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Rainier avalanche kills climber, injures 5 others
LONGMIRE, Wash. (AP) — It was wet and heavy and frighteningly fast. An avalanche slammed into as many as a dozen climbers on the upper reaches of Mount Rainier on Thursday afternoon, killing one man who spent hours dangling off an icy cliff from a rope.
Park officials said five others were injured, though hospitals reported receiving seven patients, most with minor injuries. The rest of the climbers escaped unharmed from the 14,410-foot peak about 50 miles south of Seattle.
"We were really fortunate we did not have more deaths or more serious injuries," Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Maria Gillett said.
The slide hit two climbing teams, each roped together and containing five or six people. The climbers were at 11,400 feet, on their way down from the summit at midafternoon, when the sun makes walking on the melting snow particularly precarious. The snow was unstable after recent hot weather.
One of the teams was swept over Disappointment Cleaver, a 300-foot high sheet of rock so named because it is often where climbers decide to turn around.
Patrick Nestler, 29, of Rowayton, Conn., fell about 100 feet off the lip of the cliff and spent several hours hanging by a rope before he died Thursday night. Gillett said he suffered massive trauma.
Kent Swanson, 53, was on the other climbing team. After sliding about 30 or 40 feet, he made it to the edge of the avalanche.
"Somebody yelled, 'Slide!' and as soon as we heard it, we took off down a path," he said. "I was one of the lucky ones. I just ran as fast as I could."
Helicopters were able to land on the mountain and remove the injured. Swanson, of Phoenix, Md., was treated for hand and leg injuries at Tacoma General Hospital. He said the injuries were not serious.
The avalanche did not affect disabled climber Pete Rieke, who is using a hand-cranked snow vehicle to ascend. His party was about 400 feet above the point where the climbers were hit. His wife saw the slide and used a cellular telephone to report it, park officials said.
"His wife came out of the tent and saw two teams of hikers being swept away," Gillett said.
The mountain is the state's highest, most challenging and perhaps its most dangerous. There have been at least 94 climbing-related deaths — including Thursday's — on the mountain since recordkeeping began in 1887.
Mount Hood avalanche kills 1, injures 3
The victim, a 39-year-old man climbing with a class, is buried in deep snow on the west side after conditions recently became less stable
By Laura Trujillo of The Oregonian staff
Peter Farrell of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.
TIMBERLINE -- An avalanche roared down a popular climbing route at Mount Hood Sunday morning, killing one man and tossing three companions at least 100 yards through jagged rocks and icy snow.
A large mass of snow and ice near Illumination Rock on the mountain's west side gave way as six men and women from the Mazamas climbing club ascended as part of a class shortly after 10 a.m. They climbed in two groups of three, each tethered to another by rope.
Two climbers heard a rumble and saw the slope beneath them begin to give way, untied themselves and escaped, said Deputy Damon Coates, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department. The other four, he said, had no time to react.
"It sounded like a shotgun," said Mike Gregoire, who was 200 yards away from the avalanche. "It slid off the rim, and I saw climbers tumbling down the mountain. Some disappeared into the snow. It all happened in a matter of seconds."
A 39-year-old Portland man died in the avalanche, buried under about 4 feet of snow. His name was not released Sunday pending notification of his relatives.
A 44-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man were buried to their waists in snow. Amy Horne suffered a fractured pelvis and was in critical condition Sunday night at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Matt Pennewell fractured his right ankle and was in serious condition Sunday night.
Another climber, a Portland man whose name was not released, was tossed down the mountain but managed to escape with a minor ankle injury, Coates said. He initially helped rescuers, then walked part way down the mountain and was treated at the base.
After the avalanche, more than 40 climbers and rescuers using back-country ski poles and shovels frantically searched for the 39-year-old man. Two hours later, they found his body 200 yards down the mountain at an elevation of about 9,200 feet. Mount Hood's peak is at 11,245 feet.
Laurie Robinson and her husband, Dave, helped look for survivors. She said they were concerned that the slopes above them might cut loose with more snow.
"I think everyone up there was worried about that," Robinson said.
While they searched, two small avalanches rumbled through the mountain, frightening climbers. No one was injured in those.
Steve Marston, who saw the avalanche from about one-quarter of a mile away, helped in the search.
Using shovels and ski poles, he and others methodically plunged into the deep snow, looking for the climbers.
"It was scary," Marston said. "It lets you know if you don't watch out what can happen to you. You're here one minute, gone the next."
