# Oh shit...(PNW Avalanche)



## Listheeb21

Three confirmed dead now. Happened OB at Stevens Pass, if I'm reading it correctly. Hopefully the others are found safely...


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## linvillegorge

Here's the article:

U.S. News - 3 dead, 8 missing in Wash. avalanche

Sounds like maybe sidecountry?


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## PanHandler

it also on CNN


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## Argo

That's terrible... Hope they find more alive.... Hope it's no one from here


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## oefdevilvet

Been a shitty season all over this year, and I imagine pretty bad snowpacks are common out west right now.


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## Argo

CNN says it was inside a ski resort area....


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## NWBoarder

*Posted on February 19, 2012 at 1:18 PM

Updated today at 2:07 PM 

STEVENS PASS, Wash. – Three people are confirmed dead in an avalanche at Stevens Pass.
Others who were reported missing have been accounted for.
The avalanche occurred on Tunnel Creek Canyon Road just outside of Skykomish.
It's not known what set off the the slide.
SR 2 is not affected, the State Patrol says*

That sucks. Positive vibes for the families involved. I was just up there last night. The hills are loaded. Someone died at Alpental today too. They say a snowboarder went over a cliff. Alpy is known to have big, nasty cliffs. Rough day out here in WA. Stay safe folks.


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## linvillegorge

Argo said:


> CNN says it was inside a ski resort area....


sounds like CNN is wrong

Everything else I've seen seems to indicate that it was sidecountry terrain.


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## Argo

Would not be the first time.....


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## linvillegorge

Unfortunately, it may take a minor miracle not to have a similar story in CO before this season is over with and East Vail may be the most likely candidate.


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## DrnknZag

Yeah I'm up here right now....patrol has been pretty frantic, closed all BC gates off Cowboy. I'm glad I wasn't back there today, left the gear in the car and stayed inbounds because of who I was rising with. Super heavy shit. I'll see if I can find out more before I head out.


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## linvillegorge

Cool man. Glad you're alright. Yeah, I imagine patrol is a wee bit frantic right now with 3 dead and several more missing.


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## linvillegorge

Well, it looks like everyone has been accounted for. That's good. Still though, 3 dead... damn.

Three dead in avalanche at Stevens Pass; another dead in avalanche near Alpental | Seattle Times Newspaper


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## tomtom88

Sad to hear it, positive thoughts for the families and friends involved.


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## PanHandler

yeah it was out of bounds near stevens pass.

Since reporters usually know jack shit about resorts and in/out of bounds, they just made the connection "stevens pass resort". they werent really wrong since these people probably used the lifts at stevens pass to access the out of bounds area

Edit: i need to refresh my browser once in a while.


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## jdang307

NWBoarder28 said:


> *Posted on February 19, 2012 at 1:18 PM
> 
> Updated today at 2:07 PM
> 
> STEVENS PASS, Wash. – Three people are confirmed dead in an avalanche at Stevens Pass.
> Others who were reported missing have been accounted for.
> The avalanche occurred on Tunnel Creek Canyon Road just outside of Skykomish.
> It's not known what set off the the slide.
> SR 2 is not affected, the State Patrol says*
> 
> That sucks. Positive vibes for the families involved. I was just up there last night. The hills are loaded. Someone died at Alpental today too. They say a snowboarder went over a cliff. Alpy is known to have big, nasty cliffs. Rough day out here in WA. Stay safe folks.


They updated the story, the guy at Alpental was under a cliff and was buried under snow.


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## ShredLife

wow... what a bad day for the PNW


a reminder that up here the quick temperature swings and heavy new snow can make the avy danger change very quickly - and when slides do happen out here they go big, with alot of very heavy snow. 

vibes and thoughts for the families of the lost.


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## linvillegorge

Here's the link to Google Maps. The link that Snowolf provided was taking me to somewhere in SE Alaska.

stevens pass - Google Maps

Well, damn... so is mine. Just do a search for Cowboy Mountain.


