Fuckin' lucky...

[Lindahl]

[icelanticskier]

lucky yes, but at least he skied into it slowly with what seems like some deliberate somewhat careful turns vs dropping in for the slay. had he skied in faster he may have gotten too far down and into/below the crown and swept down. bet the line skied nicely for him once the dust settled

rog

[totaliboard]

a rare video in which its good to see someone getting arrested

[neufox47]

Man, that is some hard slab. Scary when 1" of ski penetration breaks.

[sqikunst]

Was his body actually holding up the rest of the derbi? Cause there are still chunks above him but they are not moving anymore? Way to get lucky in steep terrain looked like a long way to get your ass dragged down.

[spook]

can't believe what he was sitting on didn't go. i didn't really get a sense of size until right about where he stopped below that outcropping. then i was like sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit.

edit: did the slab that released skiers right of the outcropping basically stop the pile was on from sliding by taking up it's path?

[anemic]

looks like it may have been a great opportunity to ski cut while wearing a rope? I'm thankful you were able to stay on top and arrest.

[Lindahl]

looks like it may have been a great opportunity to ski cut while wearing a rope? I'm thankful you were able to stay on top and arrest.

Wasn't me, just a random vid that popped up on facebook and ski cuts don't really work on hard slabs. Only good for a nice soft slab on top.

[summit]

I agree with the thread title.

Who drops steep chutes in the CO alpine in considerable conditions in February?

[totaliboard]

did the slab that released skiers right of the outcropping basically stop the pile was on from sliding by taking up it's path?

thats wat i was thinking

[Shadam]

quite the educational vid ...

[Lindahl]

I agree with the thread title.

Who drops steep chutes in the CO alpine in considerable conditions in February?

Looking at the other video he has from just this year (which looks to have another lucky save), his luck is definitely running low.

[peace_coast]

http://www.millerperspectives.com/20...utte-colorado/

Response from the guy's partner. I try not to judge poor decisions made by experienced backcountry travelers since a lot of it comes down to differences in risk tolerance and simple mistakes, but the lack of humility from these guys is really troubling. Apparently because they're so experienced going for a ride on a hard slab in exposed terrain isn't really a big deal. I wish these guys luck with that attitude, but I'm glad they're skiing in a different state than me.

[JTrue]

http://www.millerperspectives.com/20...utte-colorado/

Response from the guy's partner. I try not to judge poor decisions made by experienced backcountry travelers since a lot of it comes down to differences in risk tolerance and simple mistakes, but the lack of humility from these guys is really troubling. Apparently because they're so experienced going for a ride on a hard slab in exposed terrain isn't really a big deal. I wish these guys luck with that attitude, but I'm glad they're skiing in a different state than me.

Yeah, pretty alarming to say the least. It doesn't take much to get you, look at the small slides that took people out earlier this season in Jackson. Pinballing down a chute no matter what the runout looks like is ill advised. But since that didn't happen, it's now a "managed" risk in retrospect.

[goldenboy]

In a normal snow year, it looks like this (line just a hair looker's right of summit). Not as much of a couloir.


Some moraine features and a small lake in the runout. Those guys skied a lot of big lines this winter.

[dorikin]

At least when this guy dies we will get to see it firsthand.

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[summit]

http://www.millerperspectives.com/20...utte-colorado/

Response from the guy's partner. I try not to judge poor decisions made by experienced backcountry travelers since a lot of it comes down to differences in risk tolerance and simple mistakes, but the lack of humility from these guys is really troubling. Apparently because they're so experienced going for a ride on a hard slab in exposed terrain isn't really a big deal. I wish these guys luck with that attitude, but I'm glad they're skiing in a different state than me.

The initial post by the guy who rode is a fair reflection. To paraphrase, he though there was hardslab, but that it would not be triggerable, and that if it did, it would break at his feet. In retrospect, he said he was incorrect and, in addition, poorly executed his entry. That assessment seemed quite honest to me. Fundamentally, he misjudged both the level of hazard and the nature of that hazard (hard slabs are notorious for breaking above). Even misjudging one of these can leave no margin of safety for poor execution.

