Slide on KT at squaw today

It was a slide and that is the end of it…it actually happened to the skiers left of the Dean Man’s top roll over and into the waterfall gully. The debris field ran all the way to the bend in the groomer about 150 yards through some big but spaced out trees. The crown at the top went approximately from the top above waterfall gully on the left all the way around to the right of Dead Mans and the crown was about 3’-4’. All of this happened on the skier’s right of the Oly chair line. I skied that line 2x just before it ripped, I was about to go up KT again when all hell broke lose. All the red coats and dogs headed up along with a bunch of us that were about to get onto the lift to help with spot probing tree wells and the probe line. At the end of the day it was about an hour out of the day but time very well spent…you never know who you might end up pulling out.

Squaw patrol and a lot of local skiers were out there helping out, it was interesting that almost all the volunteers were pass holder. Regardless, be safe and ski with a beacon on storm days in bounds, a probe line will only pull out your body…anything can happen.

Not defending anyones PR departments.

A Post Control release is, an avalanche that occurred after an area was controlled and deemed safe enough to either open or leave closed. Either way it is a shitty thing for a Snow Safety Dept. to have to deal with.

I didn't read the Squaw press release but it was an inbounds slide and doubly worse it was in an open area that was called safe.

There certainly have seemed to have been a larger number of in-bounds, Post Control Releases this season, from Ca. to Ut. to Mt.

I do wonder if this is really a larger number or that due to the number of internet users who ski and post in forums like this, are these incidents much less easy to sweep under the rug?

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Originally Posted by adrenalated

Too many damn inbounds slides this year.
Glad this one had a happy ending.

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2 with leg injuries = happy ending? Hardly. At least no one DIED.

EDIT -- The patrol did a great job, as did the others that helped in the rescue efforts, and as mentioned before, sometimes you can't catch it all EVERY time (re: clearing & safety). But it is truly interesting that it is "not an avalanche".

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Originally Posted by axebiker

2 with leg injuries = happy ending? Hardly. At least no one DIED.

EDIT -- The patrol did a great job, as did the others that helped in the rescue efforts, and as mentioned before, sometimes you can't catch it all EVERY time (re: clearing & safety). But it is truly interesting that it is "not an avalanche".

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Yes, the leg injuries suck. But I consider any avalanche that doesn't kill the victim(s) to have a happy ending, since the survival rate is not all that good.

The response time of the patrollers is impressive.

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Originally Posted by 4matic

Most of the Squaw patrollers are like 60.. Do they get nap time at noon?

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You mean clearing 60 degree faces?

I skied with those guys at PNH in AK and let me tell you, they hold your life in their hands.

Ha.
Slides all over the place.
Surf's up today. In bounds Blackcomb. "Post-control Release." Skier triggered.
Crown from 2ft to about 10-15ft deep. Definetly about 200 ft across. Scary shit. Apparently a buddy of mine was part of the group who triggered it. Hopefully I'll talk to her soon about it. I just saw the crown from Sapphire. Crazy, crazy sight.

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Originally Posted by Bunion

Not defending anyones PR departments...
I do wonder if this is really a larger number or that due to the number of internet users who ski and post in forums like this, are these incidents much less easy to sweep under the rug?

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i think that sites like this are definitely helping to generate way too much hype over an incident that, with all things considered, wasn't really a huge deal.

the ski patrol did a great job responding to the situation and doesn't need to be questioned or intimidated into changing the way they do their jobs.

in the last 8 seasons there hasn't been a single event that compares to this with about 3500 inches of snowfall and well over 1000 days of KT spinning.

two people broke their legs that chose to ski a steep face on a run down expert terrain the morning after one of the larger overnight dumps of the last several years.

edit: i'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation for those involved.

True. This is a huge storm of supposedly historic proportions.

Hoping that Siberia and Headwall will turn Monday and/or Tuesday, I have confidence in the patrol. Regardless, the Sierras can go from hell-yeah to hellacious in a heartbeat. I'm skiing with my beacon.

beacon for sure...

a day of reverse traverse would be nice.

rumors say headwall messed up from storm/winds... find out tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by jahroy

i think that sites like this are definitely helping to generate way too much hype over an incident that, with all things considered, wasn't really a huge deal.

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Only because no one died.


Which very easily could have happened. And then it would be pretty hard to call this not a 'huge deal', with the exact same event.



Think about all the other mountains in tahoe that didn't have their steeper east/northeast faces open yesterday and why that is.


And this is hardly the first time this has happened at squaw.

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

Only because no one died.

Think about all the other mountains in tahoe that didn't have their steeper east/northeast faces open yesterday and why that is.

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i'm glad i wasn't skiing at them...

it would've been a huge deal if someone died.

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Originally Posted by jahroy

edit: i'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation for those involved.

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it wasn't serious because it wasn't an avalanche, it wasn't serious because you weren't caught, or it wasn't serious because you don't care about inbounds avalanches post control on open runs?

it was an avalanche. it was serious. i'm glad nobody got seriously hurt. i don't think it's a big deal what words were used in some report.

edit: i am sorry i made that post

Seems like they are not using enough bang to bring down the snow.


Use a bigger hammer.

Avy danger must be unusually high. I was on the Mountain Run yesterday (got bored with the line on KT) and came across a small slide on the little face above the Headwall loading station). That's right-on the Mountain Run. Don't know if it was patrol caused or spontaneous. The slope I was on--less than 30 degrees--had a couple of cracks across it. I got out of there in a hurry.

Re: Squaw PR--I'd be interested to know what they told the reporter, as opposed to what the Sun printed. In the article "post control release" is in quotes, but 'not an avalanche' isn't.

I'm not sure there are more inbound slides these days. Definitely more awareness. In the thirty years I've been skiing Tahoe there have been major slides on South Face of Sherwood (I think there was a burial and maybe a fatality) and in Silverbelt Gully with a fatality. I was in Our Father and watched a slide go by in the next gully east, under the cliff. There was a leg injury. This happened right after a slide on South Face of Sherwood--no one caught.

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Originally Posted by old goat

Re: Squaw PR--I'd be interested to know what they told the reporter, as opposed to what the Sun printed. In the article "post control release" is in quotes, but 'not an avalanche' isn't.

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The article "has been removed". :rolleyes2

I'm very glad you didn't get caught. Good that you saw the signs.

Stuff like this happens. In bounds and out.
You want fresh tracks, you take the risk, though that risk is presumably less in-bounds.
You can pretty much presume it's safe, but you might get surprised.

Patrollers carry the burden of other people's safety and lives with their work.
I seriously doubt anyone who was on the bomb run that morning felt that slope was not safe before moving on.
It just goes to demonstate how picky the weather and snowpacks can be.
You want a sure-fire safe-from-harm experience?
Ride the merry-go-round.

Resorts would prefer there is no inferred risk in skiing their terrain.
Those windloads must have been hellaciously heavy.

Jim S-
I don't see this storm as being historically significant. It's just a typical Sierra storm. The winter of '82 was a big winter.
This article might help put things into perspective:

1982 Avie at Alpine

article not removed.....just doesn't link. search squaw in the search box and it comes up. I'm curious if any of the people involved in the slide had the recco reflectors on their jackets/pants. I only ask because you see the recco signs on the KT lift so I wondered if they actually aided in rescue times?