Slide at Abasin

[AltaPowderDaze]

i know a little about a lot but i am a recreationalist and in no way anywhere near as knowledgeable as a someone who does this stuff as a living.

it sounds to me like the melt water hit an impedence layer and broke as a short wet slab. it then stepped down and entrained snow to the ground. i wasn't there but that's what the witnesses sound like they are saying.

glides are often natural and not skier triggered. i think that is becuase most glides are so deep that a skiers weight hardly affects it. most of the new materails out there list glides as sliding on the ground layer as a whole slab. this one appears to have slid on a crust or possibly facets that then stepped down to the ground. i am not familiar with such a thin snowpack so i really don't know much about continental slides and how they are termed. the ones i am familiar with look like this:



hacksaw should be able to shed more light on the layering in the slide and what they are calling it.

[Hacksaw]

hacksaw should be able to shed more light on the layering in the slide and what they are calling it.

Bob,

The U.S. Forest Service is currently conducting their own investigation. It would be inappropriate for me to comment about anything, until the investigation is wraped up. The CAIC has done its own review, and most of our information is on the CAIC website at:

http://geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanc...=44#AB05202005

Halsted Morris
CAIC

[powderhound]

That's some scary shit. Here's some pics of the slide at the Bird this year. From what I heard it slid overnight.

[powderhound]

Other one.

[Powder Seeker]

What an unfortunate incident. A good reminder to us all. My condolensces to the family.

[Core Shot]

Just read this account - I can understand being late for work, but what about using a cellphone or calling from work to report massive instabilty and collapsing of the snowpack??

Skiers: Conditions scary day before slide

By Kim Marquis
Summit County correspondent
May 26, 2005

SUMMIT COUNTY - A pair of skiers who said they skied Arapahoe Basin's Pallavicini face late the day before an avalanche killed a man there said snow conditions were so unstable that they were concerned for their safety.

The pair said they took the run Thursday between 2:30 and 3 p.m. and got stuck in the trees for 45-50 minutes in snow that kept collapsing under them as they tried to dig out.

"Me and my buddy Neal, we took the exact trail (where the avalanche released Friday) ... I was about 50 feet behind my buddy and I saw him get completely consumed by this mogul; I mean he completely disappeared," said Jon Wasserman, 23, an alpine skier from Breckenridge.

"At first I just laughed, but when I went down to help him it happened to me, as well," he added. "The snow beneath me completely collapsed and I fell about 2 1/2 to 3 feet deep into it, to the point that I couldn't find my boot and ski for about 20 minutes."

Wasserman said he found his boot, unclipped it from the binding, then took another 10 minutes to dig out his ski from underneath the snow.

"The whole time, there's 3 feet of snow around me," he said, "and every time I try to take a step onto it, it completely collapses."

Meanwhile, his buddy, Neal Bartram, 24, struggled in the snow 15 feet away.

"We were really scared of an avalanche," Wasserman said. "There was no stability whatsoever."

It took the men about 45 to 50 minutes to get out of the trees and onto the main run. They both said they regret not speaking to ski patrollers about the conditions Thursday but had to hustle to their car because they were late for work.

In a related story, the coroner said the victim apparently died of trauma and not suffocation (not that its any comfort to the next of kin).

[AltaPowderDaze]

In a related story, the coroner said the victim apparently died of trauma and not suffocation (not that its any comfort to the next of kin).

you are likely wrong here.

would you rather think your family member died a slow terrifying death or a quick one by trauma?

[Core Shot]

you are likely wrong here.

would you rather think your family member died a slow terrifying death or a quick one by trauma?

sorry, but I meant to say that dead is dead.
I guess technically you are correct.
I only mentioned the cause of death info to remind us all that trauma is as deadly as suffocation in an avy.

[AltaPowderDaze]

sorry, but I meant to say that dead is dead.
I guess technically you are correct.
I only mentioned the cause of death info to remind us all that trauma is as deadly as suffocation in an avy.

that is true but all you can do is learn how to stay out of slides and how to reach/treat the victim as fast as you safely can.

hopefully that scenario is on the scope of a skier/boarders reality because it does happen.