This just popped up on my phone and I didn't see any threads yet. Doesn't sound good. Tweet from Sheriff says several unaccounted victims.
https://weather.com/news/news/2020-0...rnia-avalanche
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This just popped up on my phone and I didn't see any threads yet. Doesn't sound good. Tweet from Sheriff says several unaccounted victims.
https://weather.com/news/news/2020-0...rnia-avalanche
just saw this as well. wow, inbounds on a blue runQuote:
Originally Posted by jerlane
Sounds like this is unfolding as we speak. I'm sure they are neck deep in rescue mode.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tips^Up
damn, was wondering why they shut down Scott right after I got off it. weird day out there for sure.
https://squawalpine.com/explore/blog...anuary-17-2020
https://twitter.com/PlacerSheriff
Resort and sheriff both confirming search is complete with one deceased and one seriously injured.
Fuck!
Damn. 🤞
Fuck. That’s rough.
Really sucks. When I skied there, all those lines looker's left of Scott was where I spent most of my time. Must've been that big apron looker's left of Subway.
It was the chute to the skier's left of promised land. One of my favorites to ski.
2 feet of blower on top of a shitty layer. In the Tahoe thread we were discussing in advance that it would be a good idea to wear your beacon inbounds today. Ugh.
I saw lots of slides--I assume control slides--on the slopes above Alpine Meadows Rd, the bowls north of Summit, and on South Face of Sherwood (both gullies slid top to bottom). Still hard ice exposed in wind swept areas, otherwise that ice is under a couple feet of snow, or more. The hike to bowls were all closed today, but the slope where the slide occurred was open.
The hikes opened briefly and were shut down immediately when the avy occurred. People were still traversing waaaaaay out vía lower beav later in the day despite what occurred earlier
My buddy heads up patrol at Alpine, sending positive thoughts to his crew as well as the victims. Bummer deal.
Sucks, sad to hear. Sorry to friends and family of the victims. Positive vibes to everyone involved.
thanks. It did seem like too many tracks for just patrolQuote:
Originally Posted by mcski
My kid was up in Tahoe today. Bit unnerving until we heard from him. Ended up he was next door at squaw.
RIP.
Vibes
This kind of shit drives me nuts.
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...eXLGUhSgcofOWw
I don't expect non-skiers to know everything about a ski area but this slide was entirely in bounds, easily accessed from a lift, and had nothing to do with anything backcountry, sidecountry, anything 'coming into the resort' or anything other than 'patrolled terrain in an open ski area.'
If this is where I think it is, in the 15 years I skied there, I'm not sure I ever saw patrol bomb specifically in that spot just given the complex terrain. I'm going to assume it was only ski cut at best. It's a tough one. Small town guy too, that's going to be a lot of friends and family.
I don't see your beef. Seems pretty straightforward except for the "slammed down" descriptor.
Quote:
the avalanche happened around 10 a.m. within an open area of the resort
You definitely caught it. Descriptions of the terrain are all over the place regarding in vs. out of bounds. The only reason I'm confident that it's only one of them is that I know the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark
The slide did not 'thunder into.'
It occurred, started and was contained within.
There's also a video with a sheriff saying that people need to be careful venturing in the backcountry regarding the incident, and that this was not the backcountry (at least he got that part).
Slides really do thunder 'into' on ski areas on volcanos where the things start outside of the resort. This isn't that.
I still don't see how you think in any way that any reporting that I've seen has not been completely transparent that this was in bounds open terrain.
Trust me, I hate poor reporting, but this seems pretty clear cut. I didn't notice any comparisons to bc or sc.
This drove me nuts today:
https://www.crookstontimes.com/news/...iling-in-idaho
Quote:
His riding partner was able to escape and later was able to find Rongen buried in the snow with the help of Rongen’s transponder.
The placer sheriff video in the piece is where he both mentions bc and inbounds.
My gripe is mostly with the headline. It makes it sound like the avalanche was some force external to the ski area. It's okay, I'll get over it.
Transponders. All the rage.
pm puregravityQuote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
I hope people think of this slide the next time they're thinking of calling out patrol for not having everything open.
In the Tahoe thread Westcoaster describes a PC slide with no burial at Squaw today.
