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Avalanche Fatalities in Utah

As I was sitting on the chairlift at Snowbird on Saturday I saw a medical helicopter buzzing down the Little Cottonwood Canyon and thought that there was another backcountry avalanche accident to add to the list this year.  I chose to ski at the resort on Saturday because of the tricky conditions and because I did not want to test my route finding skills. 

This has been a bad year in the Wasatch from a snow pack perspective.  We usually get some nice warming and good snow consolidation between storms.  This hasn’t happened this year.  Conditions in the backcountry have been really unstable.

Three people had died, two of the three were wearing beacons.  The picture to the left was from a snowmobile fatality where the victim was buried underneath his sled.  The avalanche was in a classic slope profile for a slide and the snowmobilers had triggered a slide with a similar aspect earlier that day.

A second victim was an out of bounds skier at Snowbasin.  A family of three walked through a gate with a skull and crossbones warning explaining the danger.  A dad was waiting at the bottom of the run for his two sons, who triggered the slide.  One son took a good ride, the other was buried and found by rescue dogs after it was too late. 

The third victim was on Gobblers Knob.  Gobblers is notorious for its slides and I have been up there only on very safe days.  Apparently his two companions were not comfortable with where the victim wanted to ski and agreed to meet at the car at the end of the day.  The victim never made it back and was killed in a slide in a really unusual place.  The beacon he was wearing allowed the rescue team to find his body.

With a 100 inch base at Alta, skiing is finally getting back to Wasatch standards.  Lets hope the Backcountry stabilizes soon and there are no more tragedies.

Millcreek Yurt Via BCC

We visited the yurt in Millcreek again.  Instead of trudging up Millcreek to get there, this time we accessed it from the Spruces campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon, via Dog Lake.  It is much better to access it this way because it is a shorter journey, and you can ski down from the Dog Lake pass to the Yurt.  We had to shuttle a car though because we came out Millcreek the next morning.  The avi danger was high, so our skiing was limited to low angle tree filled slopes, but the recent snows made it enjoyable.  If we go there again in the future, this is the way to do it, or possibly we may start higher in BCC and do more touring before we ski to the Yurt.  Posted by Lars.

Wowasatch

Do you ever say, "wish that were me!" when you see a site like Wowasatch?   Bob Athey is a true legend.  If Bob had a fan club, I would be a member.

I'm so glad the storms have been lining up with frequency lately.  Although the snow pack is excruciatingly unstable, at least we are starting to get regular storms.

Why Chickadee Rules

My kids love the Chickadee lift at Snowbird.  When kids are 3 to 4 years old and just learning it's hard to beat.  The lift is low to the ground so kids can practice getting off and on. The lift is close to the resort center for easy access to treats, hot chocolate, and bathrooms.  You can get your tickets comp'd 90% of the time from the Cliff Lodge, otherwise its only $10.  The Cliff Lodge also has a full view of the run and is a great place for grandparents and others to watch their kids learn how to ski.  Small slalom courses made out of stuffed animals are usually placed down the sides of the run to help teach turning.  I could keep going...  We are lucky to have such a great teaching environment for kids.

Colorado Snowpack

It's not often you see an avalanche like this in Utah.  Spooky.  Makes me want to stick to the resorts this weekend.

Are You Beeping?

I love the concept of this sign.  As you approach the sign (by the church in the Alta parking lot) a transceiver attached to the sign picks up the signal from your beacon and broadcasts it over a small speaker.  It serves as an additional check for each member of your party as they pass.  The sign could be twice the size and still be OK with me and I would love to see these at more trailheads. 

It has always been my wish that everyone in the backcountry would wear a beacon at all times (even those who tour alone).  To illustrate this point, a few years back a person who was touring alone was completely buried in an avalanche off of Cardiac Ridge. A highly trained friend of mine saw the avalanche from a ridge about a mile away and was able to run over, locate his beacon signal, and save the person.   My friend was a hero and the person in the avalanche survived, all because of wearing beacons.

Best Day of the Year - Cardiff

We had a fantastic tour on Saturday.  By far, the best day of the year.  10 inches of new, low density snow had accumulated in the last three days and the skies were clear, temperatures were low, and we got an early start.  Our route started from the Alta parking lot, over Cardiff Pass, across to Cardiac Ridge, and down Mill D Canyon to Reynolds Flat in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We did a number of laps on a well protected slope called Cardiac Ridge just north of Cardiac Bowl.  A little wind (gusts to about 40 MPH on the ridgelines) made you need to be weary of unstable, hard, wind slabs that when weighted by a skier, resulted in some cracking and releases.  But the conditions were nothing that careful route finding could not remedy. The day was soothing to the soul.