Loveland Pass

[AltaPowderDaze]

this is scary:

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2...73204119622341


SUMMIT COUNTY - Hoping to avert additional serious accidents in the slide-prone early spring snowpack, avalanche experts recently converged on Loveland Pass .

The experts wanted to send a safety message directly at the growing number of skiers and snowboarders who seek their powder bliss in the local backcountry but who don't have the necessary avalanche gear.

Sparked by Shelly Grail, the U.S. Forest Service snow ranger for the Dillon district, the collaborative effort included representatives from the Summit County Avalanche Office, an adjunct to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center; the Arapahoe Basin ski patrol; and Backcountry Access, the Boulder-based purveyor of avalanche transceivers and other rescue and safety gear.

Altogether, Grail said they contacted about 150 skiers and snowboarders during the day, discovering that only about 40 were equipped with avalanche transceivers, the two-way beacons that help locate buried avalanche victims.

That's not a good ratio, considering that 91 people have been caught in slides around the pass between 1962 and 2003, including five fatal accidents.

"A lot of people didn't even have packs on," Grail said, explaining that the drive-by lure of the terrain at Loveland Pass appears to attract numerous casual backcountry enthusiasts - and not all of them have the training or experience that helps ensure safe travel in avalanche terrain, she said.

On a day when the parking area atop the 11,990-foot pass was jammed from early until late, Grail said she was amazed at the number of laps made by some of the riders.

"The energy was great out there," she said. "But it would be great to see more preparation. It was surprising to see how many people said that they have beacons, but weren't wearing them."

There's a widespread perception that much of the terrain around the pass is relatively safe, so beacons aren't needed. But that could end up being a fatal miscalculation. As recently as 1991, a trio of hikers triggered a large avalanche from near the bottom of a slide path near the CDOT maintenance station, leaving one victim fatally covered by six feet of chokingly dense debris.

Wearing a beacon offers the best chance for a rescue, enabling searchers to hone in on the transmitting signal and then dig down to free a buried victim. The odds of survival diminish rapidly with burial time. After 30 minutes under the snow, most slide victims suffocate. Shovels and probe poles are the other rescue necessities.

There is potential for serious accidents at Loveland Pass, said Brad Sawtell, a Breckenridge-based forecaster with the CAIC.

Sawtell said that a buried weak layer can give way even after the upper layers have been compacted by skiers and boarders. And Sawtell said that while CDOT does blast some of the major slide paths at the pass - including the Professor above the A-Basin parking lot and the Seven Sisters on the east side of the pass - much of the area is not subject to avalanche control work.

Dozens of slides, both triggered and natural releases, are witnessed every winter, Sawtell said.

"Loveland Pass has been on my radar screen the last couple years," Sawtell said. "I do get nervous (at the prospect of avalanche accidents), which is a shame because the terrain is just so awesome up there."

not good odds with the beacons. just over a quarter were beeping.

it won't be too long until they start exploring their options either moderate access and give tickets for not having appropriate gear.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Nice find APD! I'm guessing you have no idea about the JONGitude present at many of the shuttleable BC locations in CO. Unlike many other states, we have serious avalanche terrain accessable from roads you must drive to get to the ski area. An UT eqivalent might be a a road above Patsy Marley you'd have to travel to get to Alta. You can simply get out of your SUV and instantly be in avi terrain. No uphill effort is required. I've been working extensively to increase awarness at Berthoud Pass specifically. I'd guess to statistics presented above would apply to BP as well. Often times I've been accused of increasing BC usage by promoting safety. My opinion is that more well educated users is better than less uneducated ones. I think your point in very valid that if BC skiers prove to be systematically reckless in ignoring the avalanche hazard, our access could be jepordized.

www.berthoudpass.org

[lemon boy]

I'd call bullshit on the 40% number.

4%

maybe.

Nice to see a concerted effort to raise awareness there.

[LaramieSkiBum]

40/150 = 26%

40% , 26%, or 4% all suck ass.

Had a couple jongs pass a few of us doing cameron pass out CO 14 - no gear. We had just done a few snow tests and opted not to summit - slope slid the next morning, trapping one.

Jackasses who hiked above us also started skiing immediatly above us while we where traversing to get to our line

Maybe death signage like you see at "the canyons" or anyother BC gate should be posted at the car lots.

[marshalolson]

i have had people laugh at me at loveland (about 4 years ago) and berthoud (this year) for bringing a pack...

them: "dude, you going camping or what?"
me: "no just dont want me or my buddies to die"
them: "pussy"
me: "

[snowfire]

Had a couple jongs pass a few of us doing cameron pass out CO 14 - no gear.

at cameron pass? Wow. Those peaks are one place where you don't want to mess around. I don't think I've ever seen anyone up there who wasn't beeping, but I'm sure it happens more than I'd like to think. I've seen a few snowboarders hiking the S. Diamond alone before. Not the best idea.

