How to make Main safe to ski step by step ...

**Xover** · 04-19-2004, 09:13 PM

... without the luxury of hand charges.

1. Take note from the day before that Dogleg and Little slid naturally about half way through our 16" storm, but Main hasn't.

2. Head up to Alta after work.

3. Skin/boot up to Main Chute in stellar skinning conditions down low and horrendous booting for the last 1/4 of the way in friggin' howling SW winds.

4. Yell in pain at the top as you de-thaw your fingertips inside your coat.

5. Look down the gut of her and see obvious windslab/pillows on the right side of her just waiting for a trigger. Go look at Little and she looks even more windloaded.

6. Gear up and ski cut the very top NE face of her. Make note of shooting cracks. Think to self, maybe not such a good idea - but cracks are not propagating very far and what snow is running isn't running very far.

7. Kick turn and ski cut the middle a few feet under the cornice. Same results. Come on you biatch, I know you wanna go - where's your G spot.

8. One more kick turn back to right and give a hard ski cut towards mega wind slab/pillow on the right side - right where she rolls over to about 45 degs.

9. CRACK!!! There she goes like a friggin freight train!!! I just about shat my pants. I knew I could get her to go and knew pretty close where I had to touch her just right - but didn't expect her to run so fast. She ran all the way to Ballroom Traverse - right down the gut. As one might think she went on the crust layer beneath our 16" of luv with about a foot crown line. Fracture line propagated out to about the middle of the chute - pretty much the extents of the wind loading.

10. Traverse back left to non-wind loaded side and take my faceshots like a man all the way to the bottom. Best conditions I've ever had in Main - hands down. BTW, I passed up some very tempting High Shoulder luv on the way too.

11. Ski back to truck in a nuking storm and thank the Lord I am safe.

Moral of the story (not to preach to choir - but just wanna remind) be careful out there boys and girls - even in closed resorts. Keep that AV nose sniffing; their out there.

Our winter here is far from over. As Treskow said in his thread it is friggin nuking up LCC. Wish I could be at the Birdy, Bird tomorrow morn (there BumZ and Frizzo I admitted it) cause it will be sicky, sick with the 6-8" that will surely fall tonight plus a howling SW wind Silver Fox, Hanging Bowl and the Cirque will be off da hook.

Utards, go git sum - come August you're gonna wish you had.

**powderwhore** · 04-19-2004, 09:17 PM

I hope you weren't up there alone.

**Ski Monkey** · 04-19-2004, 09:29 PM

Originally posted by powderwhore
I hope you weren't up there alone.

Seriously, tell me you left your partner out of the story for dramatic effect.

**frozenwater** · 04-19-2004, 09:33 PM

guys, obviously there is no one to rescue you if you tour alone. However, as I was told in my Avy I lesson by Bruce Tremper, there is also no one to get you into trouble, no one to worry about if you cause a slide, and no one to worry about if you get buried, then they die trying to rescue you.

The safest way to go? No. But if you know what you are doing, you can mitigate the risks. The risks that are left you just have to be ready to accept.

**Foggy_Goggles** · 04-19-2004, 09:37 PM

Originally posted by frozenwater
guys, obviously there is no one to rescue you if you tour alone. However, as I was told in my Avy I lesson by Bruce Tremper, there is also no one to get you into trouble, no one to worry about if you cause a slide, and no one to worry about if you get buried, then they die trying to rescue you.

The safest way to go? No. But if you know what you are doing, you can mitigate the risks. The risks that are left you just have to be ready to accept.

Unfortunately, it's not a victimless crime. You've got friends, family and rescuers to think about. [/lecture]

**jayfrizzo** · 04-19-2004, 09:38 PM

Did you bring your trash bag?

Scary report, d00d. Tomorrow should be fun.

J-

**summit** · 04-19-2004, 10:18 PM

What the other people already said.

**seldon** · 04-19-2004, 10:34 PM

Glad to hear you continue to find the luv in alta long after the gaper have gone home, xover. There will be eternal luv on the shoulder in my mind.... i can't get that creamy smooth windbuff luv out of my head.

