos, but its hard to see that when you are in the thick of the trees.

[PNWbrit]

Sobering...

[skaredshtles]

Sad.
Condolences to the family of the victim.
I think we all assume trees are safe places.

I think that may be true. I remember *vividly* having a guide at Silverton many moons ago (it was the now-famous John Shocklee) tell our group that if the trees are wide enough to be skiable, they can slide. It stuck with me a a general rule-of-thumb in the backcountry.

[muted]

Tobacco Roots have always been known for sketchy conditions, I think. I set off a three foot slide in thicker trees than that once there. Just traversing, it silently broke right at my tips, my eyes became very wide. Long story short was I was lost and was just trying to get back to some safe skiing that led to a cabin but I was about 2 feet downhill from where I should have been traversing, due to fucking deep as shit snow making it hard to get up onto a bench that was right near me.

I'm sure others have similar stories of avies in that Range.

[PNWbrit]

I think that may be true. I remember *vividly* having a guide at Silverton many moons ago (it was the now-famous John Shocklee) tell our group that if the trees are wide enough to be skiable, they can slide. It stuck with me a a general rule-of-thumb in the backcountry.

There was some numb nuts here recently in the #avalanchehypesocialmedia thread who flat out stated that trees never slide.

[GoldMember]

There's a spot at Retallack; steep, thick trees, that slid some years ago. It started about 2/3 up the aspect and cleared timber in a pyramid shape all the way to the valley floor, probably 1,000 vert. I don't know that particular slope angle but the fact it started seemingly from nothing made an impression. That and having cleared out the timber was interesting.

[ACH]

There was some numb nuts here recently in the #avalanchehypesocialmedia thread who flat out stated that trees never slide.

I was 50/50 in that wondering that the comment wasn't actually meant as a troll?

[PNWbrit]

I was 50/50 in that wondering that the comment wasn't actually meant as a troll?

Nope.

and nope.

[mall walker]

There was some numb nuts here recently in the #avalanchehypesocialmedia thread who flat out stated that trees never slide.

yeah that guy made some dubious claims in that thread...

Damn Seeing shots of the wind-loaded crown really sent chills down the spine:

worth a thousand words... devastating accident. I cannot imagine being the spouse (or the ski partner) in that situation.

[Shredhead]

Here is a specific link to the 6 minute video producted by GNFAC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=...&v=B6T7SQNvwsQ.

That’s a very good summary and much more impactful, than the standard written summary.

[summit]

Good god....


Only way to manage group travel to safe zones in that terrain is by radio

[el grom]

The deceased was a friend of mine and was going to join us for a day or two at Silverton in March. A good guy, a great skier, a knowledgable backcountry traveler, and a relatively recent husband. Obviously his wife, family, and friends are crushed by this and are struggling to come to terms with it; especially his wife and the leader of the trip, one of Ben's closest friends. Reading about this incident, seeing GNFAC's video, and hearing the story as told by the leader of the trip (his brother is the other injured skier), makes it all the worse as I know I would have likely made the same route decisions that day.

The only 100% way to stay safe in the BC is not to go, and most of us aren't willing to give that up. I won't go into details as it's not my story, or place, to tell, but the two uninjured skiers did the best they could with what they had, which included pretty advanced first aid/CPR training. Things did indeed "go to shit" that day.

Ben's obit in the Denver Post: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/de...7619&fhid=4529

[MakersTeleMark]

The only 100% way to stay safe in the BC is not to go, and most of us aren't willing to give that up.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

But that is complete bullshit.

[el grom]

But that is complete bullshit.

No, that's your opinion.

[MakersTeleMark]

No, that's your opinion.

No, it's a fact. Riddle me this:

Choice #1: Don't go in the bc;
Choice #2: Stay off slopes over 32 degrees.

Bullshit. Sit in your house. I'll ski that pow for you, 5 post JONG.

You might want to take a course or 2. Moran.

[powdork]

Not to monday morning quarterback but that really seems like an obviously bad place to be. I certainly wouldn't consider that 'trees'. in fact, barely glades. The safe path they chose to ski prior also seems quite suspect.

[MakersTeleMark]

Every avalanche fatality is a product of people who fuck up. Yes, fucked up.

Whether you have fucked up in the past and gotten away with it, whether you treat it as an increased risk tolerance, or whether you decide to just give it up doesn't matter. It's physics.

Don't fuck up. It's never changed.

[summit]

No, it's a fact. Riddle me this:

Choice #1: Don't go in the bc;
Choice #2: Stay off slopes over 32 degrees.

Bullshit. Sit in your house. I'll ski that pow for you, 5 post JONG.

You might want to take a course or 2. Moran.

3. Expose 1 person at a time to avalanche terrain (4 people were caught in 1 slide here)

That is basic safe travel protocol

[kootenayskier]

Not to monday morning quarterback but that really seems like an obviously bad place to be. I certainly wouldn't consider that 'trees'. in fact, barely glades. The safe path they chose to ski prior also seems quite suspect.

Gotta agree here. At least from the info provided in the video, after seemingly identifying the hazard on their first climb, both their choice of descent and the climbing route that that went so badly seem poor decisions.