Example of how lots of tracks doesn't mean much - Red Mountain Pass CO 2/17/2012

[1000-oaks]

X-post from Ski & Snowboard about brotardation, probably better posted here for educational value. Even though the slope was already heavily skied and hucked, just one more hit was one more too many.

[Core Shot]

wow, that was unreal

my first instinct was to haul ass , skate away from the avy (or at least lookers left), click out of binders to keep from being buried with skis on, or anything other than keep filming and shout "wooo hooo"

[icelanticskier]

why anyone would want to ski where there are already tracks is beyond me...............

rog

[covert]

i knew there was a method to your madness

[icelanticskier]

heh. always. orchestrated. a dance if you will. timed. executed. move on. return after next refresh. not until then. clean canvas. only way. etiquette. lost art.

rog

[covert]

y solo si?

[userA]

heh. always. orchestrated. a dance if you will. timed. executed. move on. return after next refresh. not until then. clean canvas. only way. etiquette. lost art.

rog

in the pnw it's called hitting the reset button

[fishbenk]

Newbie jong etc. here, and I am currently reading staying alive in avi terrain. I read that tracks down a slope are a positive in a long list of factors but they do not equal stability. My question is can a lot tracks down a slope decrease the stability in a slope? Maybe by punching holes in two layers that are starting to bond interrupting the process. Like tearing a whole sheet of paper vs tearing a sheet of paper with a bunch of hole punches through it? I don't know just thought I would ask the collective to gain some knowledge.

[PowTron]

Newbie jong etc. here, and I am currently reading staying alive in avi terrain. I read that tracks down a slope are a positive in a long list of factors but they do not equal stability. My question is can a lot tracks down a slope decrease the stability in a slope? Maybe by punching holes in two layers that are starting to bond interrupting the process. Like tearing a whole sheet of paper vs tearing a sheet of paper with a bunch of hole punches through it? I don't know just thought I would ask the collective to gain some knowledge.

This is a troll, right?

[jserra17]

Your instincts are good and may save your life someday. The fact that people were "wah-whooing" they should have been running shows how poorly trained they are. We have a lot of people making bad decisions out there and far too many are paying a terrible price. Three people died in a single slide outside Seattle last week - from a group of twelve. They went out immediately after a 20" storm on what was probably an unstable base. Basic Avie decision making 101: give the snow 24 hours to settle and bond. Freshies in the backcountry are great, but the fact that people want them so badly that they disregard basic decision making rules says that they are either not properly trained Or are ignoring what they know.

[couloirman]

Wow. Great video. Hard not to assume slopes are safe when they have that many tracks on them-- this is a great example for why you need to keep your guard up no matter what. Thanks for posting it.

[sfotex]

Interesting, you can see an outline of where the avy first breaks out before it breaks out- dunno if it's an old crown, or a shading where the angle changes on the slope, or what. The skier also landed on the edge of the rollover, it looks like the other lines landed above it.

[counterfeitfake]

I wonder if they'd been avoiding the blank spot in the middle because they didn't like the potential of a slide on the rollover?

[1000-oaks]

Can't tell if the slide actually started at the upper crown or if it began at the huck and propagated upward. Seems like it propagated, but when the camera pans high enough to show the upper crown it looks like the top half had already moved quite a bit. Hard to see, could it be two slides that merged?

[montanaskier]

spacial variability sucks

[cmsummit]

I know Ryan Cruze was involved in the recon mission for selecting this venue, per his Facebook post. I believe he's also one of the same people involved in coordinating the Montezuma event that also saw an avalanche, taking a female pro-snowboarder for a ride. Seems like he's very good at making not-so-great decisions.

[AlpiNord]

The San Juans have been dicey all season. Two have died. One near Wolf Creek and the other at Telluride less than 7 miles almost due west of US Basin a couple weeks ago. The bottom layer had been basically ball bearings from early on due to the fair weather. Unfortunately, ignorance is bliss and glad no one got hammered. My bet is there are a lot more close calls that we will not hear about. Red Mountain Pass is super easy access and there are all kinds of yahoos 'gittin' sum'.

Edit: a third died at Silverton, 3 1/2 miles away during boney and hard conditions, which then got dumped on....