Accident Report Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

Snowsafety, Snowbasin Ski Resort.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Hell’s Canyon – one skier caught, carried and killed

Accident report by Bruce Tremper and Evelyn Lees, Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center and Frank Waikart,

Location:

Hell’s Canyon which is adjacent backcountry terrain north of the Snowbasin Ski Resort.

Events leading up to the accident:

A father and his two sons were skiing at Snowbasin resort. Earlier in the day, the ski patrol encountered them in the Porky area while they were hiking inbounds, and pointed out recent avalanches and talked to them about the potentially dangerous conditions. Later in the day, they headed out-of-bounds into the Hell’s Canyon area, an area north of Snowbasin that they were unfamiliar with. Their objective was to ski powder. The group had little or no avalanche training and had no rescue gear. Hazard evaluation was not done. While descending, the sons skied ahead of their father and got separated. The details are clear, but a slide was triggered and Brian Schwartz the seventeen year-old son was caught in the slide. Brian was swept approximately 1500 vertical feet down the slope and was buried. He had significant trauma to his face and head and appeared to have died of trauma. Brian’s father and other bother arrived at the site some time after the slide had happened. They found one of Brian’s skis and continued to look for him around the area. Soon afterwards two snowboarders arrived and saw what had happened. They also found a helmet and liner below the toe of the debris. They immediately came to dispatch to report the incident. The father and brother were also brought to dispatch shortly after.

Rescue:

Ski Patrol dispatched an initial response task force. This was made up of two teams; the first team came in from above; 3 pros and one dog. A second team came in from below via snowmobile and foot; two pros and a dog. The first team arrived and searched the pile with beacons, Reccos, dog and spot probing. The second team arrived and also searched with dog and spot probing. After the initial search came up negative a first column was dispatched from the top. This included 4 pros with avalanche rescue gear. When the first column arrived a probe line was started. After probing for nearly an hour a strike was made and Brian’s body was recovered approximately 6 feet under. Although he appeared dead rescue efforts were taken until a life flight helicopter could host the body back to the base of Snowbasin. All patrollers returned to the based area without further incident.

Avalanche Information:

The avalanche was a SS-AS-3-O. The avalanche initiated around 8,600’ on a northeast facing slope about 40-45 degrees in steepness. Total snowpack depth in the area was around a meter and a half deep (50 inches), and the crown depth was 2-3 feet and failed on weak underlying facets. The slab was most likely composed of new, dense snow from the past two storms, between the 10^th and 16 of February. The underlying facets are weak depth hoar that made up the entire snowpack before the recent storms. The slope is a gully in shape, and funnels into another deep gully at a confluence of other paths. The avalanche started in gladed trees, and then descended down a gully. The avalanche descended about 1,500 vertical feet. The debris pile was 10-12 feet deep, and about 500 feet long by 60 feet wide.

The Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center called the avalanche danger CONSIDERABLE on the morning of February 18th, meaning that human triggered avalanches are “probable”, and they issued press releases on Friday as well as the morning of the accident, warning the public of especially tricky and dangerous avalanche conditions for the backcountry. It is believed that the father and sons did not consult the avalanche advisory or media reports. Since they were visiting from Massachusetts, it is likely that they knew little about avalanches, especially the potential consequences of getting caught in a slide. Hell’s Canyon is accessed off the tram Snowbasin. Part of the standard tram talk includes the statement “Traveling outside the marked ski area boundary is not recommended”. As you leave the top of the tram, avalanche signage includes an “Are You Beeping” sign and the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center daily avalanche advisory is posted. After leaving the top of the tram, the Hell’s Canyon gate is accessed by skiing down, and then hiking up hill for several minutes to reach the Hells Canyon backcountry access gate. This gate is signed with a standard Forest Service brown sign, which displays the standard message of potential avalanche danger and no ski patrol services.