Maroon Bowl Avalanche 1 Dead

Surprised this has not been been posted. Pretty amazing, that a member of Aspens Mountain Rescue was killed. Multiple warnings from NOAA, CAIC, PITCO Alerts and Mountain Rescue Website.. Snowed up to 17 inches, with high winds, shallow snow pack. The patrol couldn't get highlands bowl open either. These guys went out on the west facing slope, into the the gut of the bowl, then started skinning back up the more NW aspect. One dead from trama. You talk about ignoring all the warning signs.

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/back...side-of-aspen/

Been posted elsewhere, but this is probably the best place for it. Sad to see a member of MRA gone.

RIP. Super sad.

I prefer to wait until the full reports are released before making any judgement about the party's decision making.

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Originally Posted by adrenalated

RIP. Super sad.

I prefer to wait until the full reports are released before making any judgement about the party's decision making.

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yeah, usually i would as well. But this was just plain dumb. No excuse for being in there. None.

Some photos and new info in the prelim from CAIC:

http://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/ac...=665&accfm=rep

https://www.wildsnow.com/24529/obit-...vin-avalanche/

RIP.

Looks like a tough one to understand putting themselves there from the pictures and conditions. There may be a more complicated explanation.

f nothing else we can deduce that even the best mountain travelers among us can easily fall prey to the heuristic traps and lure of fresh powder and a steep line and then we are vulnerable.

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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

RIP.

Looks like a tough one to understand putting themselves there from the pictures and conditions. There may be a more complicated explanation.

f nothing else we can deduce that even the best mountain travelers among us can easily fall prey to the heuristic traps and lure of fresh powder and a steep line and then we are vulnerable.

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They threw 100 explosives in Highland Bowl and didn't open it. No f-in clue why they thought skiing and skinning across Maroon was a good idea. Weak snowpack, heavy snow, warm temps, high winds, the list goes on and on....

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Originally Posted by funkendrenchman

They threw 100 explosives in Highland Bowl and didn't open it. No f-in clue why they thought skiing and skinning across Maroon was a good idea. Weak snowpack, heavy snow, warm temps, high winds, the list goes on and on....

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Perplexing for sure. I don’t know that terrain other than looking over there the couple times I skied Highlands, but I sure wouldn’t have been in there in such conditions with an avy warning in effect from CAIC even if I knew it well.




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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

RIP.

Looks like a tough one to understand putting themselves there from the pictures and conditions. There may be a more complicated explanation.

f nothing else we can deduce that even the best mountain travelers among us can easily fall prey to the heuristic traps and lure of fresh powder and a steep line and then we are vulnerable.

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Well said.

RIP.

My thoughts go out to the family and his ski partner, challenging times.

It's hard to make commentary on the incident with the little detail provided, and its really easy to to call the plays from our desks.... but, this is a good opportunity to think about things like the expert halo and familiarity and the roles they play in our decision making process. There are very few of us (if any really) who can honestly say that they have not fallen victim these heuristic traps. I always try and read these reports and give some self reflection to decision I have made.

MRA is a volunteer organization and anyone can join.
They have no idea what these guys were thinking.

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Originally Posted by JaytaeMoney

https://www.wildsnow.com/24529/obit-...vin-avalanche/

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Originally Posted by Shredhead

MRA is a volunteer organization and anyone can join.
They have no idea what these guys were thinking.

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For those thinking that maybe this was just some new volunteer that didn't know jack, I'd recommend reading Lou's post. A 30 year vet of the MRA.

Hard to understand. Vibes to family and community.

Usually when it is hard to understand how anyone could have fallen into the trap, particularly an experienced person, it turns out to be a failure of human decision making falling into one or more of the FACCCETS heuristic traps.

Dude sounds pretty cool based on Lou's article. RIP. Really, really sad for that community.

Hopefully the injured partner can shed some light on their thought process.

Gonna tiptoe through the dragon's lair and not wake it up......

RIP.

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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

RIP.

Looks like a tough one to understand putting themselves there from the pictures and conditions. There may be a more complicated explanation.

f nothing else we can deduce that even the best mountain travelers among us can easily fall prey to the heuristic traps and lure of fresh powder and a steep line and then we are vulnerable.

