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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,071

    Vail Ice fall Collapse

    Yesterday afternoon, I drove home from the front range. As I came down the West side of Vail pass I was looking up at the “Rigid Designator” (a big WI-5 ice climb, that I once did in my youth) and to the right of it is the Artichoke/Fang ice formation. I thought to myself that I was surprised that the Artichoke and Fang had not connected up yet this season, when suddenly the Fang formation fell away from the cliff and stabbed into the top of the Artichoke. There was a really BIG shower of ice chunks. The section of the Fang that fell I’d estimate to be 20 – 25’ in length. I couldn’t tell (because I was driving 65 mph) if anyone was on the formation. I said a little pray and thought of the day when the 19th Hole ice fall fell away from the wall and killed a guy back in the 80’s. If anyone hears anything about yesterday's “avalanche” let me know. It happened at 1622 hrs and the temperature on the highway was 35 degrees f.
    "True love is much easier to find with a helicopter"

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    12,611
    Aren't there chains mounted that help those falls form and stabilized?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,071
    Quote Originally Posted by Name Redacted View Post
    Aren't there chains mounted that help those falls form and stabilized?
    I've never heard of those.
    "True love is much easier to find with a helicopter"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    12,611
    Quote Originally Posted by Hacksaw View Post
    I've never heard of those.
    Not like they would have done anything here obviously. It's been a warm few days. We had a slab of ice slide off our building that would have crushed a bus.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,071
    "True love is much easier to find with a helicopter"

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    19,217
    There are ropes that help the fang form up, but it still collapses regularly, especially after the last few years.

    Today it is 50.

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