Reports are preliminary at this point
https://nwac.us/
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Reports are preliminary at this point
https://nwac.us/
AP Article
Avalanche in Washington's Cascade Mountains kills 3
Heavy snowfall and winds are keeping searchers from reaching a remote peak in Washington's Cascade Mountains, where an avalanche killed three people
SEATTLE -- Heavy snowfall and high winds on Tuesday kept searchers away from a remote, jagged peak in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, where an avalanche killed three climbers from the northeastern U.S. over the weekend.
The slide struck Sunday as a group of six climbers were ascending a steep, snow-packed gulley on the 8,705-foot (2,653 meters) Colchuck Peak, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Seattle in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Chelan County sheriff's Sgt. Jason Reinfeld said Tuesday.
Four of the climbers were swept about 500 feet (152 meters) down the slope. One of the four survived, a 56-year-old man from New York, and despite some injuries he was able to confirm that the other three were killed before working his way back to their base camp at Colchuck Lake, Reinfeld said.
The two members of the climbing party who were not swept away did not immediately descend to base camp, but remained about two-thirds of the way up the gulley — called a couloir — and saw three additional avalanches come down, burying two of the deceased climbers.
A seventh member of the group, one who remained at base camp rather than participate in Sunday's climb, hiked out to get help — an arduous overnight journey that included a descent of about 4,000 vertical feet (1,219 meters) over 8 miles (12.9 kilometers). He was able to contact the sheriff's office by 8 a.m. Monday to relay what had happened, Reinfeld said.
A mountain rescue team reached the base camp early that afternoon but decided against venturing above the lake due to the avalanche risk.
The searchers returned with the surviving climbers on Monday and declined to even attempt to reach the area on Tuesday amid a heavy snowstorm and wind gusts of up to 60 mph (96.6 kmh).
Members of the Northwest Avalanche Center and mountain rescue crews planned to head back on Wednesday to assess the hazards at the scene, Reinfeld said.
Those killed were identified as a 53-year-old man from Connecticut, a 60-year-old woman from New York and a 66-year-old man from New Jersey. Reinfeld said the group had some mountaineering experience, but he did not know the extent of it.
The avalanche was the the deadliest in the U.S. since four backcountry skiers were killed in an avalanche in Utah two years ago.
Lots of unanswered questions here, like who were these people and what were they doing there. RIP
Really sad to hear. I was up in the same zone-ish (Rock Mtn) on Sat/Sun- lot of fat wind slabs forming up from the storm moving in. The greater than expected precip + high wind on Saturday night helped exacerbate the problem.
They were 60 something year olds from Jersey. What could possibly go wrong?Quote:
Originally Posted by yeahman
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a "trip of a lifetime" may have had something to do with their decision making on this one. Sort of like weekend warriors that decide to go into unfavorable conditions on Mount Washington in New Hampshire because it's the weekend damnit and they've been wanting to do this for years.
Telemetry supports that. It also looks like they might have gotten sucked into a sucker hole in the weather. High winds early Sunday that dropped to nothing. The Observations from an area north of there on Friday showed several weak layers on top of the potential persistent weak layer problem that seems to be very Spanish Inquisition like in this zone. Avy forecast was yellow for Above Tree Line. I had been planning to go into an area north of there, but went mt biking instead based on the conditions report from the 18th.Quote:
Originally Posted by the_prof
Likely some human factor issues that went against the "climb the conditions not the calendar" mantra.
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/202...limbing-party/
from a New York climbing club. vibes to the family and friends.
Think I heard one report that said they had no safety gear. So sad.
Dang. I just finished the most recent edition of "The Snowy Torrents" from '86 to '96 and it's amazing how often no one had safety gear back then. Seems very uncommon now.Quote:
Originally Posted by oftpiste
It didn't sound like anyone had an inreach or anything similar, either. That seemed odd to me with such a large group.
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50/50 chance there could have been one on one of the deceasedQuote:
Originally Posted by goldenboy
Not clear how the safety gear would have helped. I assume you mean beacon, probe, shovel.Quote:
Originally Posted by oftpiste
More important than safety gear, imo, is knowing the snow conditions beforehand and verifying with snow pits. Even though when you climb a couloir, and it releases above you, even snow pits are not very useful.
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IMO, not wearing a beacon even when going solo is selfish and shortsighted. I imagine the loss that loved ones will feel is prolonged waiting for the body to melt out in the spring.
Article I read said the danger scale was high alpine, considerable at treeline, moderate lower. I'm not clear on what may have driven them to be in a coulier with those conditions but having traveled across the country to be there, they were probably very determined to do it and probably ignorant to proper assessment. Regardless, RIP to them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patarero
More detail - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...-in-avalanche/
It was high the day after, but that day it was moderate moderate low, with "increasing danger" in the forecast. Nearby stevens was considerable. Still, as others said, not the day for it given snowpack structure
I do. Same report said there was still a possibility of more buried victims.Quote:
Originally Posted by rod9301
Such a tragedy. I think that some times people take the NWAC forecasts at face value and it's really not appropriate to do so. The forecast zone is so huge and the weather can be so uncertain, it really is more of a reference of expected conditions than anything. Forecasting moderate vs. considerable can be very hard.