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## DrnknZag

I'm still up here at Stevens, ski patrol isn't giving up a lot of info. There's a rumor of three or four separate slides near the ski area boundaries. The first one I heard about was on the backside northeast of Double Diamond, no report of burials or injuries. The second report was the big one on the backside of Cowboy Ridge down through the Tunnel Creek. Like Wolf said, you can access the ridge from 7th, but my guess is they accessed from the top of Tye, from what I've heard it was the bowl on the backside of of Cowboy near Tye that slid. There's another rumor of a slide that deposited some snow on US-2 as well, but I don't know for sure. I'll drop by the ski patrol shack before I leave and see what they'll say about the other slides.

Definitely a bad day up here, bad vibes floating around. This one is too close to home for me, I was planning on hitting some BC today, but decided to leave my gear in the car and stick to the resort.


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## linvillegorge

DrnknZag said:


> Definitely a bad day up here, bad vibes floating around. This one is too close to home for me, I was planning on hitting some BC today, but decided to leave my gear in the car and stick to the resort.


Good call. When shit is this touchy, I'm happy to just ride the lifts and stay inside the ropes.


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## wrathfuldeity

Condolences to the families. Alot of folks are pow crazed due to our dry spell. Yesterday, Baker rumored to have had to halt to get more avy bombs before opening the upper 2 chairs on the hill. Dot closed part of the road in the afternoon for some avy work and the hill closed the upper part at about 2 pm. Daughter and buds were in the bc trees and doing p-lines, with truck-sized pillows and skiing chest deep in fairly light fluff. Saw some sluffing inbounds in the morning.


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## killclimbz

Sounds like that they were some well known skiers. From TGR.


> "Chris Rudolph, Jim Jack, Johnnie Brennan are the names of the 3 that passed away"


It also sounds like they were not in the sidecountry at all, but truly backcountry touring of some sort. Just from reading through the TGR thread. I'm sure more info will come to light. 

Another person killed at Alpental. Sounds like inbounds. This is rough very rough.

Bad vibes in the air right now. Driving home from the FOBP on snow this afternoon, came upon a horrible car crash on the pass. A truck lost it (dry roads), got launched over the guard rail because of the plowed snow piled up and went over a 30 ft sheer embankment. The truck broke at least two mature lodge pole pines and I'm sure he bounced off of more. We came up on it within 5 minutes of the accident. Truck was smashed, driver was dead and it was a gruesome scene. 

Not stoked at all right now. RIP guys.


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## linvillegorge

Good Lord... that's awful man.

Tough day in the west for sure.


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## Argo

http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiin...avalanche-washington-stevens-pass-kills-three

According to both Michelson and pro skier Elyse Saugstad, who was also in the party of 13, the slide occurred after a number of skiers had already skied the top section of the line, which funnels into the Tunnel Creek drainage. Saugstad was one of four skiers waiting in the trees approximately 300 vertical feet below the top of the line when the slide was triggered. Michelson, waiting at the top, said the initial slide was approximately 30 feet wide and three feet deep at the crown. It quickly propagated wider into the trees where Saugstad was standing, sweeping away her and two of the other skiers who died. The fourth skier who was standing with them managed to grab hold of a tree and avoid being taken by the avalanche.

Saugstad and the three deceased skiers were carried between 2,000 and 3,000 vertical feet, she and Michelson estimated. Once she was caught, Saugstad immediately deployed an airbag from her backpack, a device she later credited with saving her life. When she came to rest, "I was completely buried except for my head and hands." Both of the deceased skiers she'd been standing with in the trees were found nearby, Saugstad said. One was a few feet from her and the other was approximately 50 feet away. The third deceased skier was carried "several hundred feet" farther down the mountain, Saugstad said.

The remaining skiers who watched the slide from above immediately turned their avalanche transceivers to "search" mode and skied the length of the avalanche track looking for possible victims, Michelson said. (They also called for help.) While descending the slide path they found two ski poles and a ski but did not locate anyone until they came upon Saugstad, whom they subsequently dug out. Saugstad estimated she was in the snow for "less than 10 minutes."

"The debris pile at the bottom was massive," Michelson said.