The injured climbers were part of a 10-person climbing class sponsored by the Mazamas, Coates said. The class included instructors, experienced climbers and novices.
Four of the climbers -- who also were tethered together by rope -- were not caught in the avalanche. They watched as the mountain gave way beneath the rest of their group.
None of the climbers from the Mazamas wanted to talk Sunday about the avalanche.
More than 100 people had registered at the base of the mountain Saturday night or early Sunday, filling out forms saying they would be hiking one of the routes. In recent weeks, heavy snow has increased the avalanche hazard.
A sign at the registration counter warned, "HIGH AVALANCHE HAZARD! On the upper mountain. A class 2 slide caught 4 climbers just west of the hogback on Saturday (5-23). Instability on all routes will persist through Monday."
Friedrich Gloekler, 38, saw the sign but climbed though knee-deep snow early Sunday morning anyway.
"There always are dangers," he said. Gloekler was on the other side of the mountain when the avalanche occurred. He and a friend encountered the search for the injured climbers on their way down.
"It'll make me think twice about that route again," he said.
Climbers reported hearing a shotgun-like sound shortly after 10 a.m. and then saw the rim give way. Others saw a huge cloud of dust burst from the mountain.
Gregoire, who had reached the summit earlier Sunday morning and was on his way down, called 9-1-1.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Gregoire said. "Unless you saw it, you couldn't believe it. It was frightening."
His brother, who was videotaping the mountain, heard the rumble and turned the camera on the avalanche.
As Gregoire talked to an emergency dispatcher for Clackamas County, a climbing ranger happened upon the scene and began directing climbers to help rescue the injured.
Sunday morning's warm weather, though attracting many climbers, turned much of the mountain into a snowy milkshake, said David Billstrom of Mountain Waves Search and Rescue.
"An ice ax wouldn't help you. You can't dig in," he said.
By the time the avalanche occurred, many of the climbers had descended.
Searchers included climbers from the U.S. Forest Service, Portland Mountain Rescue, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Mountain Wave Search and Rescue, AMR Reach and Treat Team, and the Timberline Ski Patrol.
Snowboarder dies in Jasper-area avalanche
Edmonton Journal
JASPER, Alta. (CP) - A man is dead after an avalanche, believed to be triggered by snowboarders, came down Sunday evening in Jasper National Park. The avalanche on Whistler's Mountain, near the Jasper townsite in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, also caused minor injuries to at least one other individual.
"It appears they were snowboarding," said Gerry Israelson, backcountry manager for the park.
Police had not released the identity of the victim late Sunday night.
Israelson said a skytram up the mountain was still operating when the avalanche occurred early Sunday evening.
"It's my hunch that these guys likely took the skytram up the top of Whistler's Mountain and started having fun on a patch of snow.
"It's one of these things where people go to the top of the skytram and then they're free to go wherever they like in the general area."
Scott Sherlow, a dispatcher at Jasper fire hall, said the victim's body was flown to the Jasper Hospital.
Sherlow was unable to say how long it took rescuers to reach the site of the avalanche, or if the party of snowboarders involved were equipped with avalanche transceivers.
Investigators also couldn't say for certain whether the avalanche was caused by skiers or by natural conditions.
In late November last year, four Calgary teens were swept to their deaths by an avalanche outside of Banff National Park after they had hiked into the back country in search of snow for their snowboards and skis.
Anchorage Daily News,
MAUREEN CLARK, The Associated Press
The body of a Fairbanks man was recovered Sunday after he was killed in an avalanche in Denali National Park and Preserve.
Mark Slimmen, 34, was riding his snowmachine in the park Saturday afternoon with two friends when he was swept 150 feet down a mountainside by an avalanche.
His body was found at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, buried beneath almost 7 feet of snow and ice, park spokeswoman Jane Tranel said.
Slimmen had been riding along a mountainside, about 3,000 feet above the Bull River drainage near Broad Pass shortly after 2 p.m. when the avalanche began.
"He turned and the avalanche started behind him. His companions could see it as it happened. He was thrown from the machine and was able to swim through it at first but then was buried," Tranel said.
Slimmen's friends, Bob Tolman and Mark Springer, searched for him immediately after the avalanche but were unable to locate him. They traveled back to the Parks Highway, 13 miles east, and notified the Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers and National Park Service rangers flew to the area at about 6 p.m. Saturday night but were unable to locate Slimmen during a brief search. The search was postponed until Sunday morning because of unstable snow conditions, gusty winds and dwindling daylight.
The Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and Alaska Search Dogs assisted in the search.