Meh. I take a beacon with me when I'm solo. But that's in case I come across someone else in need, so it's not always turned on. When I'm solo I'm generally as far away from others as possible because dogs (mine) so having a beacon is unlikely to help me be found before the battery dies anyway. Why does it bother you how others interact (or don't) with their families?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cisco Kid
Lot at play here with a capital H. RE: Rescue gear. Lots of climbers don't carry a beacon, shovel & probe. Lighter=faster=safer, til its not.
That Seattle Times article brutally summed it up.
Archived avy forecast for the zone: https://nwac.us/avalanche-forecast/#/forecast/8/120025 NWAC forecast for Feb 19th issued at 6pm Feb 18.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldMember
Hmm... interesting. The report the Spokesman Review author referenced must have been the Monday forecast rather than the real time forecast for the day of the event. Regardless, it's not an exact science, rather a point of input to take into account for risk assessment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patarero
It would not have helped at least two of them. From what I gather from the first story two were known to be dead and the third wasn't, and then three more slides came down and 'potentially' buried the two that were already known to have died from trauma. That says at least two of them were still on the surface after the first slide.Quote:
Originally Posted by rod9301
It's how families react until the others melt out. Empathy I guess. Needless when it happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
why the fuck wouldn’t you turn a beacon on? sar/first responders will do a beacon search and find your dead body far faster with a beacon than via probe line.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
I've always taught that if you ware a transceiver you turn it on.
.
ON at the car,
OFF at the bar
.
That's always been the mantra. It's not helping much to not have it on. Not like you're saving a lot of battery life.Quote:
Originally Posted by romeo tango
The technical term for that is:Quote:
Originally Posted by raisingarizona13
Vacation Alpinism
I've definitely succumbed a bit to "V.A." on my PNW summer ski trips, although now that I've racked up more and more years of two four-day PNW summer ski trips each year, I can reassure myself that, eh, whatever, I'll be back next month, or next year, no need to push the limits (i.e., if the calendar says summer but the conditions say otherwise).
V.A. definitely explains this PNW climbing tragedy:
At first, the widespread reaction was similar, along the lines of, they were young guys from TX and NY, what could possibly go wrong?
(I'll admit to thinking the same thing too initially at the time!)
But turned out they were skilled technical climbers. (Real climbers, not just winter hikers. Way beyond my alu crampons + ice axe for sure.)
They had a narrow weather window that anyone local would have reasonably decided was just too narrow, i.e., eh, let's all reschedule for another weekend.
Came so close to getting away with it. But not quite.
(IIRC, w/o revisiting all the stories, one body was found in a snow shelter near the summit. The other two probably fell to their deaths trying to descend down some couloir on the north side. National media attention was massive, perhaps just to focus on something other than various bad int'l news stories at the time, and perhaps also b/c so easy for television crews to hang out at Timberline, but the climbers' fates were unknown for awhile as search efforts were hampered, and a cell phone ping was successful, so events played out quite dramatically in real time.)
Agreed on the second paragraph of course.Quote:
Originally Posted by rod9301
Regarding the first paragraph, even though with hindsight that might be correct in this particular incident, I am reminded of an excellent presentation on climber avalanche issues by Dale Atkins at ESAW several years ago, specifically one slide that stated (although I might have some of the wording a bit off):
"In potential avalanche terrain, you have the responsibility to be searchable and to be able to search."
And as we say in economics speak, beacon-probe-shovel is Signalling:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)
I just turn mine on as soon as I put it on my body.Quote:
Originally Posted by romeo tango
And I put it on my body as soon as I put on my shirt in the morning.
Sure my shredded wheat & grape nuts are unlikely to bury me at breakfast (which makes for humorous comments from touring partners), but that makes one less thing to forget -- and there are just so many other things to forget on a ski outing, ugh.
the high cost of batteries ?Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
even tho beacon batteries last a few weeks ime
If I'm dead, I'd rather stay in the mountains. Cheaper than having my body dragged out then my kids having to pay to have me cremated so they can then put me back in the mountains. Hopefully the animals will figure out how to get around all the gear I'd have on.Quote:
Originally Posted by dunfree
Regarding the beacon I never said I was wearing it, I said it was with me. It wouldn't be on because in that scenario it's in my pack.
If I'm with others it's on at the car and then a beacon check
Lots of sad stuff here, but they coulda climbed somewhere else right nearby. It must’ve seemed ok until it wasn’t.
Sheriff's don't like leaving dead bodies in the mountains to rot.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
This ^^ I do the same, worrying about battery life on an aviy beacon is a great example of false economyQuote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan S.
who remembers people complaining cuz they were'nt suposed to use rechargables in their beacons ?
OTOH I have walked down the hall at the glacier lodge in rogers pass at 5 pm to see how many signals i could pick up and there were quite a few beer drinking BC skiers in BC still squawking
alwasy turn that beacon off for the next time you need it, and carry spare batteries
Plus you are pretty gnarly looking after couple months under the snow and then slowly melt out and hopefully parts of you haven't been scattered all over by critters. With global warming you probably won't end up like the icemanQuote:
Originally Posted by Hacksaw
In general, sheriffs are assholes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hacksaw
You guys can do what you want, and when I'm alone, I'll do what I want. How about that?
That statement ^^ is so rugged-american-individualist, sure do what you want even be a dumb ass, until yer dead and they will come looking for you
PD, maybe some sort of DNR document (where the R stands for rescue or resuscitate) left on your dashboard at the trailhead?