Red Mountain Fatality

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Originally Posted by Cravenmorhead

Final report is up: https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/a...UgVFeFjjNBxHrI

One thing I don't quite get: from the photo of the crown, it looks like the entire entrance released (or at least the entire west entrance). Why are they classifying that as an R2 avalanche?

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This topic was covered in a different channel of mine. R-scale includes depth, and in this case the slab was 8-10" thick. Room to go bigger I guess.

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Originally Posted by Name Redacted

Damn, it sounds like they were in the exact spot we've used as a safe zone under the rock outcrop on the right. No idea how they got washed out from under that rock outcrop unless they were too low and it either washed out over the outcrop, or they were standing on a slab too. Sad.

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The rock outcrop on the "shadow line" looks to be firmly in the start zone, or at least in it enough to be dicey. Tough to make an exacting assessment from photos, and it's been a few years since I've been up there though.

Is this the "safe zone" that folks are referring to?

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Originally Posted by North

The rock outcrop on the "shadow line" looks to be firmly in the start zone, or at least in it enough to be dicey. Tough to make an exacting assessment from photos, and it's been a few years since I've been up there though.

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Yeah, I'm talking lower, but where they have the circle, just lookers left of the circle. Either way, it obviously didn't work out.

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Originally Posted by Name Redacted

Yeah, I'm talking lower, but where they have the circle, just lookers left of the circle. Either way, it obviously didn't work out.

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Gotcha. Yeah the lower outcropping where the alternate entrance meets the main line (near the circled "crux" in the photo you posted) seems like the more obvious safe zone to me - at least it's the one I believe I've used. The upper outcropping where they stopped seems still very much in the prime location for loading, but again, I have no sense of scale from my desk. RIP regardless.

If you are standing on the slab, you aren't in a safe zone. If you are standing where debris can sweep you, you aren't standing in a safe zone.

In a couloir like this, a safe zone is standing on a rock while tucked up behind a rock.

2 people were caught.

Only because the slab broke beneath the skis of the triggering skier were they not a 3rd person caught.

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Originally Posted by North

This topic was covered in a different channel of mine. R-scale includes depth, and in this case the slab was 8-10" thick. Room to go bigger I guess.

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Huh! So it is! Makes sense now that I think about it, but I have been misunderstanding the R scale for a while now.

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Originally Posted by Summit

If you are standing on the slab, you aren't in a safe zone. If you are standing where debris can sweep you, you aren't standing in a safe zone.

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Yeah, that's what I'm saying, they must have not been tucked up under the rock far enough. I guess that's one of the lessons to be learned here.

I've always entered from the alternate entrance. That western entrance spooks me. So much loading. Yeah, it sucks but at least you can assess with a lot less exposure.

Just for the record, Summit, Kya, and Dave Bourassa were involved in the first descent of this (2007), but only Dave made it to the proper peak. So he came down solo. I was helping in the sense that I was perched on the opposite side with a long lens. Sadly, our radio communication failed. I was going to guide Dave out and I could hear him perfectly, but he could not hear me. So I got the pics, and he had to fend for himself on the exit in a valley he did not know. I could hear his whoops when he finished with the apron. I have never skied it. I don't think the steepness is too much, but it is narrow. And, yes, I named the three lines (Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Big Eyes) after the obvious fairy tale. All three are beautiful lines.