# 5 boarders killed in backcountry avalanche at Loveland



## DrnknZag

Just saw....super heavy.

VIBES+++++


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## killclimbz

These were all attendees of the Splitfest at Loveland today. Which I did not attend. I chose to go to Bert for various reasons. I did have a couple of friends at the split fest though they were not with this group. From what I am hearing this is starting to sound an awful lot like tunnel creek. This one is going to hurt. The bc community here is going to be rocked by this one.

RIP to the five souls lost.


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## PalmerFreak

600 yards wide......holy crap......


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## Deacon

Our news said there was a sixth person, but they were rescued... So sad.


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## DrnknZag

killclimbz said:


> From what I am hearing this is starting to sound an awful lot like tunnel creek.


This is the first thing I thought too. 

http://mtnweekly.com/news/loveland-pass-avalanche-kills-5-experienced-backcountry-snowboarders

"One of the victims was a respected backcountry guide, another a local snowboard representative"

I don't like this at all. Too much like Tunnel Creek. Probably someone a lot of us know or know of. Word was it was an acquaintance from my CO trip last month, but that's thankfully been disproven on another forum.


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## snowklinger

I'm anxiously awaiting to hear about some guys....this is really bad...


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## jdang307

Colorado authorities identify 5 riders killed in Loveland Pass avalanche - X Games



> Colorado authorities have identified the victims of a backcountry avalanche on Saturday as five experienced snowboarders and skiers who were participating in a community event promoting backcountry safety and gear.
> 
> The Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering's organizer, Joe Timlin, who worked as the Rocky Mountain sales manager for various snowboard brands, was among the deceased, according to the Clear Creek County Coroner's office.
> "I lost a very dear friend today," said Adam Schmidt, editor of Snowboard Colorado Magazine, one of the event's sponsors. "I helped Joe put this community event together. Everybody in the snowboard community here knew him, and he was an awesome guy. Our hearts go out to the families of those that were lost at Loveland Pass. We are all very saddened by the news we received of this tragedy ... The avalanche triggered above them and pretty much just buried all of them."
> 
> Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger identified the other victims, all from Colorado, as: Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder; Ian Lanphere, 36, of Crested Butte, and Rick Gaukel, 33, of Estes Park. A sixth rider, Jerome Boulay, sales manager for Silverton, Colo.-based Venture Snowboards, was partially buried and survived the slide. All six were reportedly expert riders and were equipped with proper backcountry gear, including avalanche beacons.
> 
> The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said the Loveland Pass avalanche was about 500 feet wide and 4 feet deep.


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## Karasene

I just discovered this terrible news 
I just met Joe when he came for the Industry demo days here at Snowbasin in Feb. Helped him set up and break down his tent for YES snowboards and had a few beers together while he enjoyed the hospitality of two of my good friends who have known Joe for years. He was a super cheerful guy and well respected in the community. Great guy. Total shame to hear this. RIP Joe.. and to your all of your friends. 

Here's his industry profile and interview from Shayboarder.com

Industry Profile: YES/Jones/NOW Rep Joe Timlin


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## Rockpen

Tragic. I will be in CO next week. Was planning on buying a Splitboard and trying it out near A- Basin and Loveland pass. I may reconsider and wait until next year to try it out in the B.C. Some of the guys were wearing avalungs and one with an ABS pack, neither helped to save any lives. What can we learn from this? Don't trust a backpack to save your life. The only thing these devices can do is slightly increase your odds of survival when playing avalanche roulette. 

R.I.P to all those dudes. I am completely heartbroken for the new family that just lost a father. As a father myself it is something that is always at the top of my mind when I venture out into the B.C. Which is becoming a lot less frequent these days and may end altogether due to climate change and snowpack instability.


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## killclimbz

Rockpen, it all depends on the consequence of what you are exposed too. Getting strained through trees is very high consequence. That will shred bags and break bones. Not sure if an airbag was even deployed. Once the only survivor replies will we know more. 

Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


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## ShredLife

killclimbz said:


> Rockpen, it all depends on the consequence of what you are exposed too. Getting strained through trees is very high consequence. That will shred bags and break bones. Not sure if an airbag was even deployed. Once the only survivor replies will we know more.
> 
> Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


if they were at the bottom of the slope and it slid down on top of them into the flats (which right now is what sounds like happened) then an airbag probably wouldn't do any good..


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## CassMT

Wonder if this will cause a rethink of how splitfests are organized, how groups and locations are decided...maybe the whole concept of big backcountry festivals. Seems so huge and tragic it would have to get everyone thinking

Rip to them all, and strength to the families and friends


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## killclimbz

ShredLife said:


> if they were at the bottom of the slope and it slid down on top of them into the flats (which right now is what sounds like happened) then an airbag probably wouldn't do any good..


I don't think they were at the bottom of the slope. From what I've heard it sounds like they were near treeline but again, second hand info.


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## ShredLife

i had just read this line from the CAIC report: "The group may have triggered the avalanche from below the start zone, low in the avalanche path."

there is a satellite picture on the report, you may be familiar with the area:

https://avalanche.state.co.us/acc/acc_report.php?accfm=rep&acc_id=505&view=public


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## killclimbz

Low in the avalanche path is a relative term in this case. The start zone we definitely way above them. I am familiar with the area, though I have never toured out there. You can see it from the highway. There are just a few spots on Loveland Pass I have visited a decent number of times. Grizzly Gulch being one of the main spots. Lots of big open terrain on that pass above trees. Some amazing riding in the right conditions actually. Kind of Alaska like, minus the 60 degree slopes, feet of snow, 4k vertical lines. So not really Alaska, but really fun blow your tail out turns can be had there.