Stevens Pass was hit by a powerful winter storm leading up to Sunday's avalanche. The resort reported 14 inches of fresh snow overnight and 26 inches in the prior 48 hours. The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center rated the avalanche danger as "High" on Sunday morning for elevations 5,000 feet and above and warned of "widespread natural and triggered soft and wind slab avalanches" for the area around Stevens Pass, due to heavy snowfall and and strong winds. Stevens Pass ski area's base elevation is 4,061 feet and the summit elevation is 5,845 feet.

All of the people in the group were experienced backcountry skiers and were carrying avalanche rescue gear, Michelson said. They were skiing the line in sections, one by one, in accordance with standard safety protocol.

Two hours south, at Alpental -- one section of Washington's Summit at Snoqualmie resort -- a snowboarder was killed Sunday after triggering an avalanche and being swept over a cliff, according to authorities.


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## linvillegorge

Why will they not allow any control work above the boundary?


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## cjcameron11

Why are they not allowing control work? is it because its too dangerous or something?

sorry to ask the same question....


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## Redmond513

So sad to hear. Condolences to their families.


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## schmitty34

Has anyone seen news about where the Alpental Avy was specifically? 

I was up there this morning for the first chairs but ditched after one run and went to central since the lines were so terrible and it seemed like Chair 2 would take a while to open.


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## snowjab

Some dude also died at alpental going off a cliff. I was at alpental yesterday and there was so much snow, real heavy shit . It was like pushing concrete. Man this is awful


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## snowjab

Avalanche at Washington's Stevens Pass kills three - ESPN


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## DrnknZag

cjcameron11 said:


> Why are they not allowing control work? is it because its too dangerous or something?
> 
> sorry to ask the same question....


Patrol does bomb the entire front side of Cowboy mountain, which the majority of the upper portion IS considered backcountry/sidecountry. The area where the slide happened (as I understand it) is on the back side of Cowboy Mountain, which is not part of the ski area back side (Mill Valley). There isn't an easy way to control it since it just drops down to a creek drainage on the opposite side of the ski area. Plus I believe ski patrol cannot bomb outside of the ski area boundary without the Forest Service's permission.

EDIT: Didn't realize your question was directed to Wolf's comments. It's been a fucking long day. I need some sleep.


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## cjcameron11

All good on the reply, it doesn't matter who answered, and in response to Wolf's comment i understand about the greenies and how they are hard to deal with. It seems to me the logical thing is that humans lives are more important than a squirrel hear and there. But thats just my logical opinion. either was lets hope people come to their senses and allow this sort of work to go ahead and hopefully prevent any major events like this.


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## killclimbz

Super rough weekend, to go along with a super rough season. Dial it back guys. Dial it waaaay back.


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## DrnknZag

^^That video is pretty intense, I've seen it a few times before. While Rooster is considered backcountry, it funnels down into the base area in Mill Valley so I've seen patrol bomb it if danger is really extreme.

I'm still feeling pretty sick about yesterday. It turns out I have a lot of friends who knew the guys involved (especially Chris), so it definitely hits pretty close to home.

From what I've learned through reading a lot of the reports, it sounds like they did drop right on the backside from the top of 7th, not near Tye in the bowl I was thinking. They were split in three groups, taking turns, using safe zones. Can't say this for a fact, but it sounds like the slide propagated all the way into the safe zone and caught three who were waiting (including the lady with the ABS pack). Also sounds like all 12 or 13 in the group were buried to some degree.

The terrain they were in is a very steep sustained slope, probably 40-45-50 degrees, with pockets of trees throughout. Aspect looks to be roughly southern. I certainly wouldn't have been there yesterday with all that fresh on a nasty crust layer. There was definitely a quick warm up right around noon too, which is shown in NWAC's telemetry data. Probably was another contributing factor.

I'm still hearing reports of possibly other slides right around the same time, specifically one in Wenatchee Bowl that's more northeast of the resort, that closed Double Diamond for a short time (while I was waiting in the lift line). After that all BC gates were closed and manned by ski patrol. I've never seen that at Stevens before.

The whole NW ski/snowboard community is reeling from this loss. I believe it's the worst avy we've had since Valentines Day 1999 when Baker's Shuksan Arm went HUGE.