Several inches of snow had fallen in the park recently and snowmachiners were out in droves over the weekend, Tranel said.
"This is a very dangerous time of year. Folks have to be really cautious. With temperatures warming up and more sunshine, we definitely have a high avalanche alert in the back country," she said.
Rangers are advising all back-country travelers to use caution and carry personal locator beacons, shovels and probes.
BYU student rides avalanche and lives
By Dennis Romboy, Deseret News staff writer
PROVO CANYON, Utah County - Riley Siddoway helplessly watched a massive wave of snow sweep his best friend down the Mountainside to what he thought was certain death.
An avalanche killed a childhood pal from his hometown of Coalville only three months ago, and Siddoway feared a similar fate awaited Joe Soelberg Thursday afternoon in an area known as Lost Canyon.
"I guess that's why I freaked out so much. I wasn't about to see another one of my friends die in an avalanche," said Siddoway, a 22year-old Utah Valley State College student.
Once the thundering snow and ice came to a stop about 1,500 feet from a ridge directly across the gorge from Bridal Veil Falls, Soelberg popped up. Siddoway yelled to him - triggering two more snowshoes - and Soelberg waved back as snow rumbled around him.
Relieved but not quite sure what to do, Siddoway hustled down the backside of the mountain to where the two hikers had started about 5:30 a.m. Thursday. He ended up at the Provo Police Station about 10 miles away around 4 p.m.
The Utah County Search and Rescue Team arrived at the Bridal Veil Falls overlook armed with binoculars and climbing gear. Searchers spotted Soelberg on the face between a pair of pine trees.
Gusty winds and extreme avalanche danger kept a Life Flight helicopter from landing or dropping rescuers near him. A four man ground team started up the mountain on what was anticipated to be a four- to five-hour climb.
Meanwhile, a helicopter hired by a television station arrived. Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Jim 'I'racy said the experienced pilot, Mike Stapley, asked and was granted permission to attempt to pluck Soelberg off the mountain. The chopper fluttered over a rocky ledge at the 9,000-foot level while a TV news photographer pulled the stranded man inside about 6 p.m.
"That was a lifesaver," said Soelberg, 22. "That guy's my hero."
Siddoway watched the daring rescue from below. The two friends embraced when they were reunited.
Soelberg, a Brigham Young University student from Seattle, Wash., said he doesn't know how he ended up on top of not one but two avalanches that took him on the scariest ride of his life. He dug himself out of waist-deep snow once only to have a second wave of snow dump him over some cliffs, Soelberg said he was pushed under the snow several times and chunks of ice bashed him in the head.
"I thought for sure I was gone," he said. Other than some minor cuts to his face and hands, however, Soelberg appeared unhurt.
Soelberg and Siddoway had been planning their hike for about six weeks as a way to celebrate the end of final exams and take advantage of the sunny weather. Indeed, sunbathers dipped their toes in a pool at the base of Bridal Veil Falls while a couple posed for wedding pictures just across the canyon from the avalanche.
The two free climbers, outfitted with crampons and ice axes, reached the 10,500-foot sumniit of Lost Canyon in the early afternoon. They were on their way down, Siddoway said, when Soelberg started sliding down the face on his rear end. The heavy, wet snow soon gave way, carrying Soelberg with it. Another large avalanche occurred less than a mile up the canyon from where the hikers were.
"We definitely didn't think there was any slide danger today," Soelberg said. "But I guess there always is."
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole News
Extreme snowboarder Stephen Koch was rescued from Mount Owen Thursday morning after he survived a 2,000-foot fall down the Northeast Snowfields and an overnight bivouac with a broken leg.
The snowboarder has pioneered many routes in the Tetons and hopes to snowboard the highest peak on each of the seven continents. He was in stable condition in St. John's Hospital Thursday afternoon
Koch was hit by an avalanche as he was climbing the snowfields to attempt the first snowboard descent of the face. He was using two ice tools and kicking steps up the face at about 11 a.m. Wednesday when a wet avalanche hit him and sent him tumbling. Koch had reached 11,000 feet on the 12,928-foot-high peak.
Koch saw the slide coming. "He had enough time to take two steps to the left before it hit him," saidrescue ranger Mark Magnuson. "He said it was a real wild ride down. "He just got beat and thrown and churned and tumbled over a couple of cliff bands It was a really violent trip." Koch's pack and snowboard were ripped from his back. Gear lay scattered down the peak.When Koch came to rest, snow was packed in his mouth and throat. "He had to struggle to get his airway clear," Magnuson said.
