Snowboarder Avoids Small Avalanche on Mt. Washington

A snowboarder outran a small avalanche on Mt. Washington late last week, emphasizing the need for avalanche preparedness at all times in the back country, even in the early season. "It's really rare that we catch these on video," said Patrick Scanlan, of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center....

Even rarer that nothing bad resulted from this snowboarder's encounter with an avalanche. There are a number of things to which we can point to explain the relatively low consequences of this instance; if the slide had happened on a steeper slope or near a cliff area, we might be telling a different story.

We are eternally glad that no one was injured as a result of this slide, and take this as yet another reminder to always be smart, calculated and safe when enjoying the backcountry.