Tree Well Fatality-Jackson Hole

**seano732** · 02-15-2021, 11:48 AM

2021 can suck it so far.....RIP and vibes to the friends and family.....
https://snowbrains.com/snowboarder-d...-wy-yesterday/

**MTT** · 02-15-2021, 12:06 PM

Yuk. Vibes.

Sucky way to go out

**9922** · 02-15-2021, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by MTT

Yuk. Vibes.

Sucky way to go out

Vibes. I got stuck in a deep tree well once during my early years of skiing in Tahoe. I was lucky to have skied with my friend at the time.

**smartyiak** · 02-15-2021, 12:36 PM

uuugggggg....I LITERALLY have nightmares about dying this way. Can't think of a worse way to go; I'm terrified of it.

+++Vibes to family+++

**The SnowShow** · 02-15-2021, 12:44 PM

^^ me too. If I’m tree skiing after/during a heavy storm in deep snowpack, anytime I ski too close to a pine tree, I think to myself what I’d do if the snow gave way as I pass by. I’d like to think I could react quick enough and grab for branches but I’m probably fooling myself.
It’s also so scary because even if you’re skiing with a partner, how often are you right next to one another and in constant contact down an entire run? You could get swallowed up and your partner could be 20’ away and not hear you or realize anything happened until they’re far enough away that by the time they figure out what happened, work their way back uphill or sideways, ID where you might be and dig you out, it could be far too late.

Just an awful tragedy along with all the avalanche deaths recently.

**L82thegate** · 02-15-2021, 01:38 PM

I tend to think about stop points and sluffs trailing me. Sometimes the volume of snow cascading down is sufficient to do some harm & around tree wells, worse. I was side slammed off a little cliff I'd never jump with a shoulder-roll take-off once. Hit feet down in a deep accumulation (fortunately) & stood up a little puzzled but unscathed. Got a new perspective out of that. Sluffs, worth thinking about on deep days.

**Core Shot** · 02-15-2021, 05:12 PM

30 years ago in jh. Similar shitshow.
Grabbed tree branches. Used one pole to click out. At least then I was feet first in the well.

Can’t imagine a snowboard, with no way to release.

Saw this story on FB first. The comments were scary. People in jh. For decades. Never heard of tree wells. Fuccckkk

I threw my kids in a tree well. Feet first of course. But to show them the sugar snow, quicksand scary.

RIP. Vibes to the family.

**Meadow Skipper** · 02-15-2021, 05:57 PM

I’m so...I don’t know, sick doesn’t seem appropriate, but I guess I’m horrified and fatigued by all the skiing/riding death this season.

**glademaster** · 02-15-2021, 06:43 PM

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Try to turn on the downhill sides of trees whenever possible. It's hard (but not impossible) to fall uphill into a tree well.

**Meadow Skipper** · 02-15-2021, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by glademaster

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

What the fuck does that mean?

**seano732** · 02-15-2021, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

What the fuck does that mean?

Seriously Glade, WTF..... Thanks for being a douche nozzle when a man is dead. Asshole.

**glademaster** · 02-15-2021, 07:08 PM

My statement is no different from SFB's oft-cited line, "this is what we do."

Many people seem to have lost sight of the fact that the line that separates "skiing as fun" from "skiing as deadly serious fucking business" is a very, very faint one.

**Meadow Skipper** · 02-15-2021, 07:13 PM

^ Dude, you need to dial it back on a regular basis. I might end up reminding you of that every week or so.

**Core Shot** · 02-15-2021, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by glademaster

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Try to turn on the downhill sides of trees whenever possible. It's hard (but not impossible) to fall uphill into a tree well.

GladeMeisterbater got shit on for his comment. But it’s a legit statement.

The one time I almost died n a tree well was turning in front of a pine. Caught edge and went into it head first.

The best way to avoid tree wells is to give them space.
Yes. There’s tasty pow in front of them.
But resist temptation.

**seano732** · 02-15-2021, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by Core Shot

GladeMeisterbater got shit on for his comment. But it’s a legit statement.

The one time I almost died n a tree well was turning in front of a pine. Caught edge and went into it head first.