Thursday shortly after noon Koch was motionless as he was unloaded from the rescue helicopter at St. John's Hospital, bound in neck and leg braces and carried on his back on a stretcher. Koch was still in the emergency room late Thursday afternoon and was "still stable, looking good," said Debbie Scudder, the administrator on call. Scudder could not say whether he would undergo surgery.
Grand Teton National Park ranger Mark Magnuson said Koch's injuries included a fracture and dislocation of the right knee, torn ligaments inhis left knee, compression fractures of his lower thoracic vertebrae and many cuts, scrapes and bruises. "He was pretty beat up," Magnuson said.
"Stephen was very lucky to survive this accident," Magnuson said. "He is a strong, capable, and competent mountaineer which contributed a great deal to his survival.
Koch set out on his climb from the Taggart Lake Parking area at 250 a.m. Wednesday. He rode his bike to Jenny Lake, skied up Cascade Canyon, and began climbing the peak. When he did not return from his excursion Wednesday, friend Christian Beckwith called park rangers. They got set to launch a search Thursday morning, which they did.
Helicopter pilot Ken Johnson of Mountain Rotors spotted Koch first as he flew his ship up snowfields at the bottom of the face. "We had come around the corner hovering," Johnson said. "I saw him. I showed him to Renny [Jackson] and Mark [Magnuson]. We could see he looked like he was physically OK."
Johnson flew the ship out over Cascade Canyon to make a radio call, then headed back over the victim. This time the snowboarder was waving madly,fearful the rescuers had not seen him the first time. Johnson landed the ship uphill of Koch, who had crawled to the shelter of a large boulder.
"Renny went to him first," Magnuson said. "He was in a lot of pain -dehydrated, hypothermic, but alive." Johnson brought in more rescuers and gear. The crew of six dug a good landing platform and carried Koch to it. Johnson picked Koch up and flew him to St. John's where he arrived at about 1230 p.m., more than 25 hours after his fall.
Relatively warm temperatures during his bivouac Wednesday night may have aided the snowboarder in his overnight ordeal. Temperatures at 10,300 feet were only 35 degrees at 615 a.m. Thursday, compared to 29 degrees the morning before. Warm daytime temperatures provoked numerous slides Wednesday in the Tetons- most on southern and eastern aspects and between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche hotline at 733-2664.
Magnuson said he wouldn't second-guess Koch's decisions given the snowboarder's climbing abilities. "It just serves as a good reminder to everybody that the spring slide cycle is here," Magnuson said. "It happens."
Two heli-skiers walked onto a cornice which broke, one was injured, the other Ian Gini, 27, of San Francisco was killed. They were clients of Alaska Backcountry Adventures . The mountain they were on is called "Cracked Ice."
Alaska Mountain Safety Center, Inc.
April 19, 1998, Berthoud Pass, Colorado
Two snowshoers were injured, one critically, on Berthoud Pass. It is unclear at this time if the critically injured woman was actually caught in the slide or fell down the steep slope trying to get to her partner who had an injured shoulder. Also, one rescuer triggered a small slide trying to get to them.
Two skiers triggered a slide on the Stanley avalanche path that stopped just short of Highway 40 on the E side of Berthoud Pass. A skier triggered an avalanche near the Loveland Ski Area later in the day. A few natural events were also spotted along the I-70 corridor. These slides ranged from 6" to 3-6 deep and were on E-SE aspects near & above timberline. Avalanche control on the east side of the 10-Mile Range near Breckenridge also produced shallow slabs from recent drifting above treeline.
The recent new snow and windloading is the main reason for these slides. A thin, weak layer of dry snow that was overlaid with a shallow wind slab appears to be the main ingredient for the instability.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Update:
The critically injured woman died several days after the accident. Jamie Wolter, from the Berthoud Pass Ski Area, who was one of the first to reach the scene of the accident, has indicated that the victim was in fact caught in the slide.
A Class 5 avalanche destroyed a cabin near Silverton Colorado on Sun March 29 at 2;00 am. The Fracture line averaged 1 to 1.5 meters with a max at 2.5 meters. It ran on old facets near the ground. Jim jackson, a part time resident was in the cabin when it was hit by the avlanche. He was on the top bunk when he heard the glass at the front of the cabin shatter then the roof was torn off, only 6 inche from his head. He was unhurt, bu the cabin was destroyed. He was able to use the phone in the shed behind the cabin which was untouched by the slide. There was about 20 feet of debris near the cabin. The avlanche had to cross a gully and go uphill about 150 vertical to reach the cabin across the valley. Debris in the valley was approximately 50 feet high. The cabin was built in 1973 and had been hit once before in 1983, when a slide just pushed open the front door. The avlanche ran 1500 vertical feet and the crown line was about 3/4 of a mile across.
