WASATCH STOKE, CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS and ASSORTED DRIVAL 20-21

[ridinshockgun]

Massive effort to dig up 6 fully buried people - wow. That shouldn't go forgotten in this.

[snowaddict91]

Massive effort to dig up 6 fully buried people - wow. That shouldn't go forgotten in this.

Quoted for truth. And regaining mental consciousness when you are already putting your shovel together. These are the kind of partners you want in this situation. They did EVERYTHING they could.

[PeachesNCream]

last weekend parking was full at Alta by about 8:30am. Coming off the interstate at 6:30am, which may be closer than where you would stay, would put ya there in time. Give or take a half hour. There are so many variations of what could happen though, but that's one way to look at it. Weekend before that in BCC it took people about 5+ hours to get down due to an accident. All a bunch of BS i wouldn't want to deal with on vacation. SLC skiing is pretty fucked now.

If you take the bus, does this help at all? Is there a bus running right now with Covid?

[geomatt01]

Quoted for truth. And regaining mental consciousness when you are already putting your shovel together. These are the kind of partners you want in this situation. They did EVERYTHING they could.

Agreed. The guy got buried, lost consciousness, and the next thing he remembers is getting his shovel ready to dig. Legendary efforts.


One takeaway: The history for that slope and similar slopes with adjacent steeper slopes is important to remember. Just because you don't touch the 34 degree slope to the left and right of your approx. 30 degree doesn't mean it's not having an affect.

Hard read. Stay safe the rest of the season everybody!

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[mc_roon]

I can't imagine thinking you already have 3 buried victims and then the first person you uncover is a stranger. Holy shit.

first TWO you uncover you dont recognize...you're taking a nightmare scenario that is as 'worst case' as it could pretty much possibly get for your group & now having to process that at least initially you dont even know how many others are buried. Unreal they were able to do what they were able to do given the circumstances

I haven't had something like this hit me this hard in quite a while. The worst part of all is that I could see how they got in this situation and how I could make those same decisions.

This exactly.

[mall walker]

Quoted for truth. And regaining mental consciousness when you are already putting your shovel together. These are the kind of partners you want in this situation. They did EVERYTHING they could.

yeah you hear about these things and just assume someone fucked up egregiously, but then reading this report it’s almost the opposite. those were DEEP burials too. I feel for everyone involved big time. their only mistake was being there, obviously a big one tragically but yeah... tough to read.

I hope I’d have responded as well as the survivors did. I would have understood if they gave up at some point. devastating.

[muted]

If you take the bus, does this help at all? Is there a bus running right now with Covid?

There's busses running but I always get alerts there are massive bus delays on big days. They are stuck in traffic like any vehicle, and I'd hate to be stuck for hours on a bus with strangers with COVID.

Only solution besides staying on slope is waking up early and a ton of patience driving up, down, lift lines, etc.

[ski_adk]

"Right before the helicopter came in to remove the remaining survivors, Chris turned to the group and said, “We all got a second chance at life today; we need to go now make a difference in the world.” The four remaining survivors all hugged one another and left the scene."

It's getting kinda dusty around here after reading that.

[Boissal]

Jeebus... 3 laps done, 14 sets tracks on the slope, 3rd time on the skinner and across that last bit of traversing to the safety of the ridge, and that's when the dragon rears its ugly head? If that doesn't illustrate the reality of the fact that deep slabs just can't be managed I don't know what can.
The final report was a heartbreaking read. I don't think it would be possible to come up with a worse scenario than what unfolded that day. And as others have mentioned the rescue efforts were nothing short of heroic. How do you even bounce back from this?

[telefreewasatch]

It's hard to read through tears...

[Tiktaalik]

Brutal read. RIP and condolences to the remaining, and much thanks to SAR and UAC.

Stay safe out there everybody.

[schindlerpiste]

Courage is not something that is learned. Rather, it is something that is discovered when confronted with a particular situation. You either have it, or you don't. In this case, the courage and actions of Chris, Steve and Nate were exemplary and remarkable. Gut wrenching to read.
While I hate to say this, the events that transpired have the making of a [Sundance] film festival documentary.

[JTG4]

That’s the tough read we’ve all been waiting for. Take the lessons to heart.

The last two weeks the deaths out west, as well as on Mt. Washington, have been weighing on me, nightly, and I’m not in the backcountry nearly as much as most of you. People who were familiar with terrain, educated, TRYING to be safe....suffering their last breaths in darkness knowing it was the end. All for a few powder turns on a sketchy snowpack. We all need to imagine that, as hard as it is. If this shit doesn’t make you re-evaluate stuff then you are missing the big picture. If we look back on it I’m sure we all know we could have made smarter choices on past outings. I was scheduled for the backcountry out there two Saturdays ago. While I was bummed that Nick with SB Mountain Guides called it off, I’m thankful he had the foresight to do so.

