Avy Incident Report

[Atrain505]

Guess now is a good of time as any time.

Tuesday, Feb 8th, two days ago.
Pemberton Ice Cap.
East face. An area we are familiar with and have been to before this season.

Skied some North East aspects in the same zone in the morning that were ok. One small release.
It was probably around 1 pm by this point. Sun had been shining on the slope all day.
Decided we were going to do some on slope filming. We picked the features we were going to shoot from the bottom and doubled up.

There is a steep upper section than it flattens out, then gets steep again. We were on top of the 2nd section. The ridge type feature above some cliff bands in the 2nd section was pure ice. We talked about doing a shot there and PY backed off. Wise man with many years of experience. First time I've ever seen him back off of something. I guess he had a feeling. So Maxim and I decided to go to his feature which was lower down.

I jumped off a small 3 foot air into a chute/bowl area with the intention of going to a slight spine that made its way down to a cliff band to shoot. The jump was fine but as I was skiing across the snow everything broke a foot deep.

Everything happened in split seconds and I had 10,000 thoughts and scenarios overlapping each other. The dominant thought was always analyzing the situation and trying to get out. I was traveling to my left and my first reaction was to straight-line. That thought evaporated by looking down and seeing that the entire slope was breaking all the way down to the glacier. To the left of me everything was breaking for hundreds of feet. To the right everything was breaking but not only about 100 feet over due to cliff bands. I looked above to see it breaking probably about 50-75 feet above me also to analyze that PY and Maxim were not caught in the slide. I shifted to my right and dug my edges in as hard as I could to try to not get taken. I was quickly rushed into a chute to my right. It was quite apparent I was going for the ride. The snow was funneling against the left wall of the chute and literally banking off it like a wave and curling over about ten feet high. At this point I threw my poles and put my avalung in and bit down hard because I was 100% convinced I was going to be buried. I could hear Maxim yelling "avalanche, avalanche, watch him, watch him" to make sure the guys at the bottom were seeing my last seen point. The wave of snow off the left wall curled on top of me and I continued to fight it trying to go right. I was kinda swimming with my arms to try to keep my head up but I was using my skis to try to keep moving right. Right was my only chance to get of the thing. I popped out from under the snow and was still trying to get out. I eventually made it out of the side of the slide as I watched the whole slope crash down into the glacier and the snow continue to rush by me. Quick glance up hill to make sure nothing else was coming down. Took my avalung out. Bent down and took a huge breath and screamed "Fuck!" a couple times. Yelled up to Maxim and PY that I was skiing down. Found my poles quickly and skied down to the sleds, fell over and relaxed. I hope to never experience that again or anything close to it.

Lessons learned.
1. PY backing off on something because he didn't like the feeling of what the snow was doing. Listen to the more experienced users. They will not always be there though.
2. The ice on the ridge was the most apparent layer of ice I had seen since the rain. The snow had clearly been blown completely off of it. The bowl/chute the wind had clearly not transported the snow. I should have seen this sign.
3. Terrain management and travel. In general I always maintain safe passage priorities in the mountains. I stay to ridges and spines. I do not cross big bowls. Have safety zones in mind, etc. Because we had picked out features from below I simply ignored this and was traveling to the feature. We should have ignored that feature because really there wasn't a "safe" way to get to it.

I'm sure there will be more as I think about the events more.

Final thoughts: I was convinced I was going to be buried, but never stopped fighting to get out of the slide. PY who had a clear vantage point of the whole thing later said, "Its a good thing you are an athlete because I don't think you would have gotten out of that otherwise." Even though I was convinced on burial I was also somewhat comforted by the fact that my two partners were above me and safe and could come down quickly to find me. One more at the bottom for spotting. But the biggest thing was that even when I was completely submerged I was still actively trying to get out.