Andy Gleason, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Summary: 2 climbers caught, 1 partly buried, 1 buried and killed 2 climbers walking on the steep side of St. Mary's Glacier (not a true glacier but rather a permanent snowfield) when 1 climber slipped and fell. She appearently triggered a large HS-AF-3-O avalanche as she started climbing back to rejoin her friend. Both climbers were caught. The partner was only partly buried and was able to quickly fee himself. He and some other nearby hikers searched for about 30-40 minutes without success before leaving to get help.
The victim was found by rescuers about 2 hours after the slide occurred. Both a leg and an arm were exposed. Rescuers said the debris was jumbled chunks of hard slab.
This was the 5th Colorado fatality of the season and the 22nd in the US.
On the 26 March 1998 one snowmobiler was buried in an avalanche on the south flank of Scotch Bonnett Peak outside of Cooke City, Montana. The following is a brief description of the events.
Setup: The week preceeding the avalanche we experienced warm and sunny weather which resulted in a substantial melt freeze crust on most south and east aspects at most elevations. Following this period of high pressure the mountains around Cooke City received appoximately 6-10 inches of new snow on the 24th and 25th of March. These snows were accompanied by 10-20 mph winds out of the west. On the morning that the avalanche occurred the avalanche danger was rated Moderate, except on wind loaded slopes steeper than 35 degrees where it was Considerable.
26 March 1998: A snowmobiling group from Iowa, consisting of 20 members, were out sledding on the south shoulder of Scotch Bonnett Peak. The group was taking turns highmarking this slope when Mike Grevegoed got stuck. A friend sledded up the slope to assist him whenthe slope released. His friend was able to snowmobile to safety, but Mike was swept away and buried. The group witnessed the event and initiated a rescue. No one was wearing beacons, and out of the entire group they had 2 shovels and one probe. A ski from the snowmobile was sticking out of the snow, so this is where they started the probe. On their first try they hit his foot and dug him out in 8 minutes. He was buried immediately downhill of his snowmachine. His helmet was packed full of snow and he was turning blue, but was still conscious and breathing.
Comments: I went down to Cooke City on March 28th to investigate this incident. Unfortunately I haven't been able to talk to the victim, so most of the avalanche account is from third parties. On the day of my investigation I had good visibility, but unfortunately the wind has been blowing the past 36 hours which filled in most of the avalanche path.
The crown face was 18-24 inches deep and had an angle of 38 degrees. The average slope angle was approximately 34 degrees. It was 200 feet wide and ran 600 vertical feet. The avalanche started at an elevation of 10,400 feet. The slope is a southeast aspect and is subject to wind loading off the ridgetop as well as crossloading lower down. The crown was about 150 vertical feet from the ridgetop on a steep rollover.
The slope failed on a layer of graupel that was sitting on the melt freeze crust from the previous week. The slab consisted of a hard wind blown snow. The slope was triggered either by the snowmobiler trying to assist or by the combined weight of the two riders and their machines on the slope. Reports indicate that the avalanche occurred as the rider coming up to help got about 3/4 of the way up the slope.
It is unclear how deep the victim was buried. Some accounts claim 5 feet, but this is unsubstantiated. Because of the recent wind loading I was unable to see where they dug him out. Debris depth seemed to be in the neighborhood of 4-5 feet.
There was no other evidence of avalanche activity in this area.
Douglas Chabot Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
Aspen Mountain (Elk Range), Colorado March 8, 1998 1 out-of-bounds skier caught, partly buried and killed Accident Summary A 43-year-old out-of-bounds skier from Aspen was killed in a sizable slab avalanche beyond the boundary of the Aspen Mountain Ski Area. The man was skiing alone when he likely triggered the avalanche on Sunday (March 8) on a treed area called Ophir Gulch. It is believed that he entered the slope from the side and under cut a steeper slope above, and triggered the avalanche. The avalanche started midway downslope and left a lot of slab hanging above the fracture line.
No one reported the man overdue. Paragliders first noticed the avalanche on Tuesday, but it was not until Wednesday that paragliders saw the body. The avalanche occurred below the Ruthie's launch area near the top of the mountain. Members of the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol were able to reach the body, but because of unstable snow conditons could not evacuate the body until Thursday morning. It appears the victim died of injuries sustained during the avalanche.