Go git some more!

happy and (just a little bit) jealous.

feel that luv.

**Xover** · 04-20-2004, 06:51 AM

Originally posted by powderwhore
I hope you weren't up there alone.

I was alone and in retrospect this morning after loosing a little sleep over it last night:

1. It was the stupid'est thing I've ever done skiing
2. One person did know where I was, but I didn't tell him an expected time of return
3. Other errors: obviously going alone, not taking my picket or fluke and rope to set anchor and rap in for ski cut while roped up (that would've mitigated virtually all the hazard of being caught in a slide assuming the anchor is bomber) and skiing a heavily wind loaded slope at the top (which in my humbled opinion can be made safe to ski if you are 100% sure that you can get to all windloaded spots while roped up for a good ski cut to cause them to go - and if they don't go with a ski cut get the fug outta there - which should be easily and safely done since you are roped up already).

I think (at least I'd like to think) that those that know me, know that I'm both safe and cautious in the bc - but made some major judgement errors yesterday afternoon/early eve that I won't be making again anytime soon.

When I was taking my AV III training, there were alot of dudes in there with me talking about how they feel they had become lax and overconfident in their abilities to both identify potentially dangerous conditions and get themselves outta them. Up until yesterday, I had always thought how can that possibly happen - I see now. You ride near the envelope a few to many times and all of a sudden the envelope is no longer the envelope - it is something pushed further away now - but the snow doesn't know that. Eventually Murphy's Law will catch up with ya. Thankfully I only got a bitter taste of it yesterday as opposed to the whole piece of pie.

Alarm clock heard!! And, NO Frozen (as I am sure you know) I am not willing (or will ever be) to risk my life or the pain it would cause my family and friends for a fleeting few minutes of face shots.

**H-man** · 04-20-2004, 07:00 AM

Originally posted by Xover
I was alone and in retrospect this morning after loosing a little sleep over it last night:

1. It was the stupid'est thing I've ever done skiing
2. One person did know where I was, but I didn't tell him an expected time of return
3. Other errors: obviously going alone, not taking my picket or fluke and rope to set anchor and rap in for ski cut while roped up (that would've mitigated virtually all the hazard of being caught in a slide assuming the anchor is bomber) and skiing a heavily wind loaded slope at the top (which in my humbled opinion can be made safe to ski if you are 100% sure that you can get to all windloaded spots while roped up for a good ski cut to cause them to go - and if they don't go with a ski cut get the fug outta there - which should be easily and safely done since you are roped up already).

I think (at least I'd like to think) that those that know me, know that I'm both safe and cautious in the bc - but made some major judgement errors yesterday afternoon/early eve that I won't be making again anytime soon.

When I was taking my AV III training, there were alot of dudes in there with me talking about how they feel they had become lax and overconfident in their abilities to both identify potentially dangerous conditions and get themselves outta them. Up until yesterday, I had always thought how can that possibly happen - I see now. You ride near the envelope a few to many times and all of a sudden the envelope is no longer the envelope - it is something pushed further away now - but the snow doesn't know that. Eventually Murphy's Law will catch up with ya. Thankfully I only got a bitter taste of it yesterday as opposed to the whole piece of pie.

Alarm clock heard!! And, NO Frozen (as I am sure you know) I am not willing (or will ever be) to risk my life or the pain it would cause my family and friends for a fleeting few minutes of face shots.

Well Said X. Good honest look at your self and your decisions. Props to you.

**bad_roo** · 04-20-2004, 07:29 AM

I was about to ask what it would have taken for you NOT to have skied that slope but it looks as if you already know. Glad to hear you made it back in one piece.

Z · 04-20-2004, 10:45 AM

wow.. must have been intense up there....good thing you're ok dood!!

**shamrockpow** · 04-20-2004, 04:49 PM

Wasn't real happy (or impressed) to read that. Really tough avy conditions in LCC right now. Not something to fuck with alone. Especially for someone with a family. Glad that you made it out, but take it easy the rest of spring, eh? (You know this already)