# Snowboarder killed in Bridger Bowl avy...



## Listheeb21

Snowboarder Caleb Acker Killed In Truman Gulch Avalanche On The Backside Of Bridger Bowl | Point of Release


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## that1guy

R.I.P.


Well wishes for the family. Very sad.


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## mbesp

sad, seems so many this year.

thoughts to the family.


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## PNW Shred

Eeesh.. condolences to his parents, travel safe out there, it appears he was wearing a beacon and had avi gear. May he rest in peace and grace our prescence as an eagle... A half hour between call and recovery did this young man in.... i shed a tear (literally) for Caleb... RIP

EDIT: A HALF HOUR!! with a partner, please be safe out there people...


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## ShredLife

PNW Shred said:


> A half hour between call and recovery did this young man in....
> EDIT: A HALF HOUR!! with a partner, please be safe out there people...


no. this is BS - or at least poorly worded..

backcountry is defined as being an hour or more from life sustaining care. these guys were hiking in, with beacons, dropping one at a time. sounds like they had at least some sense about it - but in any backcountry situation the only thing you can rely on a recovery call recovering is a body. 

if you arent killed by the initial trauma of a slide then you have 15 minutes to get unburied.... get out in that 15 minutes and your survival rate will be around 90%.. it drops off really quick after that. 

bottom line is its up to your crew to keep each other safe out there - and even then sometimes it doesnt matter. the mountain doesnt care about your feelings or your families. rest in peace.


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## walove

here is the incident report from the local avalanche center, for a little more information. They dug two pits, discussed what aspects were safe. The first rider descended safely, second rider with less experience veered onto a heavily wind loaded area and triggered the slide which broke above and deep. Winds had been very high since the Saturday before, moving a lot of snow from a 30" storm that had ended the Tuesday before. The victim was under 5 feet of hard wind slab snow, a fast recovery by one partner was not in the cards. The avalanche forecast was moderate.

RIP


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## killclimbz

Let's put this in perspective. These guys did have experience and did follow protocols. The thing is the best way to survive and avalanche is to not get caught in one. Around 70% of those buried *die from the trauma of getting buried*. Of those 30% left over, the only chance to be recovered alive is your partner. That is where avy gear comes into play. When recovering a person in a burial situation the average amount of snow you have to move is *two tons*. Of the people who you are capable of being recovered alive, if you pull it off in under 15 minutes you have a 90% success rate. It drops but is still a high number if you pull it off in 30 minutes. 60-70% somewhere in there. After 30 minutes the numbers really go south. Less than 5% I believe. 

So if you are out there making stupid decisions and relying on your avy gear and partners to save you, you are playing with a loaded gun. Avy gear and training is a must, but consider it more like a seat belt in a car. You know your chances are increased that you'll survive a wreck, but you also know there is no guarantee that you will. 

We are in a bad stretch right now. Lot's of deaths out there. Some of the best in backcountry experience have been killed out there and some of the least informed. An avalanche just doesn't give a shit on what you do or do not know. It'll kill you dead just the same. It's a harsh reminder. I wish Caleb was still here to share his experience.

RIP Caleb and my most sincere condolences to his friends and family.


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## PNW Shred

ShredLife said:


> no. this is BS - or at least poorly worded..
> 
> backcountry is defined as being an hour or more from life sustaining care. these guys were hiking in, with beacons, dropping one at a time. sounds like they had at least some sense about it - but in any backcountry situation the only thing you can rely on a recovery call recovering is a body.
> 
> if you arent killed by the initial trauma of a slide then you have 15 minutes to get unburied.... get out in that 15 minutes and your survival rate will be around 90%.. it drops off really quick after that.
> 
> bottom line is its up to your crew to keep each other safe out there - and even then sometimes it doesnt matter. the mountain doesnt care about your feelings or your families. rest in peace.


It made sense when i wrote it last night but after re-reading i'm not sure what point i was trying to make, sorry for the confusion


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## linvillegorge

killclimbz said:


> Around 70% of those buried *die from the trauma of getting buried*


I thought trauma killed approximately 25% with asphyxiation claiming the rest? 

Either way, once you get caught in a slide, you're relying on a whole lot of luck and hopefully your buddies have a little bit of skill to help out.


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## jeri534

damn thats sad, RIP


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## linvillegorge

After reading the report it sounds like they did their due diligence in trying to determine snowpack stability, but they made some significant errors in their manner of travel.