Avalanche Data
The soft-slab avalanche released at an elevation of about 10,000 feet on a west-facing aspect. The fracture line was about 3 feet deep by 500 feet wide. It ran 380 vertical feet.
The backcountry avalanche danger was rated at MODERATE below treeline; triggered releases by backcountry travelers were possible; however, near and above treeline the danger was rated CONSIDERABLE on slopes and gullies steeper than 30 degrees.
Avalanches Turn Canyon Road Into Snow Pile
BY MICHAEL VIGH and GREG BURTON, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON -- Avalanches carried a house-high wall of sun-loosened snow onto the road in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Saturday afternoon, scattering a UTA bus and seven cars across State Road 210.
As many as five avalanches fell between 3 and 4 p.m., turning what otherwise was a beautiful mountain drive into a whiteout for motorists. Witnesses said the first avalanche stopped a handful of cars on the highway and then a second, much bigger slide burst into traffic.
Heavy, wet snow pushed five cars off the side of the road where they plunged at least 200 feet into Little Cottonwood Creek. Two partially buried cars teetered on the edge, but managed to stay on the road.
Larry Blackburn was flown to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City where he was in serious condition with a fractured leg and internal injuries. At least five others were taken to various hospitals with minor injuries.
``It was huge and big and ugly,'' said Rusty Dassing, a veteran guide with Wasatch Powderbird Guides who was helicopter skiing in the White Pines area when the second avalanche broke loose.
Rescuers said the snow was 30 feet deep on some stretches of the road. Plows cleared the snow Saturday night.
Twenty to 30 search-and-rescue workers combed the area for about two hours Saturday afternoon looking for other victims, said Salt Lake County sheriff's Deputy Peggy Faulkner, but found none and called off their search.
Some of the first to the scene were ski guide Dassing and a group of guides from Alta and Snowbird, who skied to the highway to pull partially buried motorists out of the snow.
Blackburn's friend, Aaron Yulan, was able to escape the slide without any injuries, but he was visibly shaken. Yulan and his passenger were sitting in their car when authorities yelled at them to get out.
After making a run for it, Yulan said he was overtaken by the fast-moving wall of snow ``and feared for my life.''
``I dove right over the top of this hill, but the snow still got to me,'' he said. ``I was buried, but not too deep, and I was able to push my way through it.''
Rescuers estimated the avalanches left deep snow for nearly a half-mile on the road.
``The big slide ran several thousand vertical feet, spread out and had trees, rocks, cars and people rolling along before it stopped,'' Dassing said. ``This time of the year you get real danger out there -- on warm days the snow comes down.''
The major slides occurred just below the White Pines parking lot on the north face of the canyon. Faulkner said they occurred in rapid succession, leaving motorists with few escape alternatives.
Two years ago this month, a back-country skier was killed in a Little Cottonwood Canyon avalanche. Werner Ruegner, 50, was carried about 300 feet by a rumbling wet-release avalanche. He was killed when he was thrown against a tree.
At about 4 p.m. Saturday, two additional mudslides fell in Big Cottonwood Canyon, partially covering the highway but causing no injuries.
Unusually high temperatures that rapidly turned top layers of snow into slush were blamed for the slides and avalanches.
Hazards in the Wasatch Mountains rise every March as spring temperatures turn the top layer of snow to unstable slush, Dassing said. Wet-slab slides are a common danger.
A National Weather Service meteorologist said Saturday's recorded high near Alta was 50 degrees. ``It's been like that for several days and it should be like that tomorrow. It certainly seems kind of warm.''
On Sunday afternoon 2 young Boulder men triggered and were caught in a large backcountry slab avalanche. The snowboarder was buried for at least 90 minutes and may have been closer to an hour. I will update this posting in a few days as more data becomes available.
Dale Atkins, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
...In Little Cottonwood Canyon, a slide tumbled down Tanner's Gulch at 2:49 p.m., striking two cars and closing the road into the evening. That slide path, located on the canyon's north wall about a mile below Snowbird, had been blasted at 10:30 a.m. with insignificant results, said Stan Burns, an operations manager with UDOT. Four hours later, however, the road-closing slide was triggered naturally. The snow spread about 3 feet deep on the road, shoving two cars to the edge of the pavement. Snow filled the cars and the occupants suffered cuts and bruises. A natural slide later buried the road just up the canyon at White Pine, Burns said. Alta and Snowbird skiers were stranded on ``interlodge'' restrictions Thursday evening while UDOT shot artillery at slide paths in the canyon, on Mount Superior and around the town of Alta. An early morning slide on the Alpine Loop Road, state Route 92, in Provo Canyon blocked traffic until crews cleared the road at 2 p.m. There were no injuries. Some 14 inches of snow fell Thursday at Alta, bringing the total there for the month to 151 inches, within striking distance of the record of 155 inches set in 1960. ...
