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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    284

    the avalanche that changed skiing

    "We were talking about when it would go. We were waiting for it and we thought we were prepared and we were. Then it was right in front of us.”
    The avalanche that swept down Peak 7 on this day in 1987 changed the trajectory of modern skiing ... what a tale.
    https://coloradosun.com/2022/02/18/p...-breckenridge/
    On first

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    The Vil
    Posts
    1,073
    Damn good read

    Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hell Track
    Posts
    13,843
    Good read. And kudos to the forest service employees who refused to close access. My day to day skiing would look a lot different if the resort boundaries were closed.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    inpdx
    Posts
    20,197
    2 items struck me

    1) "It solidified a Forest Service policy to never close access between resorts and public lands." ...trying to figure that one as we have a closed boundary policy at our hill (which is also just around the mountain from another that has an open boundary)

    2) who doesn't love the name "Boots Ferguson" for a ski lawyer?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Not in the PRB
    Posts
    32,781
    don't have time to read right now, but will.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Salida, CO
    Posts
    1,976
    CAIC is an absolute gem. The amount and collation of available data is remarkable. To err is human.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Spokane/Schweitzer
    Posts
    6,741
    I was at Breckenridge a couple days after that slide. Just seeing the crown and slide path from the road driving in was sobering. It was enormous. Interesting to read this so many years later. I still see it in my mind. I still need to finish reading the piece but it's interesting so far.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,071
    I know Nick and Mary Logan. I worked with Nick at CAIC. Great people.
    "True love is much easier to find with a helicopter"

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Retardbumville
    Posts
    854
    Thank you for posting.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    821
    Yeah thanks, found that both informative and enjoyable

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Sodium Chloride, Honest Abe
    Posts
    324
    That disaster was ahead of its time.
    It's sad the 2 skiers who triggered it were taking a more conservative line and unable to see others in the bowl due to a convexity on the slope.

    Imagine the cyber-lynching shitstorm today.
    "The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't." - Rancid Crabtree

    "never buy anything you can't fuel with a salami sandwich" - XXX-er

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    valley of the heart's delight
    Posts
    2,474
    For powdork - “Yeah, we had a lot of second guessing after such a horrible situation,” said Kowynia, who retired after 32 years with the Forest Service in 2013 and now lives in Steamboat Springs. “But you have to understand the Forest Service cannot be in the position of opening and closing the national forest. You just always have to assume it’s dangerous all the time.”

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Where the sheets have no stains
    Posts
    22,066
    ^^^ At the time of this accident access from USFS lands was all over the place depending on the Region and Supervisor.

    Ex: Bridger Bowl, boundaries were closed, JHMR, boundaries were closed, Snowbird, access depended upon the hazard and conditions, Alta- Open.
    I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    10
    Quote Originally Posted by LongShortLong View Post
    For powdork - “Yeah, we had a lot of second guessing after such a horrible situation,” said Kowynia, who retired after 32 years with the Forest Service in 2013 and now lives in Steamboat Springs. “But you have to understand the Forest Service cannot be in the position of opening and closing the national forest. You just always have to assume it’s dangerous all the time.”
    People can get hurt in the mountains doing damn near anything.

    I agree it doesn't fall on the FS to close things unless there's basically a 100% risk of everyone dying if they enter (i.e., a massive wildfire burning).

    People who enter the bc usually know the risks, and a fair amount can be done to mitigate them.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Where the sheets have no stains
    Posts
    22,066
    People who enter the bc usually know the risks, and a fair amount can be done to mitigate them.
    Entering the BC from the top of a ski area lift tends to render that opinion as incorrect especially if the people can ski right back to a lift and repeat easily.
    I have been in this State for 30 years and I am willing to admit that I am part of the problem.

    "Happiest years of my life were earning < $8.00 and hour, collecting unemployment every spring and fall, no car, no debt and no responsibilities. 1984-1990 Park City UT"

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Not in the PRB
    Posts
    32,781
    Quote Originally Posted by Bunion 2020 View Post
    Entering the BC from the top of a ski area lift tends to render that opinion as incorrect especially if the people can ski right back to a lift and repeat easily.
    Yep. While the FS shouldn't be closing access as a general matter unless severe circumstances dictate, that is not the same as saying they should or must allow access from every point, including from the top of a privately owned lift located on a leasehold. If that were the case, ski area boundaries wouldn't have ropes with access across the rope denied.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

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