Now Loveland Pass, I think LB's 4% is probably accurate.

[shera]

Interesting. I'm starting to look over on the cornice side, getting a hankering...

FOBP is doing some really cool things to promote backcountry safety. And CAIC of course. Maybe a partnership with a ski area, either Loveland or A Basin with a regular schedule of lectures and beacon practice would be helpful too.

It's really cool to read that A Basin patrol was involved with that day on the pass. And they hosted Halsted and CAIC with a search practice day this winter. I wish Loveland ski area would take a cue from that. I know several patrollers there that love the backcountry as much as any of us and have some amazing knowledge/experience they could share.

One other thing - when I talk to people that don't have beacons, the single biggest reason is the cost. If only they were $100 instead of $300. Maybe if a group got used ones throughout the year and then had a big beacon sale some more people could get properly equipped...

[LaramieSkiBum]

i don't know much about electronics and R&D involved in beacons, but to me they seem extreemely simple. Do their high costs reflect the lack of volume that a company can move or is it actual manufacturing costs? We need some BCA maggots on this board!

[Mountain Junkie]

Do their high costs reflect the lack of volume that a company can move or is it actual manufacturing costs?

Probably both. Manufacturing cost is related to volume. Actual cost is probably around $80-$100.

As for the prohibitive cost of beacons, I'm calling bs. Someone who has $600 worth of ski or snowboard equipment, another $300-$600 worth of clothing, who will spend $20 on gas to ski on the pass doesn't have enough money for a beacon? Bullshit. It's an excuse to justify their actions. The real problem is a lack of awareness and the herd mentality. There is NO negative feedback to the unprepared so it ends up justifying their current actions (I realize this happens at all levels of experience).

Not carrying a beacon is really a symptom of not having the requisite knowledge. If these people actually spent the time to read an avalanche awareness book, they would realize that not having the ability to perform self rescue is a huge mistake. Which, in turn, would (hopefully) alter their behavior. But you don't see this happening, so you can conclude that most of these people are ignorant w.r.t. backcountry travel.

[Below Zero]

Tell me is this is being an asshole:

When stopping to pick up people from the bottom of the pass, yell out, "Whoever has a beacon, probe, and shovel on them can have ride up"

This might help people recognize!

[lemon boy]

hacksaw says he turns his beacon onto receive as he drives by just to "see."

I don't stop unless I see someone with a shovel or a pack that may contain one. If I do then I ask about beacons and anyone that has one is welcome to a ride. I don't ever stop at the love pass turnaround since there's never anyone with a pack.

I don't think it is asshole at all.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Tell me is this is being an asshole:

When stopping to pick up people from the bottom of the pass, yell out, "Whoever has a beacon, probe, and shovel on them can have ride up"

This might help people recognize!

No beep, no jeep!!! Been doing it for years. I'm not really concerned about being an asshole.

This brings me to the question of "how do you educate the idiotic?" Many of those not wearing beacons and not having the proper knowledge are aware of avalanches, they've seen them in the movies and on the news. They may underestimate their frequency and effects, but they are aware. My experience is they are too hardheaded to rationalize their actions. I went through a good five year period where I would honestly try to educate everyone I came in contact with. Many "Fuck you's, pussy's" and later, I quite even trying. Those looking for education and knowledge will find it. Those too stuporn to admit their own ignorance are a tough bunch of eggs to crack.

[Mountain Junkie]

Those too stuporn to admit their own ignorance are a tough bunch of eggs to crack.

Don't mess with natural selection.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Don't mess with natural selection.

This is the attitude most of my friends take, I'd like nothing more than to agree. I've got two issues however:

If BC skiers/snowboards get the reputation as a ignorant group, our access to public lands may be in jeopardy.

Ingorance leads to SAR and medical situations. These situations put peoples' well being in danger. I've been on one body recovery and it was enough to make me realize, in a selfish way, that these types of missions have negative effects on everyone, no just the dead/hurt/lost.

[AltaPowderDaze]

damn, so it was worse than we thought:

I still think the 40 skiers/boarders with rescue gear are a bit safer than the 110 skiers/boarders without up on Loveland Pass.

Actually, the media got these numbers wrong. YES, kids the media quite offen gets things wrong, D'oh!

For the record, the correct numbers where, 142 skiers surveyed. Out of those survyed 11 had "rescue gear (i.e., beacons, shovels and probes).

Halsted Morris
CAIC

what's that like 12%? time for some serious education out there. i hope it helps.

[lemon boy]

7.746478873%

don't you have a calculator or something?

[AltaPowderDaze]

7.746478873%

don't you have a calculator or something?

yep, but i wasn't going to get out of bed to find it. i was pretty tired. i guess i could have figured out it was atleast under 10% on my own.