Prepared by Janet Kellam, Sun Valley Avalanche Center February 24, 1998
SYNOPSIS:On Sunday, February 22, 1998 aprx 28 miles north of Carey, Idaho, in the southern end of the Pioneer Mtn. range, a 42 year old man snowmobiling with friends triggered, was caught and killed by an avalanche while high marking on a slope. The party was using avalanche beacons but the victim showed no signs of life when recovered aprx 20 minutes to an hour after the avalanche occurred.
REPORT: The afternoon of February 22nd, a group of snowmobilers was traveling from the end of the plowed Little Wood Reservoir road into the southern end of the Pioneer Mtn. range. This trailhead was 20 miles up a backcountry road from the town of Carey. They then traveled by snowmachine up the now unplowed road bed and appear to have taken at least one side trip up onto the neighboring ridgelines before dropping back down to continue up the summer road. Next they traveled further up the road and sloping terrain to reach an area that climbed more steeply to the open ridgeline at aprx. 8400ft. This area consisted of two pronounced open bowls or faces that were joined at the top, but separated in the middle by a more gently sloping, treed ridgeline. This area was approximately 8 miles from the trailhead.
The group had been high marking in this area when Ron Berry, the victim, became stuck just above the center ridge, on a 30-35 degree angle slope. Berry climbed off of his sled and was trying to dislodge it when Craig Hanson rode up to assist him. Hanson was apparently almost to Berry when the slide fractured above them. A third member of the party said that he had been down below and just beginning to head up when he saw the avalanche break loose. He immediately turned and rode over the bench behind him and down to several other members of their party who had been stuck below. Apparently another member of the group, Hanson’s wife Lita,was carried along the edge of the slide in the more easterly bowl but drove out and down to alert the other members, then continued out to alert authorities. Hanson turned and was driving down and out of the slide when he was knocked from his sled and tumbled in the debris. He came to a stop, partially buried. (aprx 8000ft elevation) From witness reports he had either ended up along the lower angle center ridge or fairly high upslope in the debris on either side of the ridge.
Berry had been carried down into the more westerly bowl, out of sight. The riders had been wearing beacons and carrying shovels but no probes. It is not certain how many did have beacons. Reports vary as to the exact time of burial and recovery time. Burial time is estimated to be between 3:00 and 4:00pm. Recovery time has been noted as anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. The snowmobile was located first, by digging where the beacon signal was strongest and Berry was located shortly thereafter. Berry was in a vertical position just uphill from his sled which had come to rest against a 1foot diameter fir tree. Burial depth is estimated at 4 to 6ft. deep. It is not known if this is his head or average depth as he was in a vertical position. All of the debris had converged in a gully or crease at the bottom of the slope as it entered the lower angle trees. The debris formed a relatively narrow "toe" or moraine due to the terrain and was estimated to be up to 30ft deep at the downhill edge. Berry was located approximately 30-40ft into the debris where it first entered the trees. This west bowl section of slide was estimated to have a 60 yard crown face, 26 to 32" deep, 100yds long to the debris, and the debris 70 ft wide by 75 feet long.
Reports indicate that the more easterly bowl or face had been only a narrow slide initially but there is some confusion as to this. Additional portions of the slope may have released up to an hour later. Sun Valley Heli Ski guides and pilot describe the avalanche site as appearing similar that afternoon to the drawing that was produced from the investigative visit the following day.
The call for outside help was received shortly after 4:oopm. Sun Valley Heli-Ski was immediately placed on standby to receive authorization to transport search and rescue personnel and an area avalanche dog.
The helicopter received authorization shortly thereafter and flew out to locate the accident site, not knowing any status on the victim or recovery. When the SVHS helicopter arrived, the victim had been recovered by the snowmobile group and placed on a sled, presumed dead. Lifeflight was inbound and radioed to the ground party to begin CPR. This was begun by the heli-ski and nordic patrol group until Lifeflight’s arrival whereupon the victim changed hands. By then it was beginning to get dark and all parties hurriedly packed up and departed the scene. The victim was flown to Hailey airport and transferred to adjacent Wood River Medical Center.
