4 buried inbounds at squaw...

From what ive pieced together, Yesterday 4 people were buried inbounds at Squaw, kindof a freak accident, as the run it happened on, headwall face was open all morning and the slide happened at 130pm. This face is very throughly bombed and evaluated before they open anytime there is new snow, but this one was a freak accident. The four people were fully submerged and were all rescued alive. There have been rumors about a 4 foot crown stretchinig 300 feet across, and huge deposition pile at the bottom...anyone know any of this first hand?
I spoke with a guy today who was involved in the slide, and he said it was terrifying, he was a skier who was not necessarily hard-core, he was just out for some skiing and the slide took him out from behind, took him for a long ride and buried him with one hand near the surface that he was able to wiggle free to poke a small airhole with. He told me how everytime he breathed the snow settled even more giving him less and less room to breathe in, and he thought he was going to die. Fortunately, squaw ski patrol is one of the best in the world and came and rescued 4 victims without beacons successfully. Amazing, Scary, makes you think...

Should we be wearing beacons inside the ropes on pow days? (i know i wear mine), or everyday, what do you think??

i was wearing my beacon at flail today. i wear my beacon virtually every day i ski

glad they are alright

I rode the headwall face about 5 times that day. sweet sweet dense pow. Around 11 the wind really started picking up , and the face began to get really windloaded and sweet. I had just finished a run there and was boarding down mtn run to get back on headwall and it was closed. So I rode KT and while riding up the lift I looked over at headwall and saw the massive crown. Thousands of skiers had been on that slope over the course of the day. Windloading must have been the cause.

damn glad to hear everyone was ok

I wear my beacon on pow days. I have it, why not.

hell I'm wearing my beacon inbounds on the ice coast, I figure I have it why not just get used to wearing it all the time so you never forget it.

plus it makes me totally core at apres

Skiers escape Squaw avalanche
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Christine Stanley
SierraSun.com
December 29, 2005


Four skiers escaped from an avalanche that occurred at Squaw Valley U.S.A. just after 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The slide, which was 18 to 30-inch deep and was caused by a change in temperature, occurred under the Headwall chairlift, said Savannah Cowley, media and public relations director for Squaw Valley Ski Corp. Between 11 a.m. and the time of the slide, mountain temperatures at Squaw Valley dropped nearly 20 degrees, she said.

"It's a weird spot for a slide," Cowley said. "I think it just has to do with how this storm hit and the way the snow packed."

There were many witnesses, and they all reported they saw four skiers ski out of the slide, though one sustained a shoulder injury, Cowley said.

"[It happened] about halfway down the face, and basically goes all the way across," said Doug Stanley, a skier who came upon the slide shortly after it occurred. "The slide path was about 250 feet long by 200 feet wide. [It's a strange location] considering that they bomb it, but these things happen."

After the slide, the Headwall chairlift was closed only temporarily to recover the skier's lost gear, Cowley said, and was re-opened shortly after.

In this region, avalanche danger is "considerable" in most areas above 9,300 feet, according to a Truckee-based Sierra Avalanche Center.

"It was really low, relative to where slides normally happen," Cowley said.

Thats kind of sketchy, isnt it? They just reopen the place right afterwards? I mean, I guess you wouldn't be getting any more slides there anymore, but I know Id be sketched out riding somewhere that just slid...it would just be eerie.

THIS

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Originally Posted by fatkid

I spoke with a guy today who was involved in the slide, and he said it was terrifying, he was a skier who was not necessarily hard-core, he was just out for some skiing and the slide took him out from behind, took him for a long ride and buried him with one hand near the surface that he was able to wiggle free to poke a small airhole with. He told me how everytime he breathed the snow settled even more giving him less and less room to breathe in, and he thought he was going to die.

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VS. this...

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Originally Posted by SquawMan

Skiers escape Squaw avalanche
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Christine Stanley
SierraSun.com
December 29, 2005


Four skiers escaped from an avalanche that occurred at Squaw Valley U.S.A. just after 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The slide, which was 18 to 30-inch deep and was caused by a change in temperature, occurred under the Headwall chairlift, said Savannah Cowley, media and public relations director for Squaw Valley Ski Corp. Between 11 a.m. and the time of the slide, mountain temperatures at Squaw Valley dropped nearly 20 degrees, she said.

"It's a weird spot for a slide," Cowley said. "I think it just has to do with how this storm hit and the way the snow packed."

There were many witnesses, and they all reported they saw four skiers ski out of the slide, though one sustained a shoulder injury, Cowley said.

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4 foot crown vs. 18 to 30 inches

4 ski out vs. 4 burried

You talked to a victim vs. there were no victims? O RLY?

KIR

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Originally Posted by truth

"There was no slide. There is nothing to see here. Please move along," said Savannah Cowley, media and public relations director for Squaw Valley Ski Corp.

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;)

34567890

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Originally Posted by Summit

i was wearing my beacon at flail today. i wear my beacon virtually every day i ski

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I would think inbounds, patrol would assume nobody was wearing a beacon. Any patrollers care to comment?

