Avalanche at White Pass

[Know_Fear]

Our weekend was a little more exciting than we had hoped for. I triggered an avalanche and slid about 50 feet downhill until I managed to grab a tree. Read on…

 

There were five people in our group. All of us are experienced BC skiers/climbers, one an experienced climbing guide with formal avi training. At least one other person besides me had read an avi forecast and telemetry data for White Pass before leaving home. We made some casual layer checks, but we didn’t dig a pit. Our observations matched the forecast. Besides, the risk level was obvious enough.

 

We skied in Saturday and decided to sit out a very strong storm. We spent the afternoon setting up camp, cooking and socializing. Visibility was poor, it was dumping snow, and the wind was howling. We probably got a foot of new snow that night. It was one of the worst storms I’ve camped in - if I hadn’t dug out my two person tent in the middle of the night it would have been completely buried by snow drift.

 

We got a late start Sunday. Visibility was still poor, but we decided to make a few runs. We knew the high bowls were too dangerous so we chose a tree run that we were familiar with. We’ve never seen a slide on this run, and there were no signs of slides, e.g. bent trees. We were on our third and final lap. The others dropped in first. Thad and I waited on top so that we could cut new lines. Until then we had avoided a small depression at the top of our run because it looked susceptible to slide.

 

This time I cut straight across it. About mid way across it cut loose. I heard Thad yell avalanche, but I was totally helpless. I’d heard stories about staying on top, and swimming so that’s what I tried to do. I could see a small tree coming up toward me. I decided to grab it and hang on no matter what. I hit pretty hard, and snow poured around me. The slide went past me in seconds and my partner was there in no time. My left leg and arm were around the tree. My skis and pack were still on and my poles were still in my hands.

 

We immediately checked on everyone else. The others had heard Thad yell and they moved out of the way. The debris extended for several hundred feet down the hill. Fortunately nothing besides the patch had given way. The trees broke the debris up so the lower portion of the slide was soft, albeit thick snow. It was a relatively small slab slide – about 40 feet in diameter. The crown was about 12 inches thick.

 

Conclusions: we ski more often, and endure more conditions than 99% of the skiers and climbers I know. We ski steep terrain, and deep snow. If you think that you would’ve gone home, or skied someplace else then perhaps this info won’t benefit you. We obviously have a high tolerance for risk and a strong desire to ski the big powder. The dangerous areas were avoidable. But, we wanted something steep/deep, so we picked a run with trees. I realized that we push the envelope from time to time and things usually go right. I was reminded that once things begin to go wrong there’s no turning back. If you’re in this latter group then you might think about how you’re going to deal with an accident before it happens. A large group size gave us some security, but our up-track was a 25 minute climb. Three people were effectively 15-20 minutes away. Three out of five of us had radios. That helped us communicate even though we were spread out on a long, steep hill and behind trees. Beacons, shovels and probes are a no brainer. My partner said my bright yellow jacket and orange pack made it easy to track me during the slide. I’ve read the more you know about avis the more likely you are to encounter one. In this case I think it’s true.

[lummox]

glad to read that you are alright.

[E-rock]

Lummox, do you only have smart-ass responses to thought provoking posts?

 

Snow-science does not save lives. It can only help you decide to stay in or leave the mountains. Once you take the risk of being there, everything comes down to route selection and your party's ability to limit exposure.

 

Avalanche experts die all the time. Get a clue.

 

Edit: Interesting ploy, Lummox. I'll remember to quote you next time.

Edited January 27, 2004 by E-rock

[lummox]

Lummox, do you only have smart-ass responses to thought provoking posts?

 

Snow-science does not save lives. It can only help you decide to stay in or leave the mountains. Once you take the risk of being there, everything comes down to route selection and your party's ability to limit exposure.

 

Avalanche experts die all the time. Get a clue.

erock: you are really weird.

[russ]

kf - question (with no critisism implied). You said that your poles were still in your hands. Does that mean you held on to them or that you use the straps. Curious because I don't use straps, but have wondered if my reflexes would have me hold onto the poles. I rarely drop them in wrecks as well....

[russ]

Interesting, lummox edits smart-ass comment, then thinks E-rock is weird. go figure

[lummox]

Interesting, lummox edits smart-ass comment, then thinks E-rock is weird. go figure

it dawned on me that the avalanche dude might not apreciate my comment. guilt sucks. but. you know. a sane person in an insane world will appear insane. know what im sayin?

[ken4ord]

KF thanks for sharing your experience with us all. Glad to hear everybody was ok. It is good for me to here these type of stories to keep me reminded of the dangers out there. It is so easy to forget about them soemtimes when you are having so much fun.

[Know_Fear]

Re: ski poles. It's just one of those strange things. Later that evening, over beers, somebody asked if I lost my equipment. It occured to me that my poles must have been in my hands the whole time. Because once I got on my feet, we skied down to check on the others. I wasn't using wrist straps.

 

I had wondered before how one could "swim" with skis on. But, it seemed as though I didn't have skis or poles... I even remember trying to change course slightly so that I intercepted the tree.

[Jim]

Well that will get your attention I bet! Seems like you folks were prepared, but couldn't resist that one place that you had some questions about. Good lesson for all.

[sobo]

Where, exactly, at WP were you skiing when you encountered the avalance? Just curious...

