Whistler/Vail North 2020/2021

[t.odd]

involvement on Matier yesterday too
https://www.avalanche.ca/?panel=moun...3-114a4793c507

[Dee Hubbs]

Whistler RCMP Twitter 6:47 PM · Feb 13, 2021·BC RCMP News
Avalanche in the Brandywine Bowl claims life of snowboarder
https://bit.ly/37djRFs

[LeeLau]

That makes 9 involvements in 3 days. RIP

[pureantigravity]

Shit. Again

[gramboh]

Damn... rough couple days.

In lighter news: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLQTlOqh...=15k19b4ysdik5

[Dee Hubbs]

Fawk, we lost a good one in this accident. The community will heavily mourn this one.

[t.odd]

ugh, yeah, another very short 2 degrees of separation on yesterdays, lots of hurting friends....

[Schemeboat]

I hope you all are OK up there.

[gramboh]

Sorry to hear that Todd . Preliminary MIN, sounds like the Poop Chutes party were touring and not taking the high T?

https://www.avalanche.ca/?panel=fata...ntain-20210212

https://www.avalanche.ca/?panel=fata...-bowl-20210213

[pureantigravity]

Name is out and his Instagram looks dope. Very much too bad there
I hope that's the last of the bad news.
Conditions are primo for on-piste right now!

[t.odd]

"[His girlfriend] ended up getting caught in a small avalanche which knocked her over. He dug her out and said, 'we have to get out of here.' They started heading down the mountain and the rest of the mountain let go and got him and missed her," https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...lity-1.5914939

Conditions were better than expected yesterday, had a great lap down Flute north chute just before lunch. Nice to have ski on peak laps in the AM, but vis was a challenge at times.

[kalisto]

apparently that wasn't the case. but doesn't matter at this point. RIP

[LeeLau]

AST class who carried out the Poop Chutes rescue https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...86609&sfnsn=mo

[t.odd]

wild experience...thanks for the link, lee

[pureantigravity]

Experienced local snowboarder killed in Brandywine Bowl

Another tragic blow occurred less than a day later, when first responders received a call about a snowboarder missing after an avalanche in Brandywine Bowl, near the Callaghan Valley about 15 kilometres south of Whistler Village. He was wearing a transceiver when he was swept up in a small wind slab.

RCMP confirmed Saturday afternoon, Feb. 13 that the man had died.

Friends took to social media to identify the victim as Squamish resident Dave Henkel, a long-time Sea to Sky local who had extensive and exceptional experience in the backcountry.

Whistler SAR’s Sills told Pique that volunteers worked with numerous other agencies to respond to the call, including Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol. “Typically we ask for [an avalanche] dog, a doctor, and two level 2 [Canadian Avalanche Association] technicians, and that allows us to go to the site and collect the pertinent information, upon which we can build an avalanche operations plan,” he said.

“There is a process before we actually insert members into a site. We have to do a full report, and we do that for our own safety.”

That initial crew of first responders was swiftly followed by a second helicopter carrying Whistler SAR volunteers, Sills said, adding that it took 42 minutes from the time he received the call for the first helicopter to lift off of Whistler Mountain.

According to police, the missing snowboarder was located about 45 minutes after the call came in.

Though the avalanche was on the smaller side, with Avalanche Canada grading it a size 1, Sills said the snowboarder had been caught in trees about halfway down a steep, technical slope with “a lot of remaining hazards overhead,” forcing crews to carry out a long-line rescue.

Sills could not confirm the condition of the search subject at the time of his rescue.

Henkel's death represents the loss of yet another knowledgeable, well-prepared powder-hunter to the mountains this winter, something Sills said is becoming a disturbing pattern.

“What’s emerging, and what's quite different this year is that at least four of the five fatalities that we've had here in the Sea to Sky country have been with well-above-average—I would say very experienced—snow travellers,” he told Pique.

“There's something pushing people with a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge into decision-making regimes that are not faring out very well. And, most likely, the culprit here is that we have a very complicated snowpack this year, quite unlike the snowpacks that we typically get on the coast.”

He added, “Behaviours that have been acceptable in past years are not acceptable this year.”

So what is the combination of factors leading to this unusually high number of tragic incidents recently?

Wind slabs proving problematic after a week of cold weather and north-easterly winds

The windy, cold weather Whistler experienced this week led to light, faceted snow that’s easily blown around by the strong gusts, explained both Flann and Storm. “When you get strong winds in variable directions and transportable snow, it produces wind slabs,” Flann said.

...


https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/lo...to-sky-3428573



A small wind slab wouldn't seem that serious a hazard. But above trees and steep terrain are a real gotcha. Sad news again.

[nortonwhis]

Im really frustrated that there aren't more details about the 3 avalanches that required rescue released. Not even a mention of that the failure plane was, whether they stepped down or whatever...
Why is avcan so bad at this kind of dissemination.
I really don't care for any of the gory details or any personal details about the people, I just really want to understand more about how our complex snowpack is behaving.

