More sad avalanche death news.

[Kemperski]

Mother Nature better lawyer up

 

[Mike King]

Despite this clearly worded warning, a commercial operation goes up into Jones Pass, which is one of the listed target areas in the warning zone, and exactly what was warned happens.

My bets are firmly placed that the CAIC report is not where this ends.

@nay, I don't think you really understand the CAIC. The CAIC produces macro level forecasts for the 10 zones of Colorado. Local conditions within a zone can differ substantially (like your microclimate analogy), and standard practice for a guiding service, particularly one that operates a cat skiing operation, is to do their own snow analysis. The guides are out every day assessing the snowpack and drawing their own conclusions about the stuff they are going to ski. This local information is far more relevant than the info that is produced by an agency that is looking at weather data, some observations they may have made in the field but are highly likely NOT to be on the slopes the guide service is likely to ski, and are tailored to the general conditions across a very large geographic area.

Jones Pass is in the Front range Zone, but the warning was not specific to any specific area -- it was an assessment of the conditions that might arise within the zone.

All that being said, we still do not have all the facts about what happened. It does seem strange that they were out that day, but the accident report will provide a lot more facts than what we have right now.

Mike

 

[Mike King]

Lake City is having major avalanche problems and the Hinsdale County Sheriff was in his house that was hit by an avalanche -- 3 people had to be rescued from the house:

https://www.colorado.gov/hinsdalecounty

 

[Mike King]

Story about Lake City from the Colorado Sun:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/12/avalanche-colorado-hinsdale-sheriff-home-destroyed/

 

[Mike King]

The Lake City avalanche was incredible -- it destroyed the house and barn of the Hinsdale County Sheriff...

http://lakecitysilverworld.com/SWN16/2019/03/12/voluntary-evacuation-orders-on-bluff-street/

 

[HardDaysNight]

@nay, I don't think you really understand the CAIC. The CAIC produces macro level forecasts for the 10 zones of Colorado. Local conditions within a zone can differ substantially (like your microclimate analogy), and standard practice for a guiding service, particularly one that operates a cat skiing operation, is to do their own snow analysis. The guides are out every day assessing the snowpack and drawing their own conclusions about the stuff they are going to ski. This local information is far more relevant than the info that is produced by an agency that is looking at weather data, some observations they may have made in the field but are highly likely NOT to be on the slopes the guide service is likely to ski, and are tailored to the general conditions across a very large geographic area.

Jones Pass is in the Front range Zone, but the warning was not specific to any specific area -- it was an assessment of the conditions that might arise within the zone.

All that being said, we still do not have all the facts about what happened. It does seem strange that they were out that day, but the accident report will provide a lot more facts than what we have right now.

Mike

Yes, you’re right that CAIC forecasters aren’t evaluating the actual slopes the guide service might be planning to ski. And it’s true that local conditions may vary. On the other hand @nay certainly has a point that this cavilling seems like trying to be too clever by half when the overall conditions are as lethal as they are. Perhaps @Primoz concern about European commercial guiding organizations feeling compelled to take huge risks to avoid disappointing clients has parallels here too.

 

[Mike King]

Another house hit by an avalanche—this one at Taos

https://www.taosnews.com/stories/avalanche-crashes-into-house-at-taos-ski-valley,55700

 

[coskigirl]

Several of the Colorado Crew are at TSV right now. @SBrown @SkiNurse @Drahtguy Kevin please check in.

 

[Ken_R]

Another house hit by an avalanche—this one at Taos

https://www.taosnews.com/stories/avalanche-crashes-into-house-at-taos-ski-valley,55700

 

[CalG]

Three perish on Ben Nevis... That is extraordinary!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/13/climbers-forecasts-ben-nevis-avalanche-scotland

 

[SBrown]

Several of the Colorado Crew are at TSV right now. @SBrown @SkiNurse @Drahtguy Kevin please check in.

Hellllppppgllspshshavavdjphh

 

[coskigirl]

Looks like March continues to treat you well. Happy to see it!

 

[Kemperski]

Hellllppppgllspshshavavdjphh

Mods, is that kind of language acceptable?

 

[James]

It's Norwegian for "Hell Yeah"

 

[Dwight]

Hellllppppgllspshshavavdjphh

Mods, is that kind of language acceptable?

Shes the editor, so it must be.

 

[Kemperski]

Three perish on Ben Nevis... That is extraordinary!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/13/climbers-forecasts-ben-nevis-avalanche-scotland

The four climbers had tackled Ben Nevis despite a rare warning of a high risk of avalanche from the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS), the first such alert it had put out this winter.

And yes you guessed it they were expert climbers. this halo is so damned deadly

 

[Mike King]

The CAIC avalanche report is out for the Telluride/Bear Creek avalanche. It is expanded upon in this excellent Colorado Sun article:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/22/...-30142877&mc_cid=13c90310d2&mc_eid=b8ce61c3ee

The CAIC investigation report is here:

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/acc/acc_report.php?acc_id=705&accfm=inv&view=public

I suspect the Sheriff is building a case against the 3 boarders who triggered the slide.

COLORADO PEEPS: The Colorado Sun is an incredible news source with excellent journalism. Please support them!

Mike

 

[tball]

". . .triggered by a group of snowboarders who had ducked a rope and entered permanently closed terrain just off Telluride ski resort.

And killed a father of four doing so.

I hope for the family of the deceased the snowboarders have homeowners or renters insurance that can provide some economic compensation to the family. When they get out of jail, they can work to pay the remainder of the restitution to help support the victim's children. Innocent until proven guilty, of course.

 

[Mike King]

". . .triggered by a group of snowboarders who had ducked a rope and entered permanently closed terrain just off Telluride ski resort.

And killed a father of four doing so.

I hope for the family of the deceased the snowboarders have homeowners or renters insurance that can provide some economic compensation to the family. When they get out of jail, they can work to pay the remainder of the restitution to help support the victim's children. Innocent until proven guilty, of course.

It's just tragic. I'm sure that the snowboarders are devastated by what happened. You can tell that they are not just dirtbags as they searched the debris pile for an hour prior to leaving, and they also made themselves known to the Sheriff.

This accident also should serve as a reminder that it isn't just that you are on a slope that could avalanche -- you need to be worried about possible outflow of stuff that releases above you.

Mike

 

[tball]

^^^ No doubt.

It's also worth noting the comments in the report regarding the victim not wearing a beacon, as was previously discussed here:

The report’s authors said it was “not unexpected” that Garcia-Atance was not wearing an avalanche beacon for a short trip along a well-used trail.

“The outcome of this accident would probably not have changed if (he) was wearing an avalanche transceiver, but the search would have been significantly shorter,” reads the report.
https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/22/salvador-garcia-atance-avalanche-report-telluride/
​

The revelation that it was permanently closed terrain infuriates me. It would be bad enough ducking a rope for a shortcut to terrain otherwise accessible via the backcountry gates. Doing so to ride permanently closed terrain is inexcusable, even more so given the potential consequences down below. I suspect this is exactly why it's permanently closed.