UDOT forecaster killed in BCC slide 4/11/2013

[ISL]

Sad news. Warm thoughts to friends and family.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...rkers-say.html

www.ksl.com/?sid=24759934&nid=148

[old goat]

What a shame. Hard to believe they have to work alone. Nobody knew there was a problem until he didn't make it home after work--reported missing at 730PM.

[Bunion 2020]

Shit......

[dark_star]

Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. Very sad.

[Hacksaw]

.... Hard to believe they have to work alone. Nobody knew there was a problem until he didn't make it home after work--reported missing at 730PM.

At CAIC we wold call in after getting back to the truck.

Very sad situation.

[monkfish]

Prelim report is up with site photos

[icelanticskier]

Prelim report is up with site photos

^^^^^^excellent thoughtful detailed report of a most unfortunate incident. twas his time. onto bigger and better things. vibes to family/friends, and especially his little girl.

rog

[monkfish]

this photo and caption really get me



Looking downhill, you can see his ascent track on the left of the photo coming up towards the camera. He ascended the gentler, northeast facing slope and then crossed over a divide in the center of the photo onto a steeper, east facing slope on the right of the photo (where the avalanche occurred) that had different snow characteristics due to the different aspect with respect to wind and sun.

[Skihuckster]

Raising a glass...and pouring some out.

[anemic]

BT's account is gripping. What got me was that Bruce wrote that this could have happened to any of us.

[hop]

this photo and caption really get me



Looking downhill, you can see his ascent track on the left of the photo coming up towards the camera. He ascended the gentler, northeast facing slope and then crossed over a divide in the center of the photo onto a steeper, east facing slope on the right of the photo (where the avalanche occurred) that had different snow characteristics due to the different aspect with respect to wind and sun.

A safe zone is only a safe zone if you're in it. I got caught by a small slide when I was 5' away from my safe zone last year - thought I was still good but obviously not. Looks like Craig made a fatal mistake by going over the ridge.

BT's account is gripping. What got me was that Bruce wrote that this could have happened to any of us.

At the end of the report BT mentions that the outcome would have been the same even if Craig had a partner, but what if (big what if) his partner said "hey Craig, you're getting close to the edge there, time for a kick step"? The slide could have been avoided altogether. Partners are often seen as a liability, but they can also be an asset. I hope my partners are more the latter vs. the former, where we're looking out for each other in case we drop our guard for a second, or a few steps. I don't rely on them just to dig me out if I screw up - I rely on them to keep me out of trouble in the first place. Talking about the conditions and route before/during ascent keeps us paying attention to where we are, where we're going and what we're doing.

Nothing we can do to change what's happened so RIP Craig and thanks for all of your hard work. Be safe out there!

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Wow - how very sad. Condolences to his family and friends. That report is a difficult, but beneficial, read. Agreed such a small decision that changed things. That photo and caption above are really eye opening.

[bodywhomper]

condolences to family and friends.

for those interested, there's also an arguably worthwhile thread about this incidence on ttips, "Avalanche death in Utah".