The Official 19/20 Tahoe Ski Snowboard Thread. Plus bonus Bootfitting Recs!

[TahoeJ]

FWIW, According to my reading of the squaw press release, a beacon would not have helped.

Yeah, I kind of assumed it was trauma from tumbling over rocks, etc. - the coverage over on that face was well behind most of the mountain / resort. Ugh, that's just horrible.

This is in NO way placing any blame on the victims, obviously, but the next time conditions are like this I'm going to pay closer attention to run-out zones since a beacon can't save you from rocks / trees. Something I will certainly keep in mind.

[LightRanger]

Skiing with a buddy at S@T and that crust layer was super noticeable. In windier areas it made for less consistent skiing, and in sheltered areas you could rip off small cohesive slabs below boulders.

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[mcski]

Scary stuff, ECTP's in the backcountry as well. Also i'm not sure the video statement from Placer Co sherriff saying "This is an area of the resort that is an advanced skier area and at this point there is no reason to believe any other area of the resort or alpine meadows is in jeopardy" is doing anyone any favors. https://twitter.com/PlacerSheriff/status/1218269975112085504

Ya uh huh. While certainly an area capable of sliding, it’s one I never give a second thought about post control work.

The crown didn’t look particular large, but carried them right into the trees causing lots of trauma and unsettling screaming. Not a great day.

[LightRanger]

^^^ So awful to hear.

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[GoSlowGoFar]

Such a bummer. Was wondering what the heli and ambulance was about when we were walking up.

[gone2alpine]

The crown didn’t look particular large, but carried them right into the trees causing lots of trauma and unsettling screaming. Not a great day.

Yeah, that part was haunting. We were riding up Scott right as the event happened. Didn't see it but sure heard it.

[TahoeBC]

S@T opened grandview at 8:30 this morning for passholders, managed 4th chair and had 6 really good laps before it got to crowded for my taste.

Lacking seeing any naturals avys on the way up and a good late afternoon report from yesterday at Waterhouse decided to poke around in the BC a bit. After climbing 1000 feet of vert I pulled the plug because of to many red flags, whooping, shooting cracks, poor pit results and a visual of a natural slide which occurred in the trees. As I transitioned to ski a safe route back down I got a call about the inbounds avy fatality at alpine meadows, RIP fellow skier, use a lot of caution out there!

Tough lighting but one from Sierra


Cool clouds


Retreat!


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[pureshred]

Wow tragic news at Alpine, makes me sick to my stomach. Stay safe out there y'all.

Squaw was deepo in many spots today but still a surprising amount of ice and rock lurking beneath. Interesting conditions. Saw a lot of people setting off small slabs.

[morphintoskittle]

Super sad to hear he passed away, I saw him getting chest compressions and immediately got shivers. Sure doesn’t seem like a ton could have been done on his part besides not skiing today, anyone have any tips on how to avoid situations like these besides not skiing (in terms of inbounds avalanches)? Obviously try to ski one at a time on avalanche prone terrain, but even then, injuries resulted from trauma due to the surrounding environment and not due to being buried which skier separation can’t help nor can a beacon/prove/shovel. Only thing I can think of is maybe an avy backpack....but even then you’re along for the ride. Just looking to possibly better my awareness of inbounds avalanche terrain and personal skills. Thoughts out to the friends and family of the skiers affected.

[splitter]

The Alpine news does put a damper on a decent pow day.

[MakersTeleMark]

Super sad to hear he passed away, I saw him getting chest compressions and immediately got shivers. Sure doesn’t seem like a ton could have been done on his part besides not skiing today, anyone have any tips on how to avoid situations like these besides not skiing (in terms of inbounds avalanches)? Obviously try to ski one at a time on avalanche prone terrain, but even then, injuries resulted from trauma due to the surrounding environment and not due to being buried which skier separation can’t help nor can a beacon/prove/shovel. Only thing I can think of is maybe an avy backpack....but even then you’re along for the ride. Just looking to possibly better my awareness of inbounds avalanche terrain and personal skills. Thoughts out to the friends and family of the skiers affected.

Terrain management. Just like in the bc, you always have to ask yourself, what would happen if I'm wrong and it slides?

Strainers and terrain traps should always be on your mind. Big flush lines are way more forgiving, trees aren't.

[bodywhomper]

Terrain management. Just like in the bc, you always have to ask yourself, what would happen if I'm wrong and it slides?