Avy gear: I have thought for a while I should invest in an avy air bag system. I've just been too broke is the real reason I haven't pulled the trigger. I still think I want one. We talked about an air bag afterwards. There is no denying in major catastrophic slides, like xavier de la rue's from a couple years ago the air bag 100% saved his life. In this slide I would have 100% pulled the cord no question, but I think there is no way I would have made it out the side of the slide with one. I definitely would have been dragged all the way to the bottom with potential injuries. PY said he has refused to wear one in the past with a different film crew because for that reason, but agreed for certain big terrain he wouldn't mind having it. Interesting topic for debate anyways.

Here's some pics. No good pics because I was lazy, didn't want to change lenses, clouds were moving in and we were all needless to say ready to go home.





You can kinda see two sets of turns in the bed surface. Those are PY and Maxim's coming down after the fact. Approximately where the slide started. The cliff below those was the intended feature and the lookers left hand side of it was where the snow was "barreling" like a wave.

Ended up to looker's left out of frame probably 2/3rd's of the way down the slope.

Stay safe folks.

[LeeLau]

Huge crown athan. Really glad you aren't dead. That's a few close calls too many in a small group of people - myself included.

[nortonwhis]

thanks for the report

[khyber.pass]

Glad you're ok, Athan, shit.

Hard to tell from these two photos but due to width this could be a size 2?

Report to CAC?

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Thanks for the write up - glad it turned out OK. Couple of questions if you don't mind:

1. Avalung - obviously stayed in your mouth in this case. I have always wondered how difficult it would be to keep it in when fighting in a slide. Any thoughts?

2. Small Prior Release - Was this something that was discussed before moving into somewhat similar terrain in the same zone (by somewhat similar, I mean it occured on a NE aspect and you moved to a E aspect)? Did it raise concerns in your group? Did PY back off due to this (what were his concerns)?

3. Weather/Snowpack - Aside from the sun/warming and ice layer, anything else you were concerned with in the snowpack?

Again, no need to answer if you don't want to. Not arm chairing (at least not intentionally) - just trying to learn.

[CG]

Wow man glad you're ok. That's a helluva slide to walk away from.

[Mark-R]

wow man, nice work getting out of that. Glad you're ok, and even got your poles!

[skiingnow]

holy crap athan.

glad you came out ok.

its a numbers came, but we always have to hedging our bets.

risk vs benefits... bla bla bla. you know what I mean.

get out soon so to beat the mental dragons.

[powski]

Thanks for sharing, glad for the positive outcome and all is ok.
Respects

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

That is HUDGE, to walk away from that unscathed (physically...) is something else. Buy a lottery ticket.

Do you think the force of you landing had anything to do with it or was that quite awhile before it gave?

[Atrain505]

I don't mind answering questions at all. That's the whole reason I posted the thread. I have really appreciated similar discussions in the past because I have learned valuable bits of information from them. Hopefully this thread does the same.

Hard to tell from these two photos but due to width this could be a size 2?
Report to CAC?

No report. Perhaps I should. I would say size 2, but I am no expert.

1. Avalung - obviously stayed in your mouth in this case. I have always wondered how difficult it would be to keep it in when fighting in a slide. Any thoughts?
2. Small Prior Release - Was this something that was discussed before moving into somewhat similar terrain in the same zone (by somewhat similar, I mean it occured on a NE aspect and you moved to a E aspect)? Did it raise concerns in your group? Did PY back off due to this (what were his concerns)?
3. Weather/Snowpack - Aside from the sun/warming and ice layer, anything else you were concerned with in the snowpack?