Anywho, whoever suggesting you all thinking hard about taking it easy this weekend, +1 to that.

[mall walker]

yeah I dunno. I didn’t know anyone involved personally, have the day off and plans to ski, just bailed after reading that this morning. might sit this one out til that layer goes away. nice day to spend some extra time with my daughter, wife and dog. fuck with my bikes in the garage.

[teleee]

yeah I dunno. I didn’t know anyone involved personally, have the day off and plans to ski, just bailed after reading that this morning. might sit this one out til that layer goes away. nice day to spend some extra time with my daughter, wife and dog. fuck with my bikes in the garage.

Yep between this and the avalanche forecast in Colorado, this is going to be a hang low weekend for me too.

[frosted flakes]

I am incredibly impressed with the rescue effort. Those are some very capable people. In addition to everything already mentioned, I can’t imagine having to give up on cpr on your significant other because you might be able to find someone else with a better chance.

[Skidog]

Can ya'll just deal with crowds at the resort for the next few days and see how this new weight settles before heading into the backcountry? I know the traffic sucks, I know the reservation system makes things hard, but i'd rather get bored/angry phone calls from friends and family waiting in 40 minute lift lines or canyon traffic than have them get injured or worse trying to tip-toe around this snowpack.

Sincerely
A former utard who wants to ski with his SLC friends post covid.

Hear hear.....skiing ain't worth dying for.

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[Coño Frío]

Such a great, and heavy write up by UAC. Information to learn from, and inspiration in the heroic efforts of the survivors.

Yet the story weighs heavy on the heart. It made me think of words written by Derek Walcott:

“Half my friends are dead.
I will make you new ones, said earth.
No, give me them back, as they were, instead,
with faults and all, I cried.

Tonight I can snatch their talk
from the faint surf's drone
through the canes, but I cannot walk

on the moonlit leaves of ocean
down that white road alone,
or float with the dreaming motion

of owls leaving earth's load.
O earth, the number of friends you keep
exceeds those left to be loved.

The sea canes by the cliff flash green and silver;
they were the seraph lances of my faith,
but out of what is lost grows something stronger

that has the rational radiance of stone,
enduring moonlight, further than despair,
strong as the wind, that through dividing canes

brings those we love before us, as they were,
with faults and all, not nobler, just there.”


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[Skidog]

That was a rough read. Those guys are heros despite the outcome. The panic, the fear, the physical digging. I can't even imagine. Just brutal.

Please be safe. What a tragedy.

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[zion zig zag]

Great job by the UAC on that report, I'm sure that wasn't easy.

[jtran10]

If people aren't ready to discuss the details I completely understand, but the two biggest things that stick out to me that I want to use and learn from are A. terrain selection and B. skintrack placement

Besides maybe being faster to go right up the skiers right side was there any reason group A did not set the skinner on skiers left ridge (blue line I added)?



I believe someone on here mentioned that that ridge is the classic wilson glade skinner, and at least from the images (I've never personally been up there) it seems to be the safest place to ascend. Thoughts on that?

Again, if now is not the time to start discussing details all good.

[mall walker]

yeah that is the standard skinner. possibly a very different outcome if that skinner was being used.

and edit just to clarify, that’s not a judgment. I know where the raymond glade skinner goes, but have found myself going up a 35 deg part of murphy’s headwall alone, in the dark, in a storm before. just lucky it wasn’t on a pwl like this. it’s hard sometimes to find the right way even when you know it, in some conditions

[jtran10]

Thanks both for your responses.

Damn that snow was heavy today - made me feel bad for the people that ski in tahoe and the pnw

[altacoup]

That report was absolutely brutal. Not sure how I’d recover from such a experience. The survivors effort is absolutely next level. The whole thing reinforces my unbreakable backcountry rule. I just don’t go when PWL is out there. This year is tough because the resort experience just sucks. I’ve taken more, non injury related, days off this year than the last decade combined. Hopefully this series of storms will flush out the PWL. But I’m not counting on it. Kind of don’t see myself skiing outside the ropes until spring. Stay safe. Love to ski another day.

[gtid]

Fuck that was a tough read, but I tried to take as much information out of it as possible. Rethinking everything I do. We’ve all been there, dodging bullets without even knowing we were being shot at. The rescue efforts were beyond heroic. I didn’t know anyone in these groups but this will stick with me for a long time maybe forever. Prayers to everyone involved.


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