Wildsnow.com has contracted out to an avalanche specialist to bring you reviews of all the major avalanche beacons this fall.
If you are using an older beacon, or looking to buy a new one, this is definitely worth your attention. Also check out the dire warning regarding iPod use in the backcountry: this was news to me. The reviews will be trickling out one by one over the coming weeks. Here’s the introduction.
On August 1, 2008, Hermosa Beach climber Nicholas Rice awoke after a freezing night at Camp IV and made his way to just below the “Bottleneck”.
Rice, 23, was attempting to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, widely considered one of the world’s most difficult summit (and one of the most deadly).
The Bottleneck, as the name implies, was an exposed section of the climbing route where climbers were dependent on fixed ropes set by other climbers and Sherpas for passage up and down. In this way, the Bottleneck is similar to Mount Everest’s Hillary Step. Unlike the Hilary Step, however, the Bottleneck lay beneath a system of ice seracs—towering and unstable blocks of ice.
That morning at camp, Nick had spilled water on his socks, getting them wet. Consequently he got a late start that day. After about an hour of climbing, Nick (who was climbing without oxygen) still wasn’t warming up. He decided the prudent course of action was to turn back, and he did so, returning to Camp IV. After resting at camp for several hours, Nick decided to continue descending. Other climbers continued upward.
Soon after that, Nick learned that the ice blocks overhanging the Bottleneck had broken loose in an avalanche, killing three climbers and stranding others above by destroying the fixed ropes.
Like the events described in John Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, the K2 avalanche has a ghoulish quality that lingers in the imagination. Discovering that the ropes—their lifeline—had been cut, the trapped climbers’ options were extremely limited. I expect we’ll see a great deal of coverage on this tragedy as more details emerge.
Nick has posted regular dispatches of his climb, including the avalanche and rescue efforts, on his website.
THIS MORNING, I got the opportunity to speak with Jeff Pierce, who was the Site Commander for two of the three avalanches that took place in the vicinity of Mountain High ski area on 25 January 2008 in the San Gabriel Mountains. Jeff was also kind enough to share photos of the scene.
Jeff is Southern California’s Avalanche Adviser for local resorts and government agencies, and has over 20 years of experience in the field. In addition to participating in the rescue and recovery operation, Jeff also recorded observations of two of the slides, including crown profiles.
Jeff’s observations answer a number of questions I had regarding these avalanches—and they also raise a disturbing echo with a theme I discussed with Amber Seyler a few weeks ago.
Let’s start by looking at the snowpack prior to the arrival of the big storm (more…)
A Dozen More Turns is one of those rare films that gets under your skin.
I admit to being an expert when it comes to finding ways to avoid thinking about consequences (Andrew McLean calls this “creative rationalization”), but ADMT managed to grab me in a way no other avalanche film ever has.
As a piece of filmmaking, A Dozen More Turns could have gone wrong at any number of turns.
First-time director Amber Seyler deserves considerable credit for successfully navigating the treacherous landscape of a devastating avalanche on Montana’s Mount Nemesis, and the avalanche of commentary and recriminations that undoubtedly followed. Her film is jarringly-neutral in retelling the events of the Nemesis Avalanche, which to my eye contain an unmistakable aspect of mystery.
It is easy, at first, to dismiss Sam Kavanagh (the film’s central character) and his friends as a bunch of enthusiastic but foolish young men who court their own disaster. Yet as the film reveals more information about this group of backcountry skiers, we soon learn the full story is a great deal more complex.
As soon as I saw the film, I knew I wanted to talk to Amber about it. Luckily, she generously agreed to share her time and discuss the film. SierraDescents has perhaps been negligent in not more directly addressing the avalanche hazard we all face when we choose to enter the backcountry. Here is a first step in remedying that omission. I hope you find it illuminating.
Today’s Los Angeles Times has more coverage on the Mountain High/Wrightwood Avalanches, with some commentary from avalanche professionals:
“There have been avalanche fatalities since people have been in the Alps, but what has changed is the equipment has gotten better and there’s a lot of hype associated with the outdoor retail industry,” said Sue Burak, an avalanche forecaster for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. “They’re encouraging people to go out, and the level of backcountry skills haven’t caught up with the technology.”
And:
“In Southern California, having these big dumps of powder are not real common,” said Northwest Avalanche Institute expert Paul Baugher. “And so there’s two things going on here. One is, people are sort of unfamiliar with how dangerous this can be. Even if you’re a professional, you don’t have that experience of actually seeing these [avalanches] released. On top of that, it’s so rare. It’s wonderful skiing, and you’re drawn to that.”