1. My thought process regarding the ava lung went like this. "Throw poles. Get it in mouth (which I did with my hands). Oh god what if I waited too long? I always hear how if you wait to long you're screwed. YES. It's in." Honestly did not even remotely think about it after that. I guess I just bit down hard instinctively. Next time I thought about it was after I was out to the side and spit it out. Perhaps it helped that earlier in the day I had it in my mouth and took a few breaths. That couple hour ago familiarity could have made a difference.
2. Small prior release was discussed very little. Should have been more. The small release was caused by a major impact (landing), not that it really matters. Did not raise concerns, perhaps it should have. I'm not sure why PY backed off. We should discuss it. He was the one who caused the prior release and commented on the ice on top and how the snow looked good below. He looked uneasy, which I have never seen from him. His confidence in the mountains usually scares me.
3. Only concern was the ice layer and clearly it wasn't a big enough concern. We are blessed and cursed here in the Coast Mountains that 99% of the time we can get away with skiing things you couldn't anywhere else. I am rarely ever concerned with any layer beyond the recent storm cycle here. That false sense of security perhaps contributed to this incident.

Buy a lottery ticket.
Do you think the force of you landing had anything to do with it or was that quite awhile before it gave?

I never play the poor man's lottery. Maybe tomorrow I will. Very small impact was at least a few seconds before the slide began.

[skifishbum]

Damn glad you're okay
thanks for taking the time to write this up
stay safe the rest of the season

[goldenboy]

Glad you're OK, thanks for writing something up.

Listen to the more experienced users.

True, but this can be a double-edged sword. Let's say it was reversed and PY felt good about the slope and you didn't- chances are pretty good that you defer to the more experienced person's judgment and ski it. True, a handful of people will stand their ground and trust their own judgment, but most won't. It's something that was forcefully driven home to me this season, despite my own 15+ years of bc experience. SUPER impressed that PY backed off in the middle of filming.

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

I don't mind answering questions at all. That's the whole reason I posted the thread. I have really appreciated similar discussions in the past because I have learned valuable bits of information from them. Hopefully this thread does the same.

Appreciate you sharing the experience and Q&A session with the rest of us. That slide just looks massive, still blown away you walked away so easily!

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

1. My thought process regarding the ava lung went like this. "Throw poles. Get it in mouth (which I did with my hands). Oh god what if I waited too long? I always hear how if you wait to long you're screwed. YES. It's in." Honestly did not even remotely think about it after that. I guess I just bit down hard instinctively. Next time I thought about it was after I was out to the side and spit it out. Perhaps it helped that earlier in the day I had it in my mouth and took a few breaths. That couple hour ago familiarity could have made a difference.
2. Small prior release was discussed very little. Should have been more. The small release was caused by a major impact (landing), not that it really matters. Did not raise concerns, perhaps it should have. I'm not sure why PY backed off. We should discuss it. He was the one who caused the prior release and commented on the ice on top and how the snow looked good below. He looked uneasy, which I have never seen from him. His confidence in the mountains usually scares me.
3. Only concern was the ice layer and clearly it wasn't a big enough concern. We are blessed and cursed here in the Coast Mountains that 99% of the time we can get away with skiing things you couldn't anywhere else. I am rarely ever concerned with any layer beyond the recent storm cycle here. That false sense of security perhaps contributed to this incident.

Thanks for following up - good to hear the avalung was easy to deploy and stay in. I guess the otherstuff is just interesting to think about in retrospect and hopefully take something away from it. Thanks again for writing this up.

[powder11]

Final thoughts: I never stopped fighting to get out of the slide.

In the few close calls I've had, this seems to be the one thing I always come back to. Never, ever give up until you are out of it or it is apparent that you're buried. If it is too exposed or there is no island of safety, you either don't ski it or be ok with the fact that you have no out and could die if things don't go as planned. The only reason you would do the latter is if there is no other way out of a situation. There has to be a fine line with "kodak goggles" when you film, but keep in mind there are plenty of shots that have safe outlets and will still wow the audience.

[cacforecaster]

Thanks for sharing your experience on this forum. We would really appreciate it if you had the time to fill in an avalanche incident report on our website.

www.avalanche.ca

You can find the reporting link here. You may have to copy it and paste into your browser.

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletin...reports/submit

Your report will help us keep an up to date incident data base, and it is good information for producing the bulletins.

Thank you!

CAC Forecaster