Monday afternoon, the following day, Rick Barker and Janet Kellam of Sun Valley Avalanche Center were able to snowmobile to the accident site with Victor Thomas of Blaine County Search and Rescue, a local sheriff and a friend of the victim who had not been on the Sunday ride. Then, a more complete snow assessment and site study was performed, although again within a limited time frame.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS
Terrain:
Slope Angle : Bed surface slope angles varied from an angle of 38 degrees to 25 degrees. The slope angle was 38 degrees approximately 20 to 30 feet above the victims location where he and his machine were stuck. This was also the highest elevation point of the crown face. The crown face that extended above the westerly bowl turned into a bed surface slope angle of 25 degrees aprx. 40 to 50 feet to the west of the high point of the release and along a large portion of the top of the westerly bowl release. Beneath this fairly low angle section along the top of the slide path, the slope steepened in the center of the bowl to a 35 degree slope angle. The crown face and bed surface of the more easterly avalanche appeared to have slope angles of predominately 30 to 35 degrees. The slope angle decreased directly beneath the victim as the center ridge fanned out between the two bowls. However, the westerly bowl sloped away from the center ridge and began a steady increase in steepness to reach 34 to 35 degree slope angles above the center of the deposition. Several areas of the avalanche path that were aprx 25 degrees were very apparent by the presence of broken slabs and debris that had slid only a short distance. The slope angle then rapidly flattened at the base of the bowl as the slope narrowed into a gully and entered the trees. This accounts for the moraine-like shape of the debris and the very deep deposition. Although a very small area along the crown was a 38 degree slope angle, the bulk of the slope itself was a 30 to 35 degree slope angle.
Aspect: The two faces and the dividing sub ridge had a North to Northeasterly aspect. The top of the slope was a fairly prominent terrain feature. There were signs of snow having been transported by southerly winds across the ridgeline and onto the north facing slopes.
Shape: The more easterly (actually south easterly) face was not as sharply bowl shaped but was bordered on each side by more gently sloping ridges. The two avalanche bowls shared a center lower angle ridgeline that began 30 or 40 feet below where the victim and his sled had been stuck. This ridgeline had not slid. The easterly avalanche slope dropped into a depression with a small bench on the downhill side, before the slope again dropped off to the summer road bed. Debris was piled up in the depression an estimated 30 feet deep. The riders had accessed the slopes by climbing up to this bench, then high marking from here.
The westerly bowl that the victim slid into was a very cupped bowl shape that became steeper mid slope. As you approached the bottom a much lower slope angle created a rapid terrain transition at the base of the bowl where it entered a fairly dense stand of conifer trees. This created a flatter, narrow gully and accounts for the debris turning into a deep tongue of snow with smaller side bulges as you entered the trees.
Weather:
Sunday, Feb. 22nd was one of those "perfect" days. At the Sun Valley Forecast Center the day dawned sunny and clear. Records from the Garfield SNOTEL station near the accident site indicate there may have been some lingering morning snow showers in the southern foothills of the Pioneer Mtns. Saturday's storm had broken and the tail end of the storm had deposited a beautiful layer of light fluffy powder snow. Seemingly "perfect" conditions for weekend skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and snowmobilers.
Precipitation (amount/rate): Saturday's storm had dropped an average of an inch of water in thirty hours. Ketchum Ranger District recorded .72" of water that was measured as 11" of snow. Hyndman SNOTEL station at 7440 feet elevation in the eastern Pioneer Mtns. reported 1.2" of water. The Garfield Ranger station SNOTEL site at 6548 feet, and within several miles of the accident location, showed one inch of snow water equivalent deposited in the 24 hours prior to the accident. This was estimated to be between 10 to 12 inches of new snow. The bulk of the precipitation in the Ketchum area occurred between 12 and 6pm on Saturday. This was a rapid rate of loading, which lead to a more unstable snowpack for a day or two after the storm.
Wind: Powerful winds were recorded throughout the storm. Instruments on Titus Peak (near Galena Summit) recorded gusts of up to 57mph from the SW to SE and winds that gusted from 20 to 57mph for 31hours. (Friday evening into early Sunday morning.) Observers throughout the Wood River Valley noted that winds were very strong and blizzard like throughout Saturday afternoon. This type of wind probably transported significant amounts of snow and lead to an increased avalanche hazard throughout the area.
Temperature: Saturday's storm came in cool, became warm and moist, then exited with cooler temperatures. This created denser slabs that rested on weaker snow. The surface snