Really sad news in Idaho

[grrrr]

Yesterday we lost a skier in the Lost River Range. He was not just a backcountry skier but a key member of our community and a true hero. Family and many friends have been notified, but we are not sharing his name just yet.

Some details are available on Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

More to follow.

[isisis]

Victim has been identified.

https://www.mtexpress.com/news/breaking_news/ketchum-physician-killed-in-backcountry-avalanche/article_1e6757c2-0fd8-11ef-a637-2f2575b3b9f9.html

[Core Shot]

Ooff. Sad. ED docs aren’t stupid. And their lifetime karma points should warrant escaping such a demise.

RIP ski doc. Wishing you endless Valhalla pow turns.
Vibes to all that new him.

[steved]

Sad news....RIP doc.

[Jonathan S.]

While returning from skinning/skiing the Killington Soopustah Glacier yesterday, I called up a friend in Boise.
(He is originally from Vermont, so I always update him with conditions from his home state.)

Turns out a friend of his (whom I've met, so this isn't an internet stolen kidney story) was touring on the next peak over, and knew the victim (although not all that well). This friend-of-a-friend was sticking to northern aspects, and did not detect any instabilities. So perhaps the SE aspect cited in the CAIC report was the key difference.

All of the following is probably well known to any ski tourers in Idaho, but for any fellow outsiders interested in the details behind this tragedy ...
My friend says the climate there is notorious for a thin rotten snowpack. ("People say Colorado is bad, but ...") My friend usually goes there very late each spring since that thin snowpack sticks around a long time. But even then, he says the snow is often rotten there.
The avalanche center had already closed for the season, and this terrain is outside the forecast area.

[Jonathan S.]

While returning from skinning/skiing the Killington Soopustah Glacier yesterday, I called up a friend in Boise.
(He is originally from Vermont, so I always update him with conditions from his home state.)

Turns out a friend of his (whom I've met, so this isn't an internet stolen kidney story) was touring on the next peak over, and knew the victim (although not all that well). This friend-of-a-friend was sticking to northern aspects, and did not detect any instabilities. So perhaps the SE aspect cited in the CAIC report was the key difference.

All of the following is probably well known to any ski tourers in Idaho, but for any fellow outsiders interested in the details behind this tragedy ...
My friend says the climate there is notorious for a thin rotten snowpack. ("People say Colorado is bad, but ...") My friend usually goes there very late each spring since that thin snowpack sticks around a long time. But even then, he says the snow is often rotten there.
The avalanche center had already closed for the season, and this terrain is outside the forecast area.

[MakersTeleMark]

Sounds like a windslab that most of us are used to dealing with, not anything special with the snowpack. You can see it in NV and CO right now pretty prominently. Anyway, huge loss for the community.

[grrrr]

Ben VandenBos from SAC put out a detailed accident report. Here is the part regarding conditions. The skiers were downclimbing in crampons to move around a rock face when the event occurred.

This was an unintentionally triggered hard slab avalanche large enough to bury and damage a
vehicle (HS-AFu-R3-D2.5). The avalanche failed above the substantial, icy crust that formed at
the end of April, on faceted layers of snow that developed during a period of sustained,
unseasonably cool weather in early May. It broke widely, with crowns spanning three gullies on
this steep face. The slabs that failed were uniform with average crown depths of just 8-10
inches (Figure 6). Isolated, wind-thickened areas near the top of the slopes that failed had
crowns approaching 2 feet. The thin but dense slabs that failed contained irregular ice crusts in
the upper few inches, separated by wind-packed snow. This layering appeared to have formed
in the windy, cool days after the May 5 precipitation event. The crown face melted appreciably
after the avalanche occurred and was covered with a thin sheet of ice when the author visited
the site the next day.

[Hopeless Sinner]

Full report.

https://avalanche-org-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/240510%20Donaldson%20Accident%20Report_664caa4a947 11.pdf

[Core Shot]

Full report.

https://avalanche-org-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/240510%20Donaldson%20Accident%20Report_664caa4a947 11.pdf

Holy crap that’s a chilling read. And detailed.
She must be having ptsd nightmares. But she did her best. Definitely a great backcountry partner.

[mtnjam]

yep, let's all skiers, no matter who you are, help support his long time partner, Emily through all of this.

Very sad.

[frorider]

Tough to read that.