First, while they obviously came to the conclusion that the line was safe, they chose a very high consequence line. That thing is full of terrain traps. I wouldn't ride a line like that unless I was 100% confident it had no chance of going. At my experience level, ANY red flag would send me walking away from that line.

Secondly, from the sounds of it, the first rider to go descended all the way to the bottom, 1300' vertical below before stopping to check on his partner. Maybe this wasn't portrayed accurately in the report or I interpreted incorrectly, but that's the way I took it. In avalanche terrain, he should've descended to a safe zone, while his partner watched, then watched his partner descend to a safe zone and so forth. Eye contact with your partners is important in avalanche terrain so that if there is a slide, you have a better idea of where to start your search. Time is of the essence in a burial. Not only will visual contact reduce the search area, proximity will help you get there faster. If you're 1300' vertical below your partner and he's buried in a slide well above you, your buddy is dead. You're not gonna get there in time.

That's my Monday morning QB take on it anyway.


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## linvillegorge

Yep, I hate to play MMQB on stuff like this, but it's really the only thing we can do to take something away from it and learn from it.

RIP buddy.


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## Zee

Tragic. Condolences to the family.

This is just one of those rare cases that they almost did everything right and got caught anyway. It happens.


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## killclimbz

I'll have to dig around on my numbers. You might be right that it's 30%. I am thinking not necessarily about the victim being recovered alive immediately after the avalanche, but if they survive after the fact. A lot of people are recovered alive and quickly, but succumb to their injuries long after the fact. We had a guy get buried on Cameron pass two years ago in Hot Dog bowl. His partners were on it and had him recovered within 10 minutes, alive. Two weeks later he succumbed to his injuries from the burial. I've seen this in at least three other instances with the same results, and an article about the same thing stuck out to me that it was a high number. 

Anyway, it's possible I am mis-interpreting the info, and Linville is right on the 25-30% number. Still a scary prospect.


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## killclimbz

Zee said:


> Tragic. Condolences to the family.
> 
> This is just one of those rare cases that they almost did everything right and got caught anyway. It happens.


Almost is the key word. 

I have yet to see an avalanche incident where when it is reviewed you can't find mistakes made by the parties involved. However small they are there are clues. I am not saying that I wouldn't make the same mistake. In a lot of these incidents, I probably would have. The thing to do is take the reviews of these incidents and make note of what clues were missed. Add them to your knowledge arsenal for when you see these signs that hopefully you remember it and take appropriate action to ensure you have a happy result. 

These guys did an awful lot of things right. First and foremost only one person was exposed. This could have easily of been a double tragedy, except for the fact that these guys were following protocols.


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## baldylox

Yea, it's 25% trauma, 75% asphyxiation. 

Patterns of death among avalanche fatalities: a 21-year review -- Boyd et al. 180 (5): 507 -- Canadian Medical Association Journal

Still better odds playing Russian Roulette.


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## killclimbz

Not good odds at all. Thanks for looking it up cifex.


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## linvillegorge

Zee said:


> This is just one of those rare cases that they almost did everything right and got caught anyway.


I'm not seeing how getting that separated from your partner in avy terrain is doing almost everything right? Without knowing what they were seeing in their pits and on their approach, it's tough to analyze their choice of line. I don't put much faith in the analysis done on the flanks and crown. The snow there is likely to be more stable than the snow that slid or else it would've went too. Perhaps the second rider did simply hit an isolated pocket of instability. That is certainly possible. However, there's no arguing that they chose a very high consequence line. Perhaps their analysis gave them reason to feel comfortable with that line or perhaps they missed some red flags or misinterpreted what they saw.

But, as I said earlier, if you have that much separation between you and your partner in avy terrain and something goes wrong, there's a good chance your buddy is dead in the case of a burial.


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## ShredLife

do you have a link to the accident report w/pics of the slope? if you do would you post it?


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## linvillegorge

walove said:


> here is the incident report from the local avalanche center, for a little more information. They dug two pits, discussed what aspects were safe. The first rider descended safely, second rider with less experience veered onto a heavily wind loaded area and triggered the slide which broke above and deep. Winds had been very high since the Saturday before, moving a lot of snow from a 30" storm that had ended the Tuesday before. The victim was under 5 feet of hard wind slab snow, a fast recovery by one partner was not in the cards. The avalanche forecast was moderate.
> 
> RIP


Here's the report:

http://www.mtavalanche.com/sites/default/files/PUBLIC Truman Avalanche Fatality.pdf

The hyperlink kind of got lost in the linked post.


