2 fatalities north of Silverton - Battleship

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Originally Posted by durangobrad

Those dense trees on either side of the path would be really difficult to ascend with our low snowpack.

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I gagged and fucking wept at that accident report

Chilling read. Thanks for posting it in full as hard as it was to read

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Originally Posted by Mudfoot

Regarding the "Expert Halo:" Back in the 1970s I had the good fortune of attending an avalanche seminar in Jackson Hole where many of the top names spoke. When Ed LaChapelle (probably the top guy in N. America at the time) was introduced as an "avalanche expert" he said something I'll never forget: "Don't call me that, most all the "experts" are dead. If you think you're an expert you are dangerous." During his talk he gave several examples from his experience of situations where according to the science the slope should have been safe but it slid anyway. His conclusion was "avalanches are a bitch."

The classic definition of an expert is someone who just knows more than you about the subject. Be very careful whose hands you put your life in, including your own.

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thanks for that gem
before the turn of the century back when me and my crew were bc noobs and trying to figure things out
bruce and tom kimbrough came into the shop
where the chuting gallery and his book were our guides and daily readings
i had him sign it
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
took me over a decade, a lot of mistakes a few celebrations of friends lives and a lot of doings, formal and unformal edjucation and a shit load of fuck yeahs smiles
but i figured out i just wanted to be a seasoned journeyman and good partner who attempted to use knowledge and experiance to make good decisions make it back to the trailhead dnc and safe n sound and ski again another day.
and not seeing your name in the avvy report or obs or being on the news ment you were doing it right in my book that i aint never gonna write
and the oag kimbroughs stills my hero

The three friends who found the bodies were likewise experienced. The three rescuers were willing to accept a level of risk that was not appropriate for Search and Rescue. While they found the bodies hours before Search and Rescue would have, the swifter discovery did not change the outcome of the accident.

Grim. I've been involved in the recovery of a few avalanche fatalities, never a friend. Has to be unbelievably painful.

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Originally Posted by whipski

The three friends who found the bodies were likewise experienced. The three rescuers were willing to accept a level of risk that was not appropriate for Search and Rescue. While they found the bodies hours before Search and Rescue would have, the swifter discovery did not change the outcome of the accident.

Grim. I've been involved in the recovery of a few avalanche fatalities, never a friend. Has to be unbelievably painful.

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I cant imagine. Especially with their hand sticking out.


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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

I cant imagine. Especially with their hand sticking out.


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Yeah the hand on top is the worst part.

Many years ago I dug someone up alive after my beacon failed, only because the tip of their boot was sticking up above the surface.

The glove on top gives you hope... if there's someone else there to dig.

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A friend of mine got dug out alive only because his hand was sticking out, and his LA Dodgers ball cap was sitting on the surface nearby. No beacon.

Sadly, the trauma seemed to trigger latent paranoid schizophrenia and he was never the same following that incident. Last I saw him was when I visited him in a mental health hospital.

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Originally Posted by yeahman

A friend of mine got dug out alive only because his hand was sticking out, and his LA Dodgers ball cap was sitting on the surface nearby. No beacon.

Sadly, the trauma seemed to trigger latent paranoid schizophrenia and he was never the same following that incident. Last I saw him was when I visited him in a mental health hospital.

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That's heavy even for my tolerance.