2 close calls in Fernie

**nesta** · 03-13-2006, 08:34 PM

2 very close calls in Fernie on Saturday. One in Upper Cedar Bowl ( hiking above area boundary at own risk, and the other in Fish Bowl/ 2000' outside the boundary. Both skier triggered, the one above the area did not make it to the area's uppermost traverse luckily, size 2, lost equipment, no injury, horseshoes up the ass. The one in Fish Bowl, size 3, chest injury to the dude who luckily slammed tree (or hung on to one) just beyond trigger point, and then luckily managed to not sandbag anyone below him, as the avalanche ran full path.
I guess the fatality a week earlier to the snowmobiler at an adjacent mountain had no ripple effect in their shallow gene pool. C'mon people get with the program.

**FogHorn** · 03-14-2006, 03:05 PM

That`s right mybuddy

We don't need no stinking peeps.

Maybe those people will be a little more aware.....maybe

Life ... appears to be a game, but it isn't. In games the object is to win, but in life the object is not to win. The object of the whole world is to preserve the game board and the pieces, and there is no such game

**johnnya** · 03-14-2006, 04:16 PM

just curious, were these slides on the Feb 20th layer, or did they step down to it?

**nesta** · 03-14-2006, 06:16 PM

not sure, although the CAC public bulletin is claiming that they were 20cm storm snow fractures stepping down to 60 cm on the 060220 facets. To me they looked pretty clean and the skiers' right of the crowns of both avalanches were definitely 50-70cm deep. They may have had a step on the skiers' left side of the crowns. 2 patrollers were hiking up for a look at the first avalanche in the Upper Cedar, presumably to do a fracture line profile, when the 2nd occurred and they had to respond from there. This is why I say I am unsure as no fracture line profile has been done on either slide as far as I know. I do know that both were released with the weight of one skier while making a turn in the fall line. With any luck I may be able to obtain several sequential frames of the sz 3 in Fish/ 2000' as it was triggered, which I will post if I do.

**johnnya** · 03-14-2006, 09:28 PM

that would be great nesta! Fish can be a scary place with many in their who putz around, not aware of those above/below them. Last time in there I saw a boarder boot packing up directly under cement mixer chutes while there were people waiting to descend.

Perhaps an access gate, although rarely used in Canada, would work well in that area?

**UNIBONGER** · 03-14-2006, 11:00 PM

heads up

**nesta** · 03-15-2006, 12:29 PM

johnnya, i'm not sure about the access gates going over too big here, but i couldn't agree more with you on the putzing around that goes on over there. I would hazard a guess that at any given time, 90% of people who leave Snake Ridge beyond the boundary really shouldn't be doing so, no matter what the stability. I can't tell you how many people I have seen with no pack, shovel or probe, partners, transceivers. or apparently no knowledge of the hazard above them. I think the best one I ever saw was the couple of snowboarders building a booter above the IDIOT traverse directly fall line from what must have been a 3 story cornice on a warm spring day. I mentioned it to them, but they were still there when I came back from 2001 later in the day. Well at least they had a shovel! I know they had no beacons because I went to receive while I spoke to them. And luckily for them there was no Nc that day- they would have been toast.