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## SmashPig

Here's a youtube video they posted

YouTube - Truman Avalanche - 15Feb2011


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## ShredLife

couple of analysis:

prior weather patterns that week bought 30 inches of new with extreme windloading. it should have been apparent when they were ascending at least, that there was significant loading/scouring. this is a flag. so is that amount of snow. 

that area is a terrain trap. its a 40 degree open field with a convex curve with mangler trees right below it. stick to spine style ridge lines or treed runs with less likelyhood of sliding.

this might be the biggest one: why is the more experienced backcountry traveller dropping first? it sounds like maybe he was too far away to watch his partner drop in as well - both are mistakes. 

- if caught in an avalanche you want your rescuers to be coming in from above you. it only takes seconds to ride down or sideslip an avy path, but climbing uphill takes a long time.

- if someone is going to be buried and someone is going to be digging i want the person with the most experience digging and conducting the beacon search every time, but not from below the path... coming in from above. 

- a safer way to do it then these guys did is "less experienced" rider drops first while "more experienced" rider watches from a "safe/sheltered" high point. this way if a slide occurs and "LE" gets buried "ME" is above and able to react to what he SEES... watching the slide victim thruout the slide to get an idea of where they are buried is key. that and reacting from above.

its tragic to try and make these kind of assessments and if the survivor somehow reads this they need to know that they are absolutely not to blame - its just critical to dissect the decision making that went into the accident occurring so that others can learn from it. the pictures of that crown sent shivers up my spine... that with trees right below it is a really really scary thought. im very sorry.


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## ShredLife

kind of a morbid thought but with all the helmet cams and whatnot nowadays i wonder if anyone is ever going to post firsthand videos of slide victim perspective.. i wonder if there is even anything to be learned by it...


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## linvillegorge

ShredLife said:


> kind of a morbid thought but with all the helmet cams and whatnot nowadays i wonder if anyone is ever going to post firsthand videos of slide victim perspective.. i wonder if there is even anything to be learned by it...


It's already happened

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska on Vimeo


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## ShredLife

fucking intense. thanks for both of those.


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## Listheeb21

linvillegorge said:


> It's already happened
> 
> Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska on Vimeo


holy shnikes! That's insane. I read all of the comments on Vimeo, but I'm curious what the guides/patrol/experienced BC guys and gals have to say about possible mistakes the guy made. Pole straps, etc.?


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## Mysticfalcon

linvillegorge said:


> It's already happened
> 
> Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska on Vimeo


This video should be a requirement for anyone thinking about back country terrain.


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## linvillegorge

Listheeb21 said:


> holy shnikes! That's insane. I read all of the comments on Vimeo, but I'm curious what the guides/patrol/experienced BC guys and gals have to say about possible mistakes the guy made. Pole straps, etc.?


Powder fever. They discussed what he was going to do when he dropped, making a ski cut over to a safe zone and then analyzing from there bit as soon as his skis hit that powder all that shit went out the window and he was all about just ripping that pow.

My biggest issue is that if it was decided that a ski cut needed to be part of the terrain management here, then a guide should've dropped first and done it. That's not something you leave in the hands of a client.

Powder fever probably leads to at least as many avy incidents as ignorance if not more. Almost anytime an experienced and/or trained person triggers a slide or is caught in a slide, they almost invariably look back on the situation and say that the signs were there. They just missed them or overlooked them due to the powder fever.__


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## Listheeb21

How common are in-bounds avalanches at big mountain resorts? Obviously, Patrol conducts avy mitigation activity before the terrain is opened to the public, but I'm assuming slides are still possible despite charges, etc. 

I was at Solitude last year and Patrol opened the lower mountain lifts as well as the Powderhorn II quad, but when we got off Powderhorn Ski Patrol was waiting to delay us on the Eagle Ridge cat track for about 15 minutes because there had been a slide in one of the bowls under the chairlift. I read it as the slide was skier triggered, so they closed the area to retest the stability.

So, that being said, do any of you carry your avy gear even when you know you're staying in bounds? If so, is it out of habit? Is it so you can assist in a search if necessary?


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## linvillegorge

^^^^

Extremely uncommon. The patrols are really good at knowing their mountain and the snowpack. Skier/rider triggered slides inbounds are almost unheard of. They do happen, but they're very rare. Idiots, trees, and tree wells are your biggest concerns at resorts, probably in that order.