Inbounds slides freak me out. I've never beeped inbounds but I think I'm going to start.

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Originally Posted by Big E

I would think inbounds, patrol would assume nobody was wearing a beacon. Any patrollers care to comment?

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Any resort I have worked at (a few) all slides are searched for a beacon signal regardless of which side of the rope.

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Originally Posted by laseranimal

hell I'm wearing my beacon inbounds on the ice coast, I figure I have it why not just get used to wearing it all the time so you never forget it.

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I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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Buhahahahahaa!!! POTD.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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Sorry to hear that. Boyfreinds a smoker?

I say ...BIG THUMBS UP TO THE PATROL!

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Originally Posted by Redskea

Any resort I have worked at (a few) all slides are searched for a beacon signal regardless of which side of the rope.

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Ahh. Gracias.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avabong while watching TV.

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Might as well have something to do today.

[/searches thru gear]

I saw the break afterwards, it was pretty massive. patrol responded quickly and had a line of people searching for buried skiers. squaw has had some big slides over the years.
My brother got in a huge slide on olympic lady bowl maybe 8 years ago. snow boarder behind him broke off a huge cornice, it took them all the way to the flats. his head was luckily out, so he climbed out and dug his two friends out(only other people in there). never got his skis back though.

Best to always carry the aｖo gear when going off piste even in bounds. In bounds has less avo danger due to the bombing and patrollers but still given the horrible statistics about victums buried for just a few minutes, you really need to rely on your skiing partners, not the resort staff, to dig you out. Think about tree runs, where a small slide in a terrain trap could bury you and nobody would find you until the next spring, in bounds or not.

Besides wearing your beacon means you can casually turn it on during the tram up to let everyone know how hardcore you are, and then again during the apres. Even better if you have the shovel type that attaches to the outside of your pack because that's ohh soo cool. Well worth the price of the AAA batteries.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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NEVER watch TV alone!!

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Originally Posted by fatkid

Fortunately, squaw ski patrol is one of the best in the world and came and rescued 4 victims without beacons successfully.

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"Lucky. Scary. Death-defying." FatKid, glad it wasn't you. Don't get dead.

After seeing some inbounds slides at Alyeska several years ago (no hurt or caught, but I saw it happen) I started wearing mine all the time. However, the current mid-atlantic snowpack being what it is, I leave it at the house...

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The slide, which was 18 to 30-inch deep and was caused by a change in temperature, occurred under the Headwall chairlift, said Savannah Cowley, media and public relations director for Squaw Valley Ski Corp. Between 11 a.m. and the time of the slide, mountain temperatures at Squaw Valley dropped nearly 20 degrees, she said

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So, it dropped twenty degrees, then slid? If so, the temp change likely had nothing to do with the avy. If it got 20 degrees warmer, sure. But when temp drops??????

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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You must have some hella soft couch cushions! Make sure you check for $$$ while you're stuck down there

makes me think.....Highland bowl...inbound slide.....no patrol for 30min(if no one is up there)......no beacon.....Big Trouble!

thinking we should wear them too.

Every patrol I've been on searches first for a transceiver signal and then relys on dogs and Recco ( if they have the latter two) and probing to locate buried victims. Your best chance in any avalanche is wearing a transceiver + quick response time. If you have a beacon wear it ALWAYS while skiing. If you never go out of bounds and don't want to spend the $$, spend the $20 or so and buy a pair of Recco reflectors or buy equipment and/or clothing that already build these in and hope that the ski area you ski at is Recco-equipped. I don't care how many bombs and ski cuts and closures a patrol does, they can't possibly control every small pocket or cornice within the boundaries, so be prepared for the possibility of being buried whenever you are in avalanche terrain. Remember the old saying that you can drown in 2" of water!

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Originally Posted by fatkid

Fortunately, squaw ski patrol is one of the best in the world and came and rescued 4 victims without beacons successfully. Amazing, Scary, makes you think...

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If they're one of the best in the world, why didn't they close the area after it got windloaded so clueless inbounds skiers wouldn't get buried?

i rode with patrol on the gondola today and they, 3 of them, promised that every avy search is conducted first with a Beacon! all three were happy to pull theirs out.

FYI

Well, previously I believed wearing a beacon inbounds would have been nerd overkill. Last Saturday morning in Snowbird on the first run a whomp was heard under my feet and a very small slide carried me on gad chutes about 15 feet. I was with two other people who were ahead of me, but not in the direction of the slide. I got out of there quickly but damn, any bigger and it would have carried me over a band of rocks.

I never experienced anything like it, seriously scared me.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hear ya. I wear an avalung while watching TV.

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That's nothing. I dig a test pit in my living room before even looking at the TV Guide.

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Originally Posted by Lloyd Braun

i rode with patrol on the gondola today and all three were happy to pull theirs out.

FYI

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:eek:

;)