Here’s the full article.
Three people died yesterday in at least two separate avalanches near Mountain High ski resort, in the San Gabriel Mountains. According to the Los Angeles Times, the incidents occurred in Government and Sawmill Canyons, both of which border Mountain High East. These Canyons, which are out-of-bounds, are treed but relatively open. Both canyons run north-south. At this time, I’ve seen no reports on which aspects slid, though it would be reasonable to suspect something northeasterly.
The last time I asked, Mountain High did not permit backcountry access from its lifts. However, the bordering canyons are well known for their glades and powder. Site Admin Mitch at Telemark Tips writes, “The dirty little secret among a handful of veteran patrollers and a few of their friends is that we would go in there when we judged it relatively safe. It was just too good. And with a high speed lift at the bottom, it was kind of a personal, untracked powder paradise.”
I’ll try to get more information about the avalanche specifics. For now, I’ll speculate it’s possible the slide went off a rain crust—Mountain High’s 7000-8000′ elevation is in the prime range for rain at the front wave of each storm, and I observed naturally-triggered slabs on icy northeast aspects near Mount Baldy a week ago (more…)
It’s not exactly cutting-edge Gonzo filmmaking, but this helmet-cam video (edited by the Telluride Daily Planet) is certainly a poignant reminder that sometimes those annoying “cliff” signs really do mean…Cliff.
Earlier this season two young skiers from Texas decided to duck under the rope at the extreme west end of Telluride’s Gold Hill, tempted by the sight of untracked powder. Being members of the tech generation, they naturally decided to video themselves, which was no doubt of great value to the sheriff’s department. Both were subsequently charged with Reckless Endangerment.
The video does run on the long side, at eight-plus minutes, but the moment when they break through the trees to discover their line is completely cliffed-out is priceless. Soon after that, they trigger an avalanche that knocks one of them over the cliff (this part of the mountain is closed, after all, not only because of the cliffs but also the extremely high avalanche danger).
Incredibly, neither kid was seriously injured, though their effort remains a potent entry for this year’s Darwin Awards.
Photographer Todd Weselake was caught in an avalanche on January 7 while snowboarding the north ridge of Mt. Proctor in British Columbia, Canada.
Weselake was carried approximately 300 meters downslope, and buried two meters head-down.
Other members in his party quickly initiated a beacon search, located and dug him out in approximately 10-15 minutes, finding him unconscious. He regained consciousness five minutes after they cleared his airway, and was able to ski out under his own power.
The Weselake avalanche is notable in several respects (for more info and photos, see Todd’s report at BigLines). Todd and his friends skied the same aspect the day prior and did not observe signs of instability. On the day of the avalanche, they performed ‘quick tests’ on the way up again without noticing any warning signs (more…)
Locally, it looks like snow levels have stayed high thus far in the San Gabriel Mountains. Consequently Mountain High says they’re closed and the Mt. Baldy Website is down. That makes it hard to predict what’s going on at higher elevations, but even if heavy snow is falling above 9500′, heavy rain has likely destroyed much of the existing snow at lower elevations.
The same can not be said of the Sierra. This looks like a storm for the books, with ESAC reporting several feet of dense snow has fallen throughout the Sierra in the last 18 hours—and another 2-3 on the way.
These giant snowfall totals in such a short time, coupled with extreme winds, make large, dangerous avalanches a virtual certainty in the backcountry. As ESAC forecaster Sue Burak says, “It really is foolish to think about skiing anywhere except Mammoth Mountain.”
We made the long drive to Mammoth Mountain this past weekend, where the view was dominated by two ‘mammoth’ in-bounds climax avalanches.
Given the overall lack of expected avalanche activity following the most recent storm cycle, these two slides were a dramatic indicator that there is indeed a depth hoar layer lurking along the ground on northern aspects in the Sierra.
It’s hard for me to feel much enthusiasm for venturing into the backcountry after examining the slides. Hoar layers such as these can persist long into spring. Moreover, they are almost undetectable: buried two or more meters beneath a consolidated snowpack that may otherwise feel perfectly safe.
In fairness, a skier’s weight is probably too trivial to trigger slides like these—unless you happen to hit the slab in just the right place. For now, I think I’ll avoid skiing steep north slopes in the Sierra backcountry.
