What does this mean?
The alpha angle was 22 degrees, which is close to the maximum distance an avalanche in this path can run.
The alpha angle was 22 degrees, which is close to the maximum distance an avalanche in this path can run.
Guessing you draw a line from start to toe and that's the hypotenuse. Vertical drop and horizontal distance make the other sides.
Here:
"Alpha angle is the incline of an imaginary line drawn between the start zone of a slide (its crown, or highest point) and the farthest toe of the resulting debris field. Alpha angles for “100 year” avalanches (i.e. the big ones) are typically in the 18- to 20-degree range, depending on the specific mountain range and other factors. Unless you have site-specific data showing otherwise, assuming a slide will go no farther than 18 degrees in a runout is generally the safe bet."
View attachment 70474
https://backcountrymagazine.com/stories/mountain-skills-alpha-angle/
40 minutes from burial to ambulance is pretty good. The trauma was just from the snow tumbling? Doesn't say anything about hitting trees or rocks.
Jones Pass incident report is out. It is even more damning for the snowcat operation than most imagined.
https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/acc/acc_report.php?acc_id=709&accfm=inv&view=public
Maybe this operation was in a desperate situation barely hanging on financially? Maybe the decision makers felt pressured to get their paying customers a worthy experience. Maybe they are all pretty young and don’t have the experience themselves to know when to say no?
This my takeaway. Knowledge and experience and good intentions are not enough to keep you safe. Not sure what the other necessary ingredient is... humility an outside check on decisionmaking? A pill to suppress the amygdal? None of us is immune. Lawrence Gonzales's book "Deep Survival" explores the phenomenon across many environments from landing fighter jets on a carrier to deciding to launch kayaks despite raging flood danger. This is deeply ingrained if counterintuitive human behavior.The guides in question, including the one who passed away, are not young reckless folk. Decades of experience among them. But that didn't save them from making wrong decisions in a 100-year avalanche cycle.
This my takeaway. Knowledge and experience and good intentions are not enough to keep you safe. Not sure what the other necessary ingredient is... humility an outside check on decisionmaking? A pill to suppress the amygdal? None of us is immune. Lawrence Gonzales's book "Deep Survival" explores the phenomenon across many environments from landing fighter jets on a carrier to deciding to launch kayaks despite raging flood danger. This is deeply ingrained if counterintuitive human behavior.
Amen to that! Not necessarily in regard to this incident but I have had similar experiences.I’ve been out with young guides before and I definitely questioned their abilities and bag of knowledge. Not necessarily out loud but I sure wouldn’t take their opinion as gospel
Based on my experience, main thing in this sort of business (probably others too) is not safety first, but business and happy client first. We all know avalanches don't happen very frequently and you need quite a bit of bad luck to get caught, and pretty much all guides I know, and I know quite few depend a lot on this "good luck"... like it or not. Personally I even understand this and don't blame them for that. I understand they have bills to pay and I understand it's really hard to tell to client, who fly in from far just for few days of skiing, that today we will drink beer, stay inside and not go skiing as conditions are not good. For most of guides this means day that is not paid, and for most of clients it means one day less on skis... one day less out of those very few they paid for to be skiing in that year.If anything its the pressured to get customers out. Powder Addiction seems to be doing just fine from what I've seen. The guides in question, including the one who passed away, are not young reckless folk.
Seems to me that when the SnowCat heading up got blocked by an 8ft, 2.44m, avalanche debris toe, it was a sign to go under 25 degrees with no steeps above? Or call it for the day.
Generally one problem that shouldn't be overlooked in the guide's decision making process is the clientele that they are dealing with: often successful business types who are predominately type A personalities more used to giving orders than taking them, creating even more pressure to be out there doing what they paid for.
Generally one problem that shouldn't be overlooked in the guide's decision making process is the clientele that they are dealing with: often successful business types who are predominately type A personalities more used to giving orders than taking them, creating even more pressure to be out there doing what they paid for.