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Most complete account as of the day of the fatality is posted here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwIxTQuhvob/
Note that this line is skied rather infrequently -- usually requires cutting right into some very steep trees, as the "Cataract" becomes an icefall in the winter.
(We happened to be talking with a solo skier this morning who was thinking about skiing it, but I have no idea if this was the victim as the name has not yet been released.)
Oh wow super bummer.
I cant imagine going from avy search to rescue to cadiac arrest to cpr to fatality to posting info about it on insty that quick. You can hear it in his voice. Someone give that ranger a hug.
Here are some better pictures of the crown. In the third picture you can see where the avalanche occurred in the center gully which is the Ravine of Raymond's Cataract. You can see Tuckerman Ravine to lookers left and Huntington Ravine to lookers right.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwI3l-cn8Au/
Whoa...that's sad and tragic. RIP.
R.I.P.
I have a co-worker who was just there and I was mentioning how things seems pretty serious right now. He was pretty taken aback when he heard the news; I'm worried he might not have realized the potential risks.
he mentioned there was another slide the day before too.
That’s awful news. R.I.P.
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I don't live there but it seems a bit early to be at Tuckermans....
RIP
There are mid winter periods where people ski safely up there. This day was not one of them apparently.Quote:
Originally Posted by simple
This poor fucking guy was buried for an hour and a half to two hours before being extricated and was still breathing. I hope he was knocked unconscious. What an absolutely horrific way to go.
I hope the reporting party tried to locate someone. If they didn't that would be a shame.
RIP and shred the sky.
for real. brutal, and RIPQuote:
Originally Posted by raisingarizona13
This. An hour and a half. Absolutely horrific. My worse nightmare times 10 million.Quote:
Originally Posted by raisingarizona13
RIP
Here's the best article so far:
https://vtskiandride.com/skier-kille...mt-washington/
Some minor corrections though:
Does anyone here have the book -- I'm curious which fatality is being omitted?Quote:
According to Randi Minetor, author of Death on Mount Washington: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness on the Northeast’s Highest Peak, published in 2018, 13 people have died in avalanches on Mt. Washington since 1849, when data first was recorded regularly.
(My list already excludes one avalanche-related death that I really don't think is an avalanche fatality.)
Experienced rock climber, but not ice climber. (Got into climbing while obtaining his neuroscience PhD in Australia.)Quote:
In mid-February, an experienced ice climber died after a long sliding fall in Huntington Ravine, which lies just beyond the gully that houses Raymond Cataract.
This was most likely the key factor in the incident.
Conditions yesterday were highly variable -- perfect corn in some places, perfect winter snow in other places (with both of the preceding even in the same short lap!), plus some decidedly imperfect snow in other places.Quote:
"The conditions on Thursday actually were not that great,” said Drummond who did skin up and ended up descending frozen and dust-covered snow.
Lots of options there yesterday in the various ravines for skiing was very safe, very enjoyable, and easily accessible.Quote:
Originally Posted by raisingarizona13
(Raymond Cataract though was not one of them -- which is what I tried to convince him of, although admittedly I didn't try very hard.)
Ugh. Sorry to hear.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan S.
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My thoughts exactly. I'm sorry to hear about this. RIP to the deceased.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFugitive
gnarly, i skied that my first time on that hill.
we got into some shit, young.
brave solo effort.
rip in peace.
Do not ski alone. This guy might still be alive if he had a partner.
RIP
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R.I.P. Nicholas D. Benedix, 32, of Campton NH
^you don't need to be in a bad mood, it is not your job.
he caught himself slippin. call you tomorrow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
i ski alone all the fucking time.
same, this stuff does give me pause to think tho.Quote:
Originally Posted by byates1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ND_fwX2fM
no grizz left anyway.
Wonder if he had a glock
I once got avi'd climbing pinnacle gully on MW. The route cut out way above and slammed me and my partner for what felt like over a minute. I was so thankful I was at a belay, and my partner had just put in a screw.
Bought a beacon very shortly thereafter and started learning snow science.
The force of that thing wigged me the fuck out, and I was in my very early 20's and clueless.
RIP. 2 hrs. under, still breathing, and then arrest. Absolutely brutal.
The full report is even more brutal than the initial one. To be buried for 2 hours and still be semi-conscious/making noise when the rangers reached him is beyond a worst nightmare, and then to have him succumb to hypothermia related complications is just awful. RIP
https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/4112019-avalanche-fatality-raymond-cataract/
^gnarly. sucks for sure.
This is sad as all hell.Quote:
One other notable factor in this accident was the fact that at least three parties observed and later reported seeing what appeared to be a fresh crown line in Raymond Cataract. No one made the 5-10 minute diversion to look for clues or do a beacon search of the debris where a ski and pole were on the surface 75’ uphill of the burial site.
they were too busy getting go pro footy of their most likely mediocre skiing.
super close friend spent over an hr on the skin up w him. said he was a cool dude.
you are on your own when you walk up a hill to ski something.
driving is far more dangerous.
positive vibes to all involved.
Heroic rescue from everyone involved. The MWAC folks don’t have an easy job, and we're so lucky they are out there every day keeping us safe.
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Damn. Tough one.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
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Re the other parties who saw the crown line, even aside from the varying estimates on how long that diversion really would be (for a party heading up to Hermit Lake), if they saw it from the Tux trail (i.e., where you get that one brief perfect spot-on view of Raymond Cataract), I suspect that most people wouldn't have the slightest idea how to reach the runout zone.
(I've ascended the LH Winter Route, skinned up & skied down the Huntington Fire Road, and I've skied the "Raymond" part of Raymond Cataract, yet I'm not even sure of the fastest route to where Nick would have been buried on Thursday.)
^ agreed, you can't see that shit from just anywhere.
Props to the rescue crew for considering hypothermia and the possibility of rewarming with ECMO (which is basically the heart lung machine used in open heart surgery). Not clear why this plan wasn't followed through. The axiom in hypothermia is that you're not dead until you're warm and dead. There are many reports of apparently dead, severely hypothermic victims being saved by rewarming. I took care of one of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by ridge_skier
In this case, I'm not so sure it would have helped. With severe hypothermia the mechanism of death is usually primary cardiac arrest due to cardiac irritability leading to a fatal dysrhythmia, after which there would be no moaning, movement, or breathing. From the description it sounds like there may have been an internal injury like a torn aorta leading to severe internal bleeding. I assume there was an autopsy so the cause of death is known. My impressions are of course speculation.
I recently had a tumbling slide on ice into a tree, with spine, rib, and acetabular fractures. When I talked to Squaw Valley ski patrol 2 months later than knew what injuries I turned out to have and told me they had a regular conference with the trauma team at the hospital in Reno I was sent to where my case was discussed. It was impressive to me that patrol had that kind of follow up on injured patients.