Some Good News - Four carried, three buried, no fatalities
Some good news for a change
From http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/201...skis-avalanche
Quote:
Three Calgary skiers are lucky to be alive after they were buried by an avalanche on Hero’s Knob near Mount Murray, Sunday (March 30) in K-Country.
The three were among a group of six male skiers involved in a skier-triggered avalanche at about 1:30 p.m. One skier was buried waist-deep while three others were fully buried, according to Public Safety Specialist Jeremy Mackenzie.
Those buried were extremely fortunate in that two other ski parties were very close by at the time and both had SPOT satellite devices to send calls for help. The skiers were a family group aged 15 to 60, and included two fathers and two sons.
The two skiers not buried at the time began a self-rescue and were joined almost immediately by skiers from the other two parties.
The fact the rescue began almost immediately and that the skiers had proper shovels and probes, “saved lives for sure,” said Mackenzie. “They successfully excavated all three skiers quite quickly.”
According to Mackenzie, the skier who was buried waist-deep had shoulder and leg injuries while the other three were unconscious when removed from the snow. One skier that was buried likely created a small air pocket as he was buried, while a second who was fully buried had an airway that “was compromised,” said Mackenzie.
“But they cleared it and he did puke a few times. He was hypoxic, but came around quickly. It was a fairly significant incident; it wasn’t just a sit up and dust yourself off. Everyone was uncovered within 10 to 15 minutes, with the first one in as little as four minutes.”
Mackenzie said CPR and first-aid training suggests that being buried for more than six minutes means the potential for brain damage. He estimated, and other skiers corroborated, that the skiers fully buried were beneath one to one and a half metres of debris.
In all, four of the skiers were flown out of the area by Alpine Helicopters. The three who were buried were checked by EMS on scene and none required hospitalization. All drove home.
Three conservation officers, two public safety specialists, RCMP, EMS and Alpine were all involved with the incident.
At the time of the avalanche, the hazard was rated at considerable, which is likely to continue. Skiers involved had avalanche beacons, shovels and probes and, said Mackenzie, “they knew how to use them.
“That was encouraging; at least some had obviously had training and it certainly saved lives. It was a mix of luck and people who did a really great job. It ended up being a nearly perfect situation, other than lost skis.”
Mackenzie returned to the avalanche site on Monday (March 31) to investigate and said the Hero’s Knob incident, like many others this winter, occurred in what has been dubbed the February 10 Layer.
A heavy snow on Feb. 10 followed a long period of drought and it is that layer, now under many layers of snow, which continues to cause problems.
“We’re calling it the persistent weak layer of February 10 and it occurred across Western Canada, from Kananaskis through to B.C. and the Monashees and Selkirks.
“It might sound like we’re crying wolf about the persistent February 10 layer, but it is persistent. There have been many close calls and accidents due to that layer.”
K-Country conditions remain in a winter snowpack state, said Mackenzie, and safety specialists continue to urge utmost caution in the backcountry. “People need to be really wary, there’s a deep layer (Feb. 10) buried in the snowpack.”
As the weather warms, backcountry users will have to be wary of more spring-like conditions where conditions are stable in the morning, but become unstable as the temperature rises and snow warms.
MMQ this