Strainers and terrain traps should always be on your mind. Big flush lines are way more forgiving, trees aren't.

but is considering all of those factors really going to influence your (or anybodies’) decisionmaking about skiing inbounds in avi mitigated areas?

[emcee]

No, and that's what makes this so real. I would ski exactly that.

[neufox47]

but is considering all of those factors really going to influence your (or anybodies’) decisionmaking about skiing inbounds in avi mitigated areas?

Guessing the odds of hitting a tree / rock etc and dieing are about the same or higher than dieing in an inbound avy?

[bodywhomper]

Guessing the odds of hitting a tree / rock etc and dieing are about the same or higher than dieing in an inbound avy?

My spitball guess is that the odds are higher, as you suggest.

[tmokes]

Sorry to hear about this...


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[Vitamin I]

...anyone have any tips on how to avoid situations like these besides not skiing (in terms of inbounds avalanches)? Obviously try to ski one at a time on avalanche prone terrain, but even then, injuries resulted from trauma due to the surrounding environment and not due to being buried which skier separation can’t help nor can a beacon/prove/shovel...

2 skiers had severe outcomes in this case. I don't have any strong tips to decrease it from 2 down to 0, but don't downplay the "one at a time" strategy, even for trauma risks instead of burial risks. Not sure about all the details of this case, but maybe there might have been ways that they could have decreased it from 2 down to 1...which would still be a bad outcome, but at least not as bad as 2 men down.

And who knows? It's possible that some slabs might hold 1 skier at a time without incident, but not hold the weight and impacts of 2 skiers descending at the same time.

.

[~mikey b]

which is why this ski patrol job is so difficult and stressful

imagine someone getting hurt or killed on a route you just ran

I think about that shit a lot

[~mikey b]

hug a patroller

[old goat]

but is considering all of those factors really going to influence your (or anybodies’) decisionmaking about skiing inbounds in avi mitigated areas?

My son and I were skiing Flute at WB. One side of Sluie's had slid. My son decided to ski the other side; I went elsewhere. Perhaps my decision was based on the fact that the run is named after a guy killed there, prior to the time the slope was controlled. On run 2 my son cut into a slope under a big cornice, I went elsewhere. My son is an ex-Squaw pro patroller. I have no formal avalanche training except beacon training. Neither slope slid.

I've skied at Squaw on a day when there was a patroller at the top of KT checking everyone for a beacon, but they weren't requiring them, just warning. There are certainly places where skiing with gear and a partner is mandatory. When we skied Big Couloir at Big Sky we skied one at a time.

Guessing the odds of hitting a tree / rock etc and dieing are about the same or higher than dieing in an inbound avy?

So by skiing an avalanche prone slope you double your chance of dying. I can't recall every skiing death in this area over the last 40 years but I'd say that the numbers killed in a crash are higher than the number killed by slides, but not orders of magnitude higher.

which is why this ski patrol job is so difficult and stressful

imagine someone getting hurt or killed on a route you just ran

I think about that shit a lot

Imagine a patroller with a family getting killed so that the rest of us can have fun. There's been three around here in recent years, one while my son was working (he was off that day). I think about that a lot.

[old goat]

hug a patroller

I try, but he won't let me. My other son will do bro hugs but not this one. He only hugs his girlfriend and his dog.

[TBS]

which is why this ski patrol job is so difficult and stressful

imagine someone getting hurt or killed on a route you just ran

I think about that shit a lot

I hear ya Mike.
About 10 yrs ago at Mt Hood Meadows, Patrol was concerned about slides in the Clarks and Heather drainages that converge into one path. So they shot the area with their howitzer.
Nothing
So they sent over a couple of AC guys to check more. They threw hand charges, cut, stomped, dug pits, etc.
Nothing
So they opened the area. People skied on it all day
Nothing
That night it slid -big - like a 10’ crown, take out the lower lift terminal big.
The release was just above the spot where the howitzer rounds landed.

Thanks for the work you do.

[old goat]

They're still bombing at Sugar Bowl this morning.

A couple of years ago after a huge storm I counted 35 bomb holes on a little slope at Squaw a couple hundred yards wide and maybe 500 vertical feet high. It didn't slide. (The area looker's left of Tower 16, I forget the name.)

[~mikey b]

we made a lot of bomb holes yesterday and had a few good slides.

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

MT Rose, Slide parking lot is full. I got here just before 9:00 a.m. and it was almost full then. I was hoping that a few more people would have their passes blacked out this weekend. Business is good.