Wasatch 23/24 Stoke Thread: Red Snake Coverage coming at you live from tgapp's fartba

[Touring_Sedan]

Two confirmed deceased.

[sfotex]

Upper Big Willow. Party of 3, all caught and carried, survivor was able to call 911 and partially dig his partners out. We were able to get the survivor out pretty quickly with lifeflight. Snowbird/Alta came down and did control work in BW cirque so we could dig, but the weather deteriorated and we will try again tomorrow. They are all very active and experienced in the ski community. RIP

[beaterdit]

Damn this sucks.

Initial reports are always all over the place, especially with the news stations, so was kinda hoping for the best.

Rip In Peace skiers.

[byates1]

x2 ^ sorry to hear SLC rippers

[Woodsy]

Damn, always tough news. Big love to friends and family of these like minded souls.

[telefreewasatch]

Another bad outcome cuz the whole party was involved in a significant slide.
How'd that happen; were they ascending, Sfotex?
+vibes+

[Touring_Sedan]

......

[stealurface831]

+vibes+
ride in powder, skiers

[sfotex]

Another bad outcome cuz the whole party was involved in a significant slide.
How'd that happen; were they ascending, Sfotex?
+vibes+

Yeah, ascending. I believe they were boot packing the headwall, so sitting ducks....

[Dantheman]

Jesus, this is horrible. RIP

I can see Big Willow Cirque from my backyard. With binocs I'm pretty sure I can see the slide track. Pretty gut wrenching to think there's two bodies up there right now.

[Phall]

Thanks for the hard work Softex. Pretty rough to happen this late in the season. Goes to show, you don’t ever know….

Rip


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[paj]

Terrible news. The last few days have been fantastic and they probably felt the same urgency to get out we all have. RIP

[Jax]

Gut wrenching and awful.

[Boissal]

Shit fuck, I was wondering what the heli was up to this morning buzzing about in that area and was really hoping it wasn't a rescue. After a bunch of close calls all seasons I thought we were finally in the clear. So sad.

[muted reborn]

Jesus, this is horrible. RIP

I can see Big Willow Cirque from my backyard. With binocs I'm pretty sure I can see the slide track. Pretty gut wrenching to think there's two bodies up there right now.

They are above the whole valley for anyone to see. Such a rare and odd circumstance. That has to be hard for friends and family of them.

I was surprised to see an article about it in the NYT this morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/u...smid=url-share

[D-Roc]

Terrible Tragedy - Thanks to all helping in the rescue and recovery, RIP

[NBABUCKS1]

Very preliminary report

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/87474'

You can see an old switchback skinner in the second photo.

[Touring_Sedan]

They are above the whole valley for anyone to see. Such a rare and odd circumstance. That has to be hard for friends and family of them.

I was surprised to see an article about it in the NYT this morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/u...smid=url-share

Made the national evening news as well.

[Phall]

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/87474

Sobering pics.

[EWG]

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/87474

Sobering pics.

Awful

[snowaddict91]

I had a great view of that zone from my backyard at my old house in Sandy, I used to stare at it and think about skiing it all the time.

I've checked in with most of my Utah crew, thankfully everyone got back to me. Not that it makes a difference in the big scheme of things. Sending vibes to those affected.

[ski_the_fraulein]

Just delivered the deceased to the park… sobering. Ride in Powder fellas.


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[Leshphilling77]

Vibes to friends, family and the wasatch community

[mtnjam]

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/87474

Sobering pics.

Always my biggest fear while ascending a slope. Never know. Awfully sobering photos, skintrack and bootpack buried. Condolences to friends and family of the victims including the survivor and the rescue personnel.

[Boissal]

Damn, textbook trigger on the shallow rocky ridge. Not something I would ever think about with a 600+ snowpack at that elevation, but there it is... Lookers left of the ridge is more NE facing, with the W winds from the night before there was probably just enough loading to tip the scales. 10/10 would have missed that as well. Fucking hindsight.
Lots of small things coming together the wrong way for this to happen, and so close to the top, this is truly heart wrenching.

I've been on that face 3x and it was never a relaxing experience. First time we skinned up to an old crown 1/3 of the way up the face and turned around when we realized it was taller than us and we couldn't get over it. Next couple of goes I booted lookers right of the subridge and my butthole was puckered the whole time. It's a big slope in a big gnarly cirque, steep and rocky with jagged teeth at the top. Not an inviting place.
Vibes to all involved, I hope dude who came out OK can bounce back from this horrible experience. May his partners rest in powder.