Just a bit of perspective, here's a pic I'm sure a lot of you have seen me post before, but it's very close to where the group dropped into Tunnel Creek.










The left of the pic goes back in bounds, but of you drop to the right, you're heading down to Tunnel Creek.

RIP Jim, Chris, and John.


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## killclimbz

I feel you zag. This is shaping up to be a record year for avalanche fatalities. My thoughts are with all of our PNW brethren effected by this horrible accident.


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## ETM

this just made the national news here in australia.


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## Sn0wB0ard1ng

man thats awful


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## SPAZ

Horrible, good luck to the families of those involved and the survivors.


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## turbospartan

This may have already been posted, but a 15 year old girl died today at Copper. 

Not avalanche related (hit a tree) but the count is up to 13 now, with the record being 17 (for CO) in 2008.


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## Listheeb21

I saw an interview this morning with the woman who was wearing the airbag. She mentioned that many of those caught & carried were in what they considered safe zones at the time of the slide; but considering that the avy danger was high for the area/elevation, and that they were all experienced backcountry skiers with proper equipment, has it been confirmed from skier statements in the local media what they did for snow safety testing before entering? I haven't seen anything in the national news about it.


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## DrnknZag

NWAC is reporting there was also a slide near Crystal that resulted in an injury, along with another skier triggered slide on Hurricane Ridge (both on Sunday). The dreaded black rose has made an appearance on the forecast today too, along with an avy warning.



> .....This should cause an avalanche cycle on Tuesday and Tuesday night with large to very large avalanches in many areas....


Stay safe folks....


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## killclimbz

Digging a pit, doing stability tests has it's purpose, but it's not "go, no go" type of test. Spatial variability means that I could get a stable or unstable result in one pit and less than 20 ft away get the complete opposite result. Lot's of other clues, including the avalanche report for that day need to be used. 

The biggest problem that I see is that their safe spots were really not safe spots. Generally speaking being in well tree'd zones is fairly safe. The problem is do you have a slope that can rip from above and run through those trees? Sounds like they did. It also sounds like this particular event ran a lot larger than is normal for the path. Maybe a 50 year slide? Unsure. 

To you point Listheeb21, mistakes were made by an experienced group of backcountry skiers. There is no doubt about this. The most innocent and inconsequential of mistakes in the backcountry can lead to deadly results if the conditions are right. They were this day.


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## Listheeb21

killclimbz said:


> Digging a pit, doing stability tests has it's purpose, but it's not "go, no go" type of test. Spatial variability means that I could get a stable or unstable result in one pit and less than 20 ft away get the complete opposite result. Lot's of other clues, including the avalanche report for that day need to be used.
> 
> The biggest problem that I see is that their safe spots were really not safe spots. Generally speaking being in well tree'd zones is fairly safe. The problem is do you have a slope that can rip from above and run through those trees? Sounds like they did. It also sounds like this particular event ran a lot larger than is normal for the path. Maybe a 50 year slide? Unsure.
> 
> To you point Listheeb21, mistakes were made by an experienced group of backcountry skiers. There is no doubt about this. The most innocent and inconsequential of mistakes in the backcountry can lead to deadly results if the conditions are right. They were this day.


Thanks, Kill. Hadn't factored in the spacial variability. Also, after I sent the question I realized it came off in a douchy, Monday Morning QB way, which was not my intention, particularly given the outcome. So my apologies if it appeared that way to anyone else. I just hadn't heard anything about what they may have done, if anything, before dropping...


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## linvillegorge

Sounds to me like a clear case of powder fever. It can be caught by even the most experienced people in a season like this where everyone is starving for powder. 

As far as I'm concerned, when avalanche danger is labeled as high, I'm simply not traveling in or beneath out of bounds avalanche terrain. It's just off the list. No discussion. Y'all wanna ride it? Go for it, I'm not doing it.


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## linvillegorge

Definitely understand what you're saying here in regards to the avalanche report and them changing the rating, but still... when there's 18" of fresh fallen new snow sitting on top of preexisting weak layers, avalanche danger is high as far as I'm concerned.