His partner's response was not a fair reflection. It was a hindsight rationalization and dismissal that had little to do with risk acceptance. I've said it repeatedly: if you are going to claim risk acceptance, you must truly understand and accurately assess the risk.

They have some amazing stoke on that site.

Edit: the partner's response to the "internet forums" criticisms is now apparently gone as is the original blog mention that this partner is "is a professional, he triggers avalanches for a living. He is very scientific about snow, and how to manage risk." The matter was rethought?

[neufox47]

The initial post by the guy who rode is a fair reflection. To paraphrase, he though there was hardslab, but that it would not be triggerable, and that if it did, it would break at his feet. In retrospect, he said he was incorrect and, in addition, poorly executed his entry. Fundamentally, he misjudged both the level of hazard and the nature of that hazard (hard slabs are notorious for breaking above). Even misjudging one of these can leave no margin of safety for poor execution.

His partner's response was not a fair reflection. It was a hindsight rationalization and dismissal that had little to do with risk acceptance. I've said it repeatedly: if you are going to claim risk acceptance, you must truly understand and accurately assess the risk.

They have some amazing stoke on that site.

Edit: the partner's response is now apparently gone.

Honest question, what hard slab conditions would one expect to break at their feet? Or is your point that there are none?

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[summit]

I would not trust any hard slab to react predictably in an actionable sense with relation to the termination of fracture propagation short of the slab boundary. In other words, it can only be trusted to break at your feet if your are standing on the slab's edge. The moment you cross that threshold, it could go anywhere. That is the biggest reason avalanche professionals do not ski-cut hard slab.

[Clownshoe]

Scary stuff. I hate hard slab. When I run into hard slab on avalanche control, I always re assess and expect it to break very high. Hard slab can even pull back into completely flat terrain, and it is almost impossible to ski cut safely because it almost always "lets you" get out onto the slab before it will break.

When shit goes wrong and its caught on tape, it always looks very obvious where the mistake was made.

The tricky part is anticipating those situations before they happen, when you are in the mountains, not when sitting in front of a keyboard.

[summit]

When shit goes wrong and its caught on tape, it always looks very obvious where the mistake was made.

The tricky part is anticipating those situations before they happen, when you are in the mountains, not when sitting in front of a keyboard.

Indeed. The evidence abounds of mistakes made by professionals as well as novices, educated and ignorant. We are but human. Nobody should be hung for mistakes, but, if nature lets us live, it behooves us to reflect honestly and learn as best we can. Maybe we'll get it right the next time... maybe not. Experience is a series on nonfatal errors learned from and analyzed.

[LeeLau]

Scary stuff. I hate hard slab. When I run into hard slab on avalanche control, I always re assess and expect it to break very high. Hard slab can even pull back into completely flat terrain, and it is almost impossible to ski cut safely because it almost always "lets you" get out onto the slab before it will break.

When I got swallowed in Fissile the slab was "only" approx 5 cms thick and pulled me right off the flat part of the ridgeline; what I thought was a safe spot. There have been reports (Tahoe region this year I think?) of hard slab pulling people off the flat spots behind cornices.

[Clownshoe]

can't believe what he was sitting on didn't go. i didn't really get a sense of size until right about where he stopped below that outcropping. then i was like sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit.

edit: did the slab that released skiers right of the outcropping basically stop the pile was on from sliding by taking up it's path?

This.

Holy shit.

Sweet self arrest with the whippets. Pretty calm to. Knowing what was below, buddy held it together pretty well.

I would have been shitting myself.

I needed to smoke a bowl to calm down after watching and I wasn't even there.

[Clownshoe]

Anybody else here have experience with whippets?

I never really thought they'd be any good for self arresting like this in an avalanche. Guess I'm wrong.

Just watched it again

WTF. Cool head

[John_B]

Had a small windslab pull out from under me on a mid thirty degree slope on a 30 foot tall slope and it worked perfectly arresting. However that is about as non threatening as possible of a situation. I've gotten more use out of them skinning up steep ice/frozen corn and have been super happy with them. Haven't even eviscerated myself yet.