[t.odd]

Im really frustrated that there aren't more details about the 3 avalanches that required rescue released. Not even a mention of that the failure plane was, whether they stepped down or whatever...
Why is avcan so bad at this kind of dissemination.
I really don't care for any of the gory details or any personal details about the people, I just really want to understand more about how our complex snowpack is behaving.

after reading a bunch of the extremely comprehensive reports out of CO and UT over the past weeks, I'd tend to agree...but that's definitely a function of funding and resources I'd imagine.

[gramboh]

after reading a bunch of the extremely comprehensive reports out of CO and UT over the past weeks, I'd tend to agree...but that's definitely a function of funding and resources I'd imagine.

Was about to say this... timely detailed reports are great learning opportunities that could potentially cause others to change their decision making in the near term.

It’s stupid Avalanche Canada doesn’t seem to have reliable federal funding still. Or has that changed?

[nickinbc]

It’s stupid Avalanche Canada doesn’t seem to have reliable federal funding still. Or has that changed?

The issue they were complaining about this season was that the promised provincial funding hadn't happened and was unlikely to happen anytime soon because of the election (which moves all discretionary funding back to the start line when new ministers are appointed).

[raypruit]

Im really frustrated that there aren't more details about the 3 avalanches that required rescue released. Not even a mention of that the failure plane was, whether they stepped down or whatever...
Why is avcan so bad at this kind of dissemination.
I really don't care for any of the gory details or any personal details about the people, I just really want to understand more about how our complex snowpack is behaving.

Totally agree. As others have said though I assume it's due to lack of funding.

A couple other things that bug me- the forecast areas are way too big. It's absurd that the Duffey is in the same forecasting area as the Coq 400km away. NWACs forecast areas are so much better resolved by comparison. And because of that lack of granularity I stopped paying attention to the danger ratings a long time ago. How can you possibly sign any kind of useful single rating to such a large area? And what's the line between low and moderate? Seems so arbitrary so as to be useless and potentially misleading. I read the details of the forecast specific to my region of interest and ignore the ratings, and have been advising some new tourers I know to do the same.

That turned into a bit of a rant. Having said all that I think avcan does the best they can with what they have and I'm def glad they exist

[Schemeboat]

IF you think the CAA is under gunned... Let me introduce you to Environment Canada.

[teamdirt]

Totally agree. As others have said though I assume it's due to lack of funding.

A couple other things that bug me- the forecast areas are way too big. It's absurd that the Duffey is in the same forecasting area as the Coq 400km away. NWACs forecast areas are so much better resolved by comparison. And because of that lack of granularity I stopped paying attention to the danger ratings a long time ago. How can you possibly sign any kind of useful single rating to such a large area? And what's the line between low and moderate? Seems so arbitrary so as to be useless and potentially misleading. I read the details of the forecast specific to my region of interest and ignore the ratings, and have been advising some new tourers I know to do the same.

That turned into a bit of a rant. Having said all that I think avcan does the best they can with what they have and I'm def glad they exist

Are you not supposed to get educated and gain experience to be able to make your own decisions based on information available?

Avalanche conditions are different on every mountain, valley, slope...

Your rant about forecasting defeats the main idea of being responsible for your own choices...

[LeeLau]

Are you not supposed to get educated and gain experience to be able to make your own decisions based on information available?

Avalanche conditions are different on every mountain, valley, slope...

Your rant about forecasting defeats the main idea of being responsible for your own choices...

Agreed. You are your own forecaster. The AvCan forecast is one datapoint to use and that's all it should be. Even the much criticized Moderate forecasts of the past week have had useful actionable information.

[pureantigravity]

Are you not supposed to get educated and gain experience to be able to make your own decisions based on information available?

Avalanche conditions are different on every mountain, valley, slope...

Your rant about forecasting defeats the main idea of being responsible for your own choices...

Agreed. You are your own forecaster. The AvCan forecast is one datapoint to use and that's all it should be. Even the much criticized Moderate forecasts of the past week have had useful actionable information.

If the state is supposed to rescue people free of charge, as is in BC, then the state should do all it can to minimize those expenses. Then there are the users, many are tourists and won't have the local experience or connections to get up to date on the season. This is where really in depth avy forecasting comes in. People can be average and use good tools instead of learning to be experts at forecasting and analysis.

Of course terrain choices are 95% of the issue. Snow slides. And all the experts that are supposed to teach and mentor a younger generation seem to be dying or dead.

As ski guide once told me, "There are old men and there are bold men. But there aren't any old bold men."

[XXX-er]

Pro's in all the Ops all over the province contribute the info, its all worthwhile cuz its kind of good when people don't die,

not too many up here contributing but anything they report is good and might save a life