I'm not sure what the avalanche rating officially was up around Steamboat today, but you wouldn't have caught me going near any uncontrolled avalanche terrain given our snowpack and their recent snowfall (30" of snow in 24 hours).

Then again, I'm pretty inexperienced in the BC, so I'm pretty darn conservative. The avy deaths we've seen in the past couple of years have really made me wonder if those who are ignorant of avalanches are immune to them. It seems like ever incident involves a relatively well educated, well equipped, and decently experienced person(s), yet morons lap Loveland Pass dropping Idiot's Cornice year after year with no problems.


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## Sick-Pow

linvillegorge said:


> Definitely understand what you're saying here in regards to the avalanche report and them changing the rating, but still... when there's 18" of fresh fallen new snow sitting on top of preexisting weak layers, avalanche danger is high as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> I'm not sure what the avalanche rating officially was up around Steamboat today, but you wouldn't have caught me going near any uncontrolled avalanche terrain given our snowpack and their recent snowfall (30" of snow in 24 hours).
> 
> Then again, I'm pretty inexperienced in the BC, so I'm pretty darn conservative. The avy deaths we've seen in the past couple of years have really made me wonder if those who are ignorant of avalanches are immune to them. It seems like ever incident involves a relatively well educated, well equipped, and decently experienced person(s), yet morons lap Loveland Pass dropping Idiot's Cornice year after year with no problems.


Odds will catch up to the morons. 

More experience, puts you in the BC more often, fact. 

Don't let that discourage anyone though from finding pow to ride.

50% OF THE TIME YOU MIGHT GET TURNED OFF ON A LINE. That should not matter to the 60-100 day BC rider because that means 30-50 amazing pow days.

Thanks too for Snowwolfs assessment. Definitely the most level headed summary I have heard. With such a large group of skiers, mistakes might have been made, rather than pure bad luck. When such a highly credentialed group of pros goes out, it is easy to forget one of the biggest rules of the BC, don't follow "a leader" if you own instinct is SCREAMING at you to drop a few notches of expectations for the day, or flat out pull the plug.

Many times in various jobs I do, cutting losses and living to play another day are more important than the goal...many times.


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## redlude97

Crazy day yesterday. Was on the backside when Southern Cross closed, and spent a good chunk of the day in the sidecountry out skiers right from Jupiter. Came in for lunch after the backside closed to hear the sad news. Condolences to all the families


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## chupacabraman

First off my condolences to the families & friends of the victims. Some good information in this thread, particularly from SnoWolf, thanks. Sounds like a real tragedy . I've been through an avalanche myself, and lost a couple friends to the snow so I can feel for all of those involved.
The part that I don't understand though: If there was so much fresh powder to be had (also inbounds i assume) then why would you want to leave to ski area? I just don't get it.
Of course, with dozens of variables in play, it's not hard to make a mistake or two in judgement - I do understand this.


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## killclimbz

The black rose! Yuk. 

I still have no idea what this group did as part of their assessment. Digging a pit is not always necessary, and I suspect they had plenty of other red flags. Number 1 being the rapidly rising temps. I wonder if they had any whoompfing or shooting cracks? Seems that they fell into the classic "heuristic" trap. A group of pro's, Powder Magazine, and the Salomon team. I'm sure they were highly motivated to ski something rad. 

I will say that I dig a pit maybe 40% of the time. Most lines I choose you know if it's a go or no go by your surroundings. Pole tests, hand pits, terrain choice, observing my surroundings, that sort of thing gives me the info I need to know. I start to mix the pit in when the line I am looking at has some serious consequence. Which this line obviously does. 

Stay safe out there PNW peeps.


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## redlude97

chupacabraman said:


> First off my condolences to the families & friends of the victims. Some good information in this thread, particularly from SnoWolf, thanks. Sounds like a real tragedy . I've been through an avalanche myself, and lost a couple friends to the snow so I can feel for all of those involved.
> The part that I don't understand though: If there was so much fresh powder to be had (also inbounds i assume) then why would you want to leave to ski area? I just don't get it.
> Of course, with dozens of variables in play, it's not hard to make a mistake or two in judgement - I do understand this.