The best way to avoid tree wells is to give them space.
Yes. There’s tasty pow in front of them.
But resist temptation.

Cool story you’re a dick too.

**Core Shot** · 02-15-2021, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by seano732

Cool story you’re a dick too.

I almost died. Wish it were you instead

“Hugs”

**Meadow Skipper** · 02-15-2021, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Core Shot

GladeMeisterbater got shit on for his comment. But it’s a legit statement.

The one time I almost died n a tree well was turning in front of a pine. Caught edge and went into it head first.

The best way to avoid tree wells is to give them space.
Yes. There’s tasty pow in front of them.
But resist temptation.

That’s the way to say that, phrasing and context are crucial, especially when talking about a fatality.

Not that you aren’t a dick.

**seano732** · 02-15-2021, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Core Shot

I almost died. Wish it were you instead

“Hugs”

Really. Good trolling fuckface. Wishing people dead. Classy. Hugs.

**M_R** · 02-15-2021, 10:15 PM

One of my mitigation tools for tree skiing is skiing with an Avalung when tree wells are dangerous. Never been stuck but figure given enough time I should be able to get unstuck as long as I can breath. Hope to never test my hypothesis...

RIP and vibes to the friends and family

**new yabyum** · 02-16-2021, 07:33 AM

Another case for wearing your beacon.

**whipski** · 02-16-2021, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Core Shot

30 years ago in jh. Similar shitshow.
Grabbed tree branches. Used one pole to click out. At least then I was feet first in the well.

Can’t imagine a snowboard, with no way to release.

Saw this story on FB first. The comments were scary. People in jh. For decades. Never heard of tree wells. Fuccckkk

I threw my kids in a tree well. Feet first of course. But to show them the sugar snow, quicksand scary.

RIP. Vibes to the family.

similar experience at snowmass. bet I was 20" getting out. had to climb the ladder upside down. sad for the grief and remorse of his loved ones.

**XXX-er** · 02-16-2021, 03:17 PM

tree well death at Shames this season first ever fatality at shames

I think the victim was riding side country solo and made the mistake

but in reality unless someone was riding above you and watched you go in they won't be much help

yes caught in a treewell happens but its much < avalanche deaths every year

this isnt Nam

**Djongo Unchained** · 02-16-2021, 03:30 PM

I got no real angle on this but a little firsthand info...

Generally speaking, treewells are not as typically ominous here as some other places. Do we get them, of course. But less so than places that tend to have a melt soon after dumpage. The tree melting down thru branches can erode the base of the tree as well and malaffect the surrounding snow too.
In jh, I think our tendency toward windyness, helps fill in and alleviate most welling.

yeah, I've been in a few here but I learned that scary feeling a long time ago so I'm careful in deep snow. Don't fall, don't stop.

I skied the area he died in this morning, twice. It's one of the last stashes on a ridgeline that peters out there and just drags in the snow. Today it was still thigh deep and it's advanced or better tight big trees. Yet an easy spot to be out of shouting distance.
Another reminder to us locals how easy it is to die here inbounds.
It's a genuinely dangerous place.

**XXX-er** · 02-16-2021, 06:25 PM

I have been tangled up in a tree well before and got a pole down to release the binding or whatever i'm still here

so i believe the incident at Shames was a boarder,

are tree wells worse for boarders ?

**RonMexico** · 02-16-2021, 09:35 PM

Honest question here so please don't flame me...

In a tree well, it's my understanding that the snow is usually relatively loose - certainly relative to avalanche debris. Conceptually, is there a longer potential survival time in a tree well accident versus an avalanche? Or do survival odds decrease as dramatically past the 15-minutes that the avalanche statistics reflect?

I hate to ask this in this thread given the outcome of this situation, but it's something I've wondered personally in terms of what is the best possible course of action if you find yourself buried and unable to climb out. Snow tends to have a high oxygen content, but in an avalanche it's the ice mask and rebreathing of CO2 that is so catastrophic so quickly. Is there any action that can be taken in a tree well burial that can help?

Asking this with the understanding that it likely would not have affected the outcome in this situation given the time from accident to recovery.