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## killclimbz

I've got to hand it to Jason Blevins on his coverage of this. He is doing a pretty decent job. The latest updated article from the Denver Post gives you a better idea as to what happened.
Colorado avalanche victims were part of snowboard gathering turned tragic - The Denver Post

Sounds like they were coming in from a switchback on the highway and traversing the path. How high up, not sure, nor how close to treeline. It does sound like trees played a factor in the tragic results.


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## jdang307

Would an avalung even help with the concrete like car sized chunks I read about in the other thread? Crazy stuff.

Makes you step back for a second when reading these articles.


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## killclimbz

Hard to say Jdang. Your chances of surviving a burial like that are much lower, but if you did and had the avalung in your mouth, it would certainly help. Being on top of the snow is even better. This is where airbags have been shown to be so effective. The problem here is in this sort of terrain there were a lot of things to shred an airbag. 

Avoidance has always been the best practice. Of course you can avoid it completely by not going into the mountains, but then you wouldn't be snowboarding either.


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## killclimbz

CAIC's report on the accident is up.

https://avalanche.state.co.us/acc/acc_report.php?accfm=inv&acc_id=505&view=public


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## Deacon

Wow... there's some really sobering information in there. I don't know anything about avalanches, but I know a bit about physics, and that's pretty scary.


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## DrGreeNThumB420

I've been reading a lot about this ...Many comments saying that Sheep Creek is known for being unsafe especially the past week or 2. I wonder why experienced riders would make the choice to venture into the area. This coming from people who regularly ride LL pass ( which I don't ) so I don't have much opinion nor experience in the BC to agree or disagree. Wondering what others think about this?

heres a example of what I have read 

"The general consensus among regular Loveland Pass skiers is that Sheep Creek is a not a good choice most days of the year. I have skied around the pass countless times, ascended via car, boots, and skins, and in no way shape or form would I have skied – or recommended to ski – that area. There were many other options that day, from fun meadows to long and mellow north facing gullies off the divide.

To me, these individuals were not experts or experienced, at least in terms of skiing at Loveland Pass. I’d rather skin and ski in terrain that won’t avalanche, alone and without a beacon, shovel or probe, than expose myself to the types of risk these individuals did.

I showed my wife the terrain they exposed themselves to. She has 5 days of backcountry skiing in her back pocket. Her reaction? “Are you kidding me, why did they do that?”

This is not a harsh assessment. These individuals made decisions that directly lead to their death. We all need to be frank and upfront about this and make sure we do everything we can so it never happens again." comment from Kahn on Wildsnow.


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## gstboy

Here's what I got from the AP article. Avalanche survivor buried for 4 hours, 1 arm free



> They read the center's avalanche bulletin together, were aware of the deep persistent slab problem, and aimed to avoid threatening north-facing slopes as they planned to climb a few hundred vertical feet onto northwest-facing slopes, the report said.
> 
> But to get to that safer spot, they had to cross a dangerous area, Greene said. They decided to reduce the risk by leaving 50 feet between each person as they trekked. That turned out not to be enough for the large avalanche they triggered.


That stuff is like cement when it settles. The one guy had an arm free and still couldn't move only enough to clear the snow from his face, that's it.


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## killclimbz

Drgreenthumb,

I just can't answer that question. The first thing I thought when I saw the area was that it had very high consequence. A loaded slope above you and trees below with a valley at the bottom. All of the worst conditions of a huge terrain trap. Yet we've seen this accident three times alone this season. Cameron Pass on March 2nd. Vail Pass April 18th. Now of course Sheep Creek on Loveland Pass. Time and again we've been warned, very sternly that the snow pack likes to go big if given the chance. 

I know none of this group thought that from down so low they would trigger such a huge slide. It was a critical lapse. It is late in the year, generally speaking almost everything is safe right now. We had the green light just a couple of weeks ago and now we are in mid winter conditions. We need to treat it with the respect it demands.


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## Argo

A couple of my coworkers/riding partners were up on vail pass all day prior to the vail pass death. They dug pits and cut lines but found nothing unstable. They lapped the area all day with the guy that died and two other guys with him. Two of them had just come down and were about to shuttle back around at the time of the avalanche. They found nothing that would have told them a slide would have occurred that day. He snowed me a picture from the day the slide happened that snows the fracture line with a 6'3" guy standing by the wall of snow. It was all the way to the ground/dirt and around 13-15' high. Massive and deeper than they would have ever imagined needing to examine. He and the other guys have been riding snowboards and snowmobiles in the area for 8-15 years from Loveland pass to indepence pass and all areas in between. He said he has never seen it so dangerous with no signs of danger on the slopes he was riding. He summerized his sleds and is done for this season. 

I'm no BC pro but a lot of people up here spend a lot of time skinning the region or snowmobiling and they are all pretty shaken with the current snow pack and loss of friends. I'll take their experience and word for it. Including the lucky few that really ot away with murder the da vail pass slid last week. 

I don't think the people on Loveland that day had anything more they could do other than ignore their passion. They took great precaution and did what they could to try to prevent danger. RIP to that crew....


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## Ken2234

Really makes you stop and think.

Sad News


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