Everything was tracked out by 10am. An insane number of people there on sunday


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## chupacabraman

Thought that might have been the case. I feel really sad for all those affected.


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## killclimbz

Damn, missed this. A snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche in Montana on Monday. This brings the total to 18 killed for the season. A record season is in reach. This is a record we do not want to hit. 

Avalanche claims life of Washington snowmobiler - Daily Inter Lake: Local/Montana


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## wrathfuldeity

Baker is on "extremely high" avy alert today...their highest rating; yesterday they only had 1 chair open. Early this morning like 6 am Gwen Howat was on the local radio noting to anticipate late opening avy control and bring you avy gear for inbounds...we got 17" of wet and heavy in the past 24.


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## chupacabraman

Same goes for the BC interior...
very high avalanche risk with widespread warnings to stay out of the backcountry, the experienced regulars are coming back in stating inability to adequately manage the risks and not heading back out, big cornices hanging on by a fingernail, avalanches releasing on slopes as low as 20 degrees, big avalanches frequently fracturing deep in the snowpack and running their full path length to valley floors.


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## linvillegorge

20 degree slopes avalanching? You serious? That's ridiculously scary if true.


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## killclimbz

It's actually not uncommon. If I am reading Chupa right, they are breaking on low angle slopes, but sliding down steeper stuff? There is a spot on 10 Little Indians that rips on a very low angle slope, it of course carries over into steeper terrain. I would have never guessed that was a danger zone until I saw the aftermath last season. 

Otherwise, I generally associate low angle slides as a spring time event.


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## chupacabraman

For more details on the Canadian conditions, check out the Forecaster's blog here: Forecaster's Blog : Bulletins : Canadian Avalanche Centre : avalanche.ca (specifically the last few posts)


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## killclimbz

We are now up to 19 deaths.

Snowmobiler killed in Park County avalanche | KBZK.com | Z7 | Bozeman, Montana

Almost identical type of accident from a couple of days ago in Montana. The 'bilers were doing fairly good this season, but they are rapidly trying to take the lead at this point. People need to think about what they are doing and what their choices are. Dial it back.


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## ETM

Its a fkn epidemic over there. If there were 19 fatal shark attacks nobody would be in the water yet people still continue to head into dangerous territory in the snow.


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## killclimbz

This is 19 deaths over the entire West. Not just one region. It's still a scary stat with almost three months to go.


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## ShredLife

killclimbz said:


> We are **now* up to 19 deaths.
> 
> Snowmobiler killed in Park County avalanche | KBZK.com | Z7 | Bozeman, Montana
> 
> Almost identical type of accident from a couple of days ago in Montana. The 'bilers were doing fairly good this season, but they are rapidly trying to take the lead at this point. People need to think about what they are doing and what their choices are. Dial it back.


now, not not


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## ETM

killclimbz said:


> This is 19 deaths over the entire West. Not just one region. It's still a scary stat with almost three months to go.


Yeah I realise that. How many have died on the roads in the same time? The odds of dying out there in the back country are unacceptable at the moment IMO.


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## killclimbz

Thanks shred. Didn't notice my typo, fixed...


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## DrnknZag

This popped up on Facebook this afternoon, I figured I'd repost it.










I'm hoping they do a sticker with the proceeds going to the families.


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## schmitty34

ETM said:


> Yeah I realise that. How many have died on the roads in the same time? The odds of dying out there in the back country are unacceptable at the moment IMO.


That would be an interesting stat. Do they track/estimate that type of stuff?

How many times people enter out of bounds areas compared to the number of avy deaths. I doubt they could get a read good estimate since there is no way to track how many people head into the BC and how often.


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## killclimbz

That logo is dope Zag. Keep us posted, I'll be down to donate to the cause. 

Schmitty, I don't know what the stat is but it's thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of backcountry users versus the number of deaths. If I had to guess I percentage, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet it's under 1% of backcountry user days. Much like skier deaths at ski areas is well under that number. 

It's not quite as deadly as the media makes it out to be. Well unless you are the getting buried in a slide. It is certainly not a killing field out there. The main thing is that when avalanches do kill, almost every time the person getting killed is the cause of their demise. They triggered the avalanche. Sometimes it can cause other people to be taken out too. 