His wife was at the Ski area but on a different run. The guy in the Hospital was a buddy.
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/l...fdFzIdkVZfMu6E
Fuck fuck fuck. Big vibes to those affected.
Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
I apologize, I was wrong. I can totally see what your fit is about.Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
Sounds like crock of shit reporting coupled with off-base police work.Quote:
Comstock and another person injured in the avalanche were skiing on a very advanced back country slope, according to Sgt. Mike Powers of the Placer County Sheriff's Office. He described the area as "remote."
"If you're skiing back country, be familiar with avalanche conditions, have avalanche beacons and wear the right equipment," Powers said. It is not known whether Comstock and the other skier had the appropriate equipment.
Normal. Unfortunately.
This has already been a bad year :(
Stay safe out there.
No worries.Quote:
Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark
I'm just extra touchy about this because no one buries patrollers and customers with the regularity and efficiency of squaw/alpine over the years. That company needs to learn to sit on their hands. With our snowpack, 24 hours does wonders in most cases. It shouldn't be this way. And it has nothing to do with the patrollers themselves. It's pressure to open that comes from...............who knows. But it's palpable. Shit didn't used to open this fast. And with the kind of snow we got, with the wind that accompanied it, there are some spots on that mountain that they should have just written off today. I'm actually suprised this was the only one given what they opened.
Way more uneducated people zooming around the mountains these days, yet management direction has trended in the opposite direction of what that should imply.
You are right..Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
And I know exactly where this happened. It's Spicy any day. For about the first fifty yards. "I might dig into Photo bucket and pull up a picture of what it looks like" There is a little chute there where you could make a mistake and die of trauma on a bright sunny day.
I am real sure this was pretty much where it happened.
Boundary Line
Attachment 311281
I feel you. Sorry man. It sucks all around.Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
Damn. Even if that's not exactly where slide happened, gives a good reference for what the area probably looked like. I've never skied at Alpine before so I wasn't really sure what the terrain looked like. Super scary.Quote:
Originally Posted by MTT
I've thought about how the unusual snowpack for Tahoe could've contributed, like kidwoo said. If I recall correctly, avy danger was considerable at all elevations yesterday, which seems relatively unusual for a day after a storm (I know this happened in-bounds, but just to give an idea of what the snow conditions were like on that day). It seems like there's a lot of complexity in the snowpack right now that usually isn't there and it'll be something to continue to watch in the next few days/weeks. So sad that this happened.
Yep that line could be at any of a hundred resorts
RIP to the man who was killed. I agree 100% with the sentiment above, although we're in the minority for feeling that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
Yep that line could be at many resorts
Not only this, but often a foot of fresh snow on a firm layer will slide when they open it, and then it stays shitty for a long time.Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
If they would wait a day or so, the snow would bind and you would have good skiing.
There's the pressure from management to open.
Sent from my Armor_3 using Tapatalk
The pressure comes from us. Haven't you ever stood in a huge line at Summit or KT after 9 in a powder morning and listened to people complaining that they have to wait. And listen to reaction in the KT line when patrol comes down and says they're not going to open after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by kidwoo
As far as shit not opening this fast in the past--go to the bitching about Squaw thread and read all the complaints about them not getting stuff open.
It's always popular to blame the big, bad corporation but sometimes you have to look in the mirror.
I agree with this post.Quote:
Originally Posted by old goat
That's such a lame excuse. Mountains with way more regularly sketchy snow handle it. What are they going to do NOT sell passes if they go back to waiting a day for the trickier terrain? That clusterfuck on 89 has grown exponentially every year. They control what happens at their mountain, not the entitled peanut gallery bitching and moaning like a bunch of children demanding to be served. It's literally a life or death management decision, not providing more convenient parking or lockers.Quote:
Originally Posted by old goat
Alpine used to sit on stuff longer before the unholy merger. There were days like yesterday when they wouldn't have even opened scott chair, specifically just to get patrol on it, getting things to flush out. I haven't had a pass at either of those places in over 5 years now, and that's one of the (many) reasons.
Keep in mind, there's a good number of accidents at those places that don't make it public either. It was a bit of a rhetorical. I know exactly where the pressure comes from. And alpine inherited it from next door.