[David_Parker]

You are lucky it wasn't bigger, especially with a 12" crown. And this goes to show you aren't necessarily safe in trees either, In fact if you are caught in a slide that is in or goes into trees, you are in a much worse situation. In the NW, that is a factor a lot more than in Utah and Colorado. Had you missed that first tree and picked up more speed, you could have easily sustained a terrible injury even if you weren't burried. Avy gear doesn't save you from injuries. That is why I find carrying avy gear can create a false sense of security and actually get you into worse situations than if you didn't have it. Being burried and dug out is one thing, being burried with a life threatening injury is another. Sometimes the beacon only helps with body recovery.

 

We carry avy gear for the unexpected. I'll bet your expectations have been adjusted now. Thanks for sharing a story we can all learn from!

[thelawgoddess]

we were taught that if the trees are far enough apart to ski between, they're too far apart to really be safe.

[pindude]

Where, exactly, at WP were you skiing when you encountered the avalance? Just curious...

 

KF, thanks for the report. Glad you were okay. Your post makes me wonder about many other things, in addition to exactly where at WP.

 

- What was elevation?

- Aspect(compass direction) slope was facing?

- And very important, slope angle?

- What type of tree (like spruce with boughs that anchor in the snow, or like a pine or birch tree with bare trunks that avalanches easily pass around?

 

KF, my post here is in part a response to you, but is also for others who may not be very experienced in the BC. I'm not sure exactly what your BC experience is (# days, # years) and I'm wanting to be helpful without sounding too harsh. But I'll say straight up that if you like to do that type of BC skiing, it's obvious you need to RUN to the next Avy Level One class and get some formal training yourself for starters. If you haven't read it, there's one book any BC boarder or skier should read: Tremper's "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain." If that's too much to chew on for now, something smaller to supplement it, and quicker to digest, is Fredston and Fesler's "Snow Sense" or Jamieson's "Backcountry Avalanche Awareness."

 

Avy awareness is an on-going, life-long process, and is learned both formally (through classes) and informally through experience in the BC with others, both of which are valuable. Any boarder or skier venturing out into the BC owes it to themself and those around them to take at least a Level One class (RAC in Canada), which usually costs less than a transceiver.

 

Avy guru Jill Fredston says that from 3 to 5 clues are overlooked in the average avy accident...I would suspect that yours had some clues too, and that if you were more aware of them, you may have avoided what you went through.

 

Here's to rippin up the BC pow, and staying safe.

 

--Steve Reynolds

[joker]

Thanks for posting the report - it's a good reminder that this does happen and that even a relatively small slab has the potential to mess you up bad when you hit the tree (glad this didn't happen to you!).

 

When you say you but straight across the depression, how low into the "zone of prior concern" were you? I'm wondering if you thought you were near the top when it cut loose or somewhere down lower? Do you have a sense of how high above your cut line the snow broke? I'm just wondering if you got any sort of lesson in ski cutting technique here that we could all share in.

[thelawgoddess]

pindude: But I'll say straight up that if you like to do that type of BC skiing, it's obvious you need to RUN to the next Avy Level One class and get some formal training yourself for starters.

 

i was told (by my avy level 1 instructor) that the statistics for getting caught in an avalanche are the same for those with no formal avy training and those with avy level 1 training. doh!

 

Know_Fear: I’ve read the more you know about avis the more likely you are to encounter one. In this case I think it’s true.

 

i wouldn't doubt that it's true. many people with avy training think they can predict when and where an avy might take place and therefore put themselves more at risk than people who maybe know nothing except that the danger is high and they shouldn't be there. i'm not trying to knock know_fear personally, but from what i've read above it appears he and his group made at least a few choices that don't seem very wise in light of what they teach you in an avy level 1 course. he was fortunate that his group had their shit together and he escaped any physical trauma.

 

thanks for sharing your experience. and stay alive!

[pindude]

The main reason I mentioned the need for KF to take a Level One class because of his mention that only one in five of those in his group had any formal avy training. I, like KF, have read (but cannot recall source) that those with Level One avy experience or greater are indeed more likely to be in an avalanche than those without any training.

 

There are at least two steps to avoiding avalanches: first is acquiring and having the knowledge, and second is knowing how to use it. Tremper has a lot of good to say about this in his final chapter on "The Human Factor." He cites, from a study by Dale Atkins of CO Avy Info Ctr, "of victims who had at least some level of avalanche education, human factors accounted for 82% of accidents and lack of judgment accounted for three times the number of accidents than lack of knowledge."

 

Of course this doesn't mean one shouldn't go blindly and ignorantly into the BC. At least with having knowledge, there is the chance to use judgment, and hopefully that judgment is good. Education should not be a substitute for judgment nor promote a false sense of security. And avy education does not end with any formal class, but is ongoing and lasts a lifetime.

 

May you continue to find the good snow out there KF, and may you never come close to another avalanche.

[MysticNacho]

I believe the book is written by Bruce Temper, not Bruce "Tremper." But honestly, who cares?

[iain]

Tremper

[pindude]

I believe the book is written by Bruce Temper, not Bruce "Tremper." But honestly, who cares?

 

Post edited: Sorry for my digression and attempt at humor...it doesn't belong in this thread, which is really quite serious. Iain said it best with his simple answer. Carry on...

Edited February 5, 2004 by pindude

[cj001f]

I, like KF, have read (but cannot recall source) that those with Level One avy experience or greater are indeed more likely to be in an avalanche than those without any training.

The statistic is those caught by avalanche's are more likely to be experienced in their sport, but only have some, or no avalanche training.

 

This says nothing about taking an avalanche class putting you at greater risk.

[MysticNacho]

Whoops. Ok, your right, its Tremper. Goes to show you how well I really read that book, eh?