klenke Posted March 7, 2003 Posted March 7, 2003 Okay, lots of snow dumping going on and avalanche danger is pretty intense. What do you think: Yes, somethin' bad is gonna happenNo, everthing is going to be all rightMaybe, but ask me if I care either way? Will there be an avalanche SAR this weekend? Quote
klenke Posted March 7, 2003 Author Posted March 7, 2003 Okay, it aint letting me vote or another person vote either. This was my first poll and I largely did it as a learning experience. I guess I did something wrong. Anyway, your chance at predicting the future has gone to waste. Quote
tomcat Posted March 7, 2003 Posted March 7, 2003 (edited) If it's any consolation to you I voted for the no option. I certainly hope no gumbies[/] are stupid enough to go out into the backcountry in this crap. Edited March 8, 2003 by AlpenTom Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 Sure, there are plenty of people stupid enough or ignorant enough to go out. Â Make sure you have both a start and stop poll marker bracketting your poll options. Quote
snoboy Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 Most avy incidents occur during times of moderate or considerable hazard... Â It's a little more obvious that there is a danger when things are going off big. Â This should be in the *freshiezone*, eh? Quote
mattp Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 catbirdseat said: Sure, there are plenty of people stupid enough or ignorant enough to go out. Â 'Carefull with the blanket statements, Catbird. I for one might be "stupid enough" to go backcountry skiing if I didn't have other activities planned for this weekend. As they say on the avalanche hotline, "there are avalanche-safe areas in all conditions" and I am fully confident that I could go get some turns in a clearcut somewhere, or in the woods, without taking great risks. To suggest that anybody who would go backcountry skiing this weekend is "stupid" is a little extreme. Also, as you learned in kindergarten, "accidents happen." Should somebody go out and get involved in an avalanche, to immediately proclaim that they were "stupid" without information about what actually happened would show only that you are one who might have stayed home when the avalanche hazard is rated high, but not necessarily that you know anything about avalanche conditions or hazard management. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 I meant get caught, not go out. I agree with you. There are always safe places to go. I plan to go out skiing myself on Sunday. Â But I'll bet the snowmobilers will be out playing high mark. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 I was thinking of Blewett Pass to practice my tele turns. Quote
tomcat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 I agree 100% Mattp .. I knew someone was going to call me on safe zones when I posted that ... the reason I didn't change it was because I didn't want some gumby reading that and thinking he could figure out where those safe zones were at. The fact is, if someone hasen't taken an avi course or learned sufficiently on his/her own about where safe zones exist, then he/she shouldn't be making those judgements. It's easy for Joe Gumby to come on this board and read things and think he's got things figured out on his own merely by reading some threads. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 Got any better ideas? Ski areas really turn me off. Reminds me of the teeming masses in Soylent Green. Quote
tomcat Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 Post #100 ... I would like to dedicate this moment to my mom, dad, cousin justin, aunt helma, and to all network administrators accross the internet who made my data transmissions possible. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart. Â Quote
minx Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 i for one will be investigating the joys of the back country again tomorrow. Hopefully careful planning will keep me out of avy danger. I'm not passing up this beautiful snow. and hopefully there won't be an SAR story about me. Quote
AlpineK Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 minx said: i for one will be investigating the joys of the back country again tomorrow. Hopefully careful planning will keep me out of avy danger. I'm not passing up this beautiful snow. and hopefully there won't be an SAR story about me. Â Werd up! Â Why aren't we in Freshiez Quote
minx Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 i skied lift assisted for several hours this afternoon/evening at alpental. it just wasn't quite what i need. Gotta go chase some fresh freshiez! yep! i gotta do it! Quote
obsydian Posted March 8, 2003 Posted March 8, 2003 Your voting machine must have been made in Florida, it don't work. Anyway, if it did, I'd say No, folks know it is dangerous. About midweek to next weekend, then we'll have a SAR. Quote
klenke Posted March 8, 2003 Author Posted March 8, 2003 Silly thing about polls is you can't edit them to make them work. I could have deleted it and started again but I be lazy. Â Turns out there was a skier who died in a tree well (at Crystal Mountain?) yesterday, but two things don't allow this tragedy to apply to my poll: 1) not really a SAR, and 2) didn't occur on the weekend. Â You're right, oh highly viscous black glassy volcanic effluent, midweek next week sounds about the time an SAR will occur. Â Obsydian: have you seen the cool obsydian flow at Newberry Craters by Bend, OR? Quote
matthewmc23 Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 There's a surprising number of bumblies out there romping around on snowshoes with no clue about the terrain around them. A friend of mine and I just got back from the Table Mtn./Mt. Herman area in Baker Ski area backcountry. We choose an extremely cautious route as avy conditions were extreme above 4000 and high below, and as a result didn't get many turns in. The visibility was terrible, snowpack completely unsettled/unconsolidated. It was no worry (because we were on safe ridge top terrain) but we warned a group of completely illprepared snowshoeing fools about the hazards (they were headed straight up a 35 degree leeward windloaded slope) and they heeded our advice, promptly making a beeline for the parking lot. At least they cared to take some advice. Quote
AlpineK Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 If you fools had been around long enough skiing in the Cascades you would have met Walt Little. Â Walt would have told you about his favorite club, the RBCSA. That is the Retroactive Birth Control Society of America . The club believes that there are too many people on the earth and therefore it is our obligation to engage in all manors of dangerous activities. Quote
jordop Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 Got caught in a good slab today at Marriot Basin. Skiing a 500 ft 40 degree run, I caught an edge, fell and triggered a slab about 100' across. I managed to swim out of it to watch it run for about three hundred feet. Crown was about 12'', but the runout progressively decreased in angle so that the deposition was only about four feet deep. I would've been fine , but stupid and damn scary. Â We had made the decision to ski only "microterrain" and no north facers as winds were high, but this slope was SE facing (if you know the area, it's the run directly west of th hut where it's steepest. Â Â Stupid, stupid, stupid Quote
iain Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 One of Mt Hood's most experienced pro patrollers was killed at Mt. Hood Meadows in "microterrain" a few years back, in the ski area, checking out a little blown-out depression near the Cascade lift, and it slid on top of him. Quote
jordop Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003 Yes, it was a good example for me to see the way that runouts and the nature of the terrain below the slide can greatly impact the severity of the slide. You can't so much look at the angle of the slope without looking at the what is going to happen if it does go. If the slope kept going at 40 degrees or went over a cliff, it would obviously be another matter altogether. Yes, such a realization is a no brainer, but I had never seen it so plain until today. Quote
jordop Posted March 9, 2003 Posted March 9, 2003  Marriot Basin stupidity: "yeah, it's snowed a good three feet in the past four days, but this slope faces SE and it aint that big"  You can see where I triggered the slide and then where I managed to swim out after about fifty feet  Quote
obsydian Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 klenke said: Obsydian: have you seen the cool obsydian flow at Newberry Craters by Bend, OR? You mean this flow? http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Newberry/newberry_caldera.jpg   No, haven’t been there. But cool looking rock:  http://www.planetware.com/photos/US/ORNB3.HTM    Quote
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