Ultimately, when venturing into the backcountry, you become your own ski patrol. You decide what runs are open, what is safe or not safe. You do not have the all the tools that ski patrol has to mitigate dangers, so all you are left with is the bare basics. I would love to have a howitzer that I could fire at suspect slopes. For whatever reason, the guberment does not seem to want to let me have one...


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## schmitty34

Killclimbz - I'm sure it's a super low %, I was just wondering if there was any way to compare it to other dangerous sports. And clearly the % that would apply to any given person is completely affected by the procautions thay take. I fully understand that there is a big difference between people that know what they are doing and people that just wonder out into the BC to get some powder.


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## ETM

Snowolf said:


> Funny you mention this. Back when I was in the Air Force, I used to make some big ass pipe bombs and the guys and I would go out behind Eielson AFB to some old WW2 anti aircraft bunkers and we would blow shit up. I am talking some pretty big bombs too. We blew an old pickup up once with a huge pipe bomb and left a 3 foot deep 15 foot diameter crater. Sent the engine through the cab in pieces. Also used to use the to go "fishing"....:laugh:
> 
> Keep in mind this was in the 1980`s pre 9-11 and Homeland Security.
> 
> I have often thought what a dozen pipe bombs in my pack could do to do my own avalanche control work.....


You would probably throw one bomb and the entire PNW would slide lol.


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## killclimbz

Snowolf said:


> Funny you mention this. Back when I was in the Air Force, I used to make some big ass pipe bombs and the guys and I would go out behind Eielson AFB to some old WW2 anti aircraft bunkers and we would blow shit up. I am talking some pretty big bombs too. We blew an old pickup up once with a huge pipe bomb and left a 3 foot deep 15 foot diameter crater. Sent the engine through the cab in pieces. Also used to use the to go "fishing"....:laugh:
> 
> Keep in mind this was in the 1980`s pre 9-11 and Homeland Security.
> 
> I have often thought what a dozen pipe bombs in my pack could do to do my own avalanche control work.....


I used to do the same in high school! I've thought the same thing too. A couple of problems with that, one what happens if you have a dud? That would suck to have that sucker go off like 3 days later when someone else was riding around it.

Two, the guy who grew up to me next door. Well he blew 3 fingers and almost his hand off making them. Went off when he was tightening the cap I believe. Turns out you really need a static free environment. Fortunately the doctors were able to re-attach his hands, but his missing parts of his fingers. It was pretty nasty. Needless to say we quit making pipe bombs after that incident. Threw all that crap away.

It would be fun as hell to blast the crap out of those slopes though. I have a few that I'd love to do that too.


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## schmitty34

"re-attach his hands"

Holy crap!!


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## DrnknZag

Shit is still pretty unstable around here. NWAC is reporting a very large skier triggered slide yesterday east of Stevens, 5 foot crown. Fortunately the skier was able to self arrest.

Found a thread on TAY from a group that was involved in two avalanches at Crystal the same day as the Stevens slide....

February 19, 2012, Crystal BC Avalanche Burial

Tell ya what, I would have called it a day after the first close call so I could go change my pants. Crazy that they still went for it. Almost paid for that decision too.


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## schmitty34

DrnknZag said:


> Shit is still pretty unstable around here. NWAC is reporting a very large skier triggered slide yesterday east of Stevens, 5 foot crown. Fortunately the skier was able to self arrest.
> 
> Found a thread on TAY from a group that was involved in two avalanches at Crystal the same day as the Stevens slide....
> 
> February 19, 2012, Crystal BC Avalanche Burial
> 
> Tell ya what, I would have called it a day after the first close call so I could go change my pants. Crazy that they still went for it. Almost paid for that decision too.


great read.

Unbelievable how bad Sunday was in the PNW and how much worse it could have been with other near disasters.


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## killclimbz

Ummm wow. Sticking to low angled terrain then choosing to skin up that obvious avalanche prone path? Okay. All is well that ends well though. One hell of a scare, but they pulled off a rescue they were able to walk away from. Ultimately that is the result you want every time.


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