Wasatch Conditions 10-11

[Trackhead]

regarding the pfeif: 2 girls, both fell from above the choke, both slid and fell over the 20-30 ft cliff (usually 50') in the apron. there will be a full report on UAC soon. positive vibes and prayers needed for the first victim. that was the scariest shit i have ever witnessed and probably the scariest thing I have ever skied, props to S&R, Utah Mountain Adventures and everyone else involved in the rescue.

Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?

[sfotex]

Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?

Yup, full write up here:
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/obser...erhorn_5112011

And the first victim broke her smith variant brim on impact, I would say she would probably be dead if she hadn't been wearing a helmet.

[brutah]

Fell down the NW couly, then over the cliff in the apron?

yea it was brutal to watch to say the least. the helmet was pretty banged up. probably hit her dome through the choke as it looked like she fell head first through it and looked knocked out as she tumbled down the apron. and one of her skis had some nice rocker added to it from the fall as well. it was ice from about 200-300 feet above the choke all the way to the cliff in the apron, with some soft snow that still hadn't slid on the sides. the second victim was a real trooper, totally disregarding her knee injury to help her friend. glad to hear both are doing well and recovering.

[Trackhead]

I used to fly medical heli stuff, and this is why I quit.

Fuck that, flying in those conditions is nutty. Props to those who have the balls to continue doing it, but sometimes the risk to the patient and the crew hardly seem worth it.

[sfotex]

I used to fly medical heli stuff, and this is why I quit.

Fuck that, flying in those conditions is nutty. Props to those who have the balls to continue doing it, but sometimes the risk to the patient and the crew hardly seem worth it.

That shot was the last trip before we shut it down, we had pretty good vis (LZ was above clouds) and no wind up until that point. Other then the flat light, the pilot was pretty ok with everything.

[Trackhead]

That shot was the last trip before we shut it down, we had pretty good vis (LZ was above clouds) and no wind up until that point. Other then the flat light, the pilot was pretty ok with everything.

Yeah, that's what they all said right before they smacked into the ground. Sorry to be an ass, I've just seen too many go down flying in inclement weather.

[AltaPowderDaze]

Yeah, that's what they all said right before they smacked into the ground. Sorry to be an ass, I've just seen too many go down flying in inclement weather.

that's why we elected to walk/ski out rather than take a ride. the vis was pretty good otherwise and seemed reasonable to be flying. i do agree that sometimes it (the heli) is a hazard that needs to be avoided but in that situation with the info we had at the time, it was the way to go.

edit:

just to clarify, the vis was bad before ~3pm and turned bad again just after the last patient flew out.

[Slaag Master]

guess i will stop being a boner and start wearing my helmet

[Trackhead]

that's why we elected to walk/ski out rather than take a ride. the vis was pretty good otherwise and seemed reasonable to be flying. i do agree that sometimes it (the heli) is a hazard that needs to be avoided but in that situation with the info we had at the time, it was the way to go.

I'm not criticizing you guys, as ultimately, it's the pilots decision to fly or not.

BTW, I think that's the same LZ Tumbledown utilized in his cartwheel off the Dresden.

[zion zig zag]

The heli is way overused in Utah, and I'm not just talking about mountain stuff, that's probably the place it's most needed. But I don't know how many times I've seen someone flown when they were damn near sixes by ground.

In conditions news, the rock was warm and dry today and we threw down 10 pitches of trad in LCC. Hopefully this weather makes corn cause I still have stuff to do.

[powski3]

Hopefully this weather makes corn cause I still have stuff to do.

Anyone know if we got a freeze last night? Hoping a corn cycle gets going.

[PowderAlltheTime]

I use the Wizard's formula to help decide. Here it is from TTips:

I use the 50° rule. Been using it for, hell... as long as I can remember(same medicine?).
If the low temperature at the airport was above 50° and skies were clear=marginal, no refreeze. Below fifty is good. Below 40° and you can stay out all day iffen ya follow the softening.