[lemon boy]

you post from your bed and don't have a calculator on your computer? Weirdo!

[Graupel]

... This brings me to the question of "how do you educate the idiotic?" Many of those not wearing beacons and not having the proper knowledge are aware of avalanches, they've seen them in the movies and on the news. They may underestimate their frequency and effects, but they are aware. My experience is they are too hardheaded to rationalize their actions. I went through a good five year period where I would honestly try to educate everyone I came in contact with. Many "Fuck you's, pussy's" and later, I quite even trying. Those looking for education and knowledge will find it. Those too stuporn to admit their own ignorance are a tough bunch of eggs to crack.

Ian McCammon presented on this very issue at ISSW 2004: effective avalanche education. He makes some very interesting analogies between backcountry risk and the risk invovled in other activities, like sex and drugs. His postulation is that we can learn from other public education programs that deal with personal risk and apply the learnings to avalanche education in hopes of a greater success rate.

It really is a tough challenge, especially since bc access is so convenient in some places.

Chek out the abstract from http://issw.net/abstracts.htm?PaperSession=10:

SEX, DRUGS AND THE WHITE DEATH: LESSONS FOR AVALANCHE EDUCATORS FROM HEALTH AND SAFETY CAMPAIGNS
Ian McCammon
(Thursday, September 23 at 13:30)
The implied goal of most avalanche education is to reduce the number of avalanche deaths by promoting better choices in avalanche terrain. This goal closely parallels many public health and safety campaigns, whose aim has also been to promote better choices in the face of risk. Despite being generously funded, carefully designed and widely implemented, many of these campaigns have produced very modest results. In fact, the literature suggests that failure is more common than success, and that well-intentioned efforts can even worsen the problems they were intended to solve.
Modern avalanche education has an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of these past efforts. This paper presents the results of a survey of the risk communication and prevention literature, and shows that unsuccessful programs tend to be dominated by one or more fallacies that overestimate the value of information and underestimate the importance of personal choice and past experience. Using historical examples and current research results from cognitive science, this paper shows how each of these fallacies has lead to failures in health and safety education, and how modern avalanche education can avoid similar traps. This study finds that successful programs incorporate three components that enhance decision making in the face of personal risk: 1) values-based characterization of the hazard, 2) simple heuristics that gage the degree of exposure, and 3) simple mitigation measures. The paper concludes by showing that while modern avalanche education has many of the ingredients for success, significant benefits could be realized by presenting students with heuristic tools for making decisions in avalanche terrain.

[Jtoke]

Mid November this season...fifth or sixth day at the pass we were greeted by SAR and Clear Creek sherriff's deps at the top. Clearly visible was the slide accross the valley in three of the chutes below the cornice. Person that started this slide reportedly was thrown over a 20 foot rock and was not burried. Later found out he'd hiked the ridge from the pass after being buried to his waste that morning in a decent sized slide in Grizzly Gulch. No peeper no pack. Then there were the three people we met on the ridge who had no gear, but were informing us of all the danger areas we were hiking to at their secret spot. Couple days before that watched a young boarder from Denver gouge a deep shot trying to get on a rail we'd set up. Brand new board, and about 15" of powder over the ground. Seems like Loveland gets more ignorant people than other places. I love picking up the trash in the lots. Would be a great place for regular clinics, even signs or something to tell people of the dangers, even in a notsobackcountry place off a road.

[Vicious]

Mid November this season...fifth or sixth day at the pass we were greeted by SAR and Clear Creek sherriff's deps at the top. Clearly visible was the slide accross the valley in three of the chutes below the cornice. Person that started this slide reportedly was thrown over a 20 foot rock and was not burried. Later found out he'd hiked the ridge from the pass after being buried to his waste that morning in a decent sized slide in Grizzly Gulch. No peeper no pack. Then there were the three people we met on the ridge who had no gear, but were informing us of all the danger areas we were hiking to at their secret spot. Couple days before that watched a young boarder from Denver gouge a deep shot trying to get on a rail we'd set up. Brand new board, and about 15" of powder over the ground. Seems like Loveland gets more ignorant people than other places. I love picking up the trash in the lots. Would be a great place for regular clinics, even signs or something to tell people of the dangers, even in a notsobackcountry place off a road.

You're right on about Loveland...plenty of ignorant dolts who wouldn't know danger until it hit and buried them.

The problem with Loveland Pass is that it's so easily accessible to all of Summit County as well as Denver. My best guess is that an overwhelming majority of people on the Pass are kids just wanting to build kickers, who assume bringing any type of gear is unnecessary. Now, there are the select few who actually do make the full hike, with gear, in search of the untracked, but the 4% mentioned above it probably on the high-end on a good day.

It would be great to be able to spread further awareness, but that's a big task to take on.