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This is incredibly well said and is a way that I need to think more.

This was just posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAZp0wgZZpk

Full report: http://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/ac...=665&accfm=inv

Don't normally comment on these threads, but that was strange texting his wife prior to putting his beacon in search mode.

Agreed

The video was crazy- I'm guessing that's a webcam that they took all those pics off of?

Yep. You can view it here: https://aspen.roundshot.com/highlands/

^^ Cheater. I saw your iphone post before you changed it :)

I heard both papers received numerous letters to editor ripping into these two. They chose not to print it.

They can do what they want, but when you start putting others at risk, you need to really think about your decisions.
They brought in a black hawk and dozens of people to recover the body. So much could have gone wrong.

I would love to know the decision making process of skinning back uphill is such deadly terrain, late in the day with crazy high avalanche danger.

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Originally Posted by skideeppow

I heard both papers received numerous letters to editor ripping into these two. They chose not to print it.

They can do what they want, but when you start putting others at risk, you need to really think about your decisions.
They brought in a black hawk and dozens of people to recover the body. So much could have gone wrong.

I would love to know the decision making process of skinning back uphill is such deadly terrain, late in the day with crazy high avalanche danger.

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Obviously they made a deadly mistake, and in hindsight it seems obvious. But I am fairly sure that they never intentionally put people at risk. And they probably did not realize how risky/questionable their decision making was. These were experienced people who wouldn't willingly risk their lives and the lives of their friends (because it is their friends that had to do the recovery). Taking them to task for their decision after the fact does no good. Recognizing that they almost certainly fell into common heuristic traps, and discussing those traps, might be useful.

^^Good Point.

I agree with danno

Fuck, that's horrible. CAIC report is really well done. Lou's tribute is wonderful. Both of which I wish never had to be created in the first place.

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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

RIP.

Looks like a tough one to understand putting themselves there from the pictures and conditions. There may be a more complicated explanation.

f nothing else we can deduce that even the best mountain travelers among us can easily fall prey to the heuristic traps and lure of fresh powder and a steep line and then we are vulnerable.

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Nailed it.

RIP Galvinator.

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Originally Posted by skideeppow

I heard both papers received numerous letters to editor ripping into these two. They chose not to print it.

They can do what they want, but when you start putting others at risk, you need to really think about your decisions.
They brought in a black hawk and dozens of people to recover the body. So much could have gone wrong.

I would love to know the decision making process of skinning back uphill is such deadly terrain, late in the day with crazy high avalanche danger.

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by that line of reasoning noone should ever drive a car due to the risk they are putting first responders into. First responders (and SAR members, etc) choose those careers knowing the risks and in many cases because of the risks.

i do a lot of risky things in my life, a little less as I get older (ok that's a lie). Never once has the thought of the risks to my would be rescuers ever entered my selfish mind. i have three daughters. how my death will affect them is less a part of my decision making process than whether they see their father live a happy fulfilled life.
in short, I'd rather teach them to be happy than to be scared.

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Originally Posted by powdork

i have three daughters. how my death will affect them is less a part of my decision making process than whether they see their father live a happy fulfilled life.
in short, I'd rather teach them to be happy than to be scared.

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These sorts of discussions always remind me of a snippet of the movie Meru (which is outstanding, btw). Jon Krakauer is talking about the idea that the rewards of climbing mountains are immense, so long as you come home. But if you die, there's no real way of justifying to your family that cutting your margin of safety too fine was worth it. I don't think that's an argument for staying out of the backcountry - a lot of us need that sort of exposure to the outdoors to stay sane/happy/whatever. But I think it's a good argument for leaving yourself a significant margin of safety. Speaking for myself, while I do need sessions of outdoor therapy to be happy, I don't need those sessions to include skiing gnar lines in sketchy conditions. So I try to remind myself that's the case when I'm route-finding etc.

Also, nice piece on John here. I like their method of locker retirement.

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Originally Posted by Cravenmorhead

Also, nice piece on John here. I like their method of locker retirement.

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Really nice. Thanks for posting.