[powski3]

Skied SE aspect from ~10k this morning at about 9. Enjoyable and almost corn. Wish we'd had time to go back up and ski NW facing with the sun, as it seemed like it received a decent freeze. Below about 9k was mush.

[icelanticskier]

I use the Wizard's formula to help decide. Here it is from TTips:

I use the 50° rule. Been using it for, hell... as long as I can remember(same medicine?).
If the low temperature at the airport was above 50° and skies were clear=marginal, no refreeze. Below fifty is good. Below 40° and you can stay out all day iffen ya follow the softening.

life before intertoobz. or no intertoobz at all. ya used to have to fail and figure, fail and figure again till ya got it right. now we got a search button.

hope all that 700+ inches becomes useful for y'all for more than a few minutes at a time soon. summer snowpack cometh..........

rog

[wra]

The figure helps prevent fail.
Using a rotary phone, a person could call time and get the current temperature at the airport.
Then, (wonders of technology)turn on the weather radio, get a forecast, current temperatue and low temperature. Still the easiest way.
No intertoobs required.
Gonna be awhile before summer snow. Even then, it's faster when it freezes.

[Trackhead]

Good day with Gnarwhale and Tom on the north face of Timp.

We skied the face of Timp in clouds at 10am. Good firm neve, somewhat shallow refreeze, good mid-elevation freeze/thaw occurring. Some climbers in the Grunge said it was pretty icy.

[salida]

Deseret road is still officially closed for the year, but the gate was open...

Snowline near the end of the summer road. Loads of coverage up high. Stiff snow up high today, corn-ish snow down low.

[PROVO]

the north face of Timp.

fucking solid. you guys rock! I've also been drooling over that line for some time. way to go for it in the shitty viz.

[Johnny Deep]

Deseret road is still officially closed for the year, but the gate was open...

Snowline near the end of the summer road. Loads of coverage up high. Stiff snow up high today, corn-ish snow down low.

Nice. I'll have to wander over and take a peak.

[tyfalk]

Anyone go out today? Looks like upper LCC/BCC got at least a few?

[ectreeskier11]

there was a solid 8 inches of new snow when i left grizzly at 1:30 today, and it was coming down very hard. it was very, very touchy, i cut across the top of the gully near the bottom and cracks shot everywhere.

[tyfalk]

For sure if my math is right it looks like about 13 new at Alta mid mtn. Was the snow right side up?

[ectreeskier11]

yeah it was definitely getting lighter, skins were not functioning well first lap but seemed to be OK after that. it was that type of shit that, if you get out onto a little steeper slope, will just give away, which is normally just really annoying but in the right spot i could see this packing a good punch if it gave out. maybe as it cools down it'll settle out but it just didn't seem to have bonded well at all to the underlying crust. 13 by now definitely sounds possible.

[Wintergreen]

Dusk Patrol tonight was really good. Skied 9500-7500 north facing 30-40 degrees steepness at 8:30 p.m. 12-15 inches new snow came in really light, only .70 inches of water! But temps in the upper 30s made the snow feel wet below ~8750? We avoided starting zones and just skied the boring 2000 foot runout with no activity. The only signs of instability were limited to point releases off trees. Although it seemed ripe for friction caused wet slides if you needed to ski steeper terrain, but the steeper breakovers we skied over stayed put. Showery snow today in Alta, but each squall that would come through would lay down a few inches really quickly. Really nice to ski classic lines in good snow with no one around. I'll be avoiding big steep lines and known starting zones personally, as it seems like the danger is escalating on that terrain over the next ~48 hours. I was reluctant to post anything, as it is nice having the place to yourself.

Oh, and Trackhead, heres an aerial shot of the north face of Timp (nice job) from February of '08 and one of my favorite shots of you're line on Monte Cristo from this January.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/bi2/attach/jpg.gif
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/bi2/attach/jpg.gif

[lionelhutz]

Deseret road is still officially closed for the year, but the gate was open...

Snowline near the end of the summer road. Loads of coverage up high. Stiff snow up high today, corn-ish snow down low.

Jorts made the hike much easier.