I don't wear any gear inbounds. Some guys do. It's not a terrible idea, especially on pow days, but still, the risk is so low that I don't bother. I hate riding with a pack, so unless I'm in the BC I don't wear one. Plus, most of the guys I see beeping inbounds are complete douchers. Hate to say it, but they seem to be wearing the gear more to show how fucking core and gnar they are than for any real practical purposes. Now it's a different story if they're using the resorts to access BC terrain.


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## Listheeb21

Gotcha. Thanks. I don't have avy gear yet, but I have a small North Face pack I wear on powder days. I also just bought a Dakine Blade pack that's designed to carry all the gear. I haven't worn it yet, but plan to next week in Wyoming. 

In fact, just spoke with my buddy in Jackson and he said the same thing you did. JHMR Patrol knows the mountain, and is even more cautious now ever since the few incidents they've had in the past couple years. And he says nobody wears their gear unless they're going through the gates....


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## StarCommand

Tragic.

When I was at Big Sky about a month ago, they set off a slide inbounds on the south facing side of the peak.

The "Wave" at Big Sky | Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center

I won't ride backcountry until I'm full educated and equipped for avalanches. That's too much to gamble with. That POV video is insane.


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## killclimbz

Good point wolfie. Lot's of ski areas have quasi backcountry spots where packing your gear and a partner is never a bad idea. Heather and Clark Canyons. Some areas like Sunshine, Bridger, and Big Sky have spots where you have to have avy gear and partner to go ride that terrain. Even though it is controlled by patrol.


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## killclimbz

Starcommand, good on you for looking to get educated and have the gear. Keep in mind even after you get your gear and take your class, experience is very key. It's by far the most important thing once you learn the fundamentals.


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## walove

the scene is a little different at Bridger Bowl. A beacon is required to ride any of the expert terrain that is accessed from hiking up the the ridge or fingers. Two years ago they added the schlushman lift which also requires a beacon to load. Up to two years ago a shovel, probe and partner were also required for this terrain. To me these rules are in place to remind the skiers about all the elevated risks in these areas. From the ridge line you can drop off the west side in to the Truman Gulch were this avalanche occurred, or hike south out of bounds to more slide prone terrain on Saddle Peak, which slid last year with multiple people on the face. youtube video of the slide

I wear my pack, with avy gear, first aid kit, water, ect. when riding lines off the ridge or schlushmans, for multiple reasons; mostly to be prepared for the worst, but also i'd rather hike with my board on my pack, i'll bring my poles for longer hikes, and i like to feel comfortable with the weight of the pack when i go out on tours. One nice thing at Bridger is there are racks at most of the lifts where you can leave your pack if you please while lapping some great lift served terrain.


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## StarCommand

killclimbz said:


> Starcommand, good on you for looking to get educated and have the gear. Keep in mind even after you get your gear and take your class, experience is very key. It's by far the most important thing once you learn the fundamentals.


I am nowhere near ready to even think about venturing into backcountry. I live on the east coast anyway. But unless I lived somewhere where my home mountain had great backcountry terrain that I could learn every inch of the area in every condition, I would never attempt it without a guide. I'm years from having the know-how to hack something like that anyway. And being east coast doesn't help.


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## linvillegorge

I read that they postponed the body recovery down at Snowmass due to avalanche hazard. It's supposed to start snowing there tomorrow and not stop until next Tuesday or so, so it will likely be awhile before the body is recovered. I hate that for the family, but it doesn't make sense risking additional lives to recover a body that isn't going to get anymore dead over the next few days.


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## Listheeb21

linvillegorge said:


> I read that they postponed the body recovery down at Snowmass due to avalanche hazard. It's supposed to start snowing there tomorrow and not stop until next Tuesday or so, so it will likely be awhile before the body is recovered. I hate that for the family, but it doesn't make sense risking additional lives to recover a body that isn't going to get anymore dead over the next few days.


Just read that the victim's family is in full support of the decision to postpone recovery operations. RIP Brandon...

Avalanche victim identified as Snowmass man | AspenTimes.com


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## linvillegorge

Listheeb21 said:


> Just read that the victim's family is in full support of the decision to postpone recovery operations. RIP Brandon...
> 
> Avalanche victim identified as Snowmass man | AspenTimes.com


That's good that they understand the situation. Many less understanding families would beraising hell about it. I know it only makes it harder on the family but safety first.


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