avi # 2 baker

[Squirrel99]

I think MBS' comment was more directed towards Squirrel for mentioning dropping into Oi at one point.

As for Oi, Zbo had been touring near the area for the past few days and was confident we could mitigate risk by skiing a short, mellow lower section. We were quite aware of the avalanche danger and were careful to reduce the factors. We skied the top section of OI- and the snow was stable- a little movement, but nothing more than Frontside lower Elbow. Upon reaching the midsection where the snow had changed a bit, we decided to traverse out and avoid the convex section. There were plenty of other sections of OI that we did not consider due to the hazard level.

As for the remainder of the OB areas- we were not convinced on the stabilty and kept our excursions minimized to the center, lower Elbow- away from major hazards and as 666 pointed out- skied a mostly skier compacted section. Just to make a point clear, we were aware of MBS, BakerBoy, NWAC, and other postings of the avalanche danger and snow conditions from the past week- with their information having a large impact on our group decision. Patrol @ top of 8 was another resource we utilized.

[postman22]

Ok, You where off of chair 5 not chair six. You where in a very popular BC spot called elbo,. My guess is that this must have hapened closer to the ropeline where there is a very defined gully, that is well known for sliding, and has claimed the life of a baker volly patroller several years ago.

The scariest thing about this spot is that I warned probally 50 people in that area yesterday without gear, to stayout of the BC and if they where out again theyd loose there pass. Its amazing how many idiots where out there yesterday.

Props to getting the guy out.

yeah gunderson thats the spot we were about to hike out of it cause we didnt like what we were seeing. we missed getting into elbo. but then we saw that dudde and went down. needless to say after we got the guy out skiing that whole section was just as scary as finding the person. that gully is just nasty

[Core Shot]

Great story and awesome results.

Makes you think twice about your partner. The dude running around like a chicken with no head when his partner was buried is just absolutely pissing me off.

I would be curious to know his training, if any. Great that they had gear, but I am curious why the dude went ga ga. Training wont guarantee a cool head, but lack of training might have made him confused and scared when he should have been focused and calm.

This is by far the scariest part of the story. You think you know your partner, but until you know how an individual person reacts under stress and adversity, you really have no idea.

Few of us have been tested in an avy. I haven't, but I have been stress tested in other ways and am usually the one to keep a cool and focused head. I just hope my partners do the same.

[grrrr]

Echo the props for stepping in to save the guy's life.

I can see how people were drawn to hit stuff that was sketch, I saw a lot of foolish behavior on the weekend. People were hanging in runouts watching their buds drop in above them, punching some serious sloughs. Everyone gets so excited about the start of the season they forget their common sense at home.

Me, I just forgot my gloves.

[joshbu]

ah that's what i was looking for.
i was a bit confused because someone posted earlier this season that the avalanche service's funding was endangered.

It is. It always is. NWAC took offline a couple weather stations becuase they don't have the $ to keep them running. There's a big fundraising party coming up, and private donations will probably help keep people (or you) alive.

[Zeedashbo]

good job guys. i'm impressed with your ability to assess the situation and make quick solid decisions. it's very hard to stay clear headed and confident in a fast moving dangerous circumstances. and i'm happy you guys know what little you did wrong and want to improve upon that. anyways, i saw the bro-models sitting at the lodge, and i was waiting for yall to come out, but i missed ya as i was talking to a buddy and looked over the the bros were gone. good to hear everyone was safe.

as for skiing oi, as squirrel said we were aware of conditions and skied properly considering those conditions. one at a time, safe zone to safe zone. spotting each other the whole time. then we made a decision that it was sketchy and decided not to ski it again.

[mtbakerskier]

The problem with oi, isthat even if you do manage to ski the shot into it safely, your stuck in a very large terrain trap the entire rest of the way back to the point where you re-enter the ski area boundry.

Aftr yesterday, im going to be resharpening my wire clippers.

[Zeedashbo]

we traversed abover the gully. staying out of the terrain trap until the very end.

edit: isn't the baker patrol supposed to control the people going into the backcountry, or was that soooo two years ago?

[mtbakerskier]

we traversed abover the gully. staying out of the terrain trap until the very end.

edit: isn't the baker patrol supposed to control the people going into the backcountry, or was that soooo two years ago?

They still do when there not to busy doing other things. The problem was not enough voly's showed up so that had to do the work htat they normally would do, thus leaving the boundries fairly open to gapers going OB.

I even ran into a group of 8 yesterday on elbo, with no gear, and no clue, they where attempting to drop beloow the traverse line not knowing that it cliffs out.

[LeeLau]

You never know how you'll react in a combat situation till you're in one. I've white-watered rescue people before and have been stuck in life and death in WWater and windsurfing. While I didn't panic I can see how one could lose it.

I've never been involved in any avvy rescue; I'd like to think that myself and my partners would keep their cool too but you never know .... guess I'm just basically repeating what you just said

Great story and awesome results.

Makes you think twice about your partner. The dude running around like a chicken with no head when his partner was buried is just absolutely pissing me off.

I would be curious to know his training, if any. Great that they had gear, but I am curious why the dude went ga ga. Training wont guarantee a cool head, but lack of training might have made him confused and scared when he should have been focused and calm.

This is by far the scariest part of the story. You think you know your partner, but until you know how an individual person reacts under stress and adversity, you really have no idea.

Few of us have been tested in an avy. I haven't, but I have been stress tested in other ways and am usually the one to keep a cool and focused head. I just hope my partners do the same.

[grrrr]

I'm working this saturday at Baker. Afterwards, we'll be doing some beacon practice if anyone wants to drag themselves out of the tap room.

[Zeedashbo]

They still do when there not to busy doing other things. The problem was not enough voly's showed up so that had to do the work htat they normally would do, thus leaving the boundries fairly open to gapers going OB.

I even ran into a group of 8 yesterday on elbo, with no gear, and no clue, they where attempting to drop beloow the traverse line not knowing that it cliffs out.

damn, that's terrible. i've never seen baker so crowded, and it sucks that they couldn't get enough trollers.

maybe the group with no gear was going for the early season assault on 'fly on the wall'.

[mtbakerskier]

damn, that's terrible. i've never seen baker so crowded, and it sucks that they couldn't get enough trollers.

maybe the group with no gear was going for the early season assault on 'fly on the wall'.

I'd pay good money to see that, but they where a bit left of that, where it isnt skiable at all. Proof once again the human gene pool could use a litle chlorine.

[Squirrel99]

.
I even ran into a group of 8 yesterday on elbo, with no gear, and no clue, they where attempting to drop beloow the traverse line not knowing that it cliffs out.

damn, that's a scary image.

I remember on a few of the busier considerable/high avy danger days last year, patrol stationed themselves at the gates by Chair 8, Chair 1, and Chair 5- checking for signals from each person entering the gates.

Signage does little to discourage people (re: Canyons, UT) no matter how imposing. But normally I think Baker's patrol presence is the best example of how to control certain access points. Unfortuantely, they didn't have the staff yesterday to deal with the unexpected size of the crowd.

[Squirrel99]

.
I even ran into a group of 8 yesterday on elbo, with no gear, and no clue, they where attempting to drop beloow the traverse line not knowing that it cliffs out.

damn, that's a scary image.

I remember on a few of the busier considerable/high avy danger days last year, patrol stationed themselves at the gates/popular access points by Chair 8, Chair 1, and Chair 5- checking for signals from each person entering the gates.

Signage does little to discourage people (re: Canyons, UT) no matter how imposing. But normally I think Baker's patrol presence is the best example of how to control certain access points. Unfortuantely, they didn't have the staff yesterday to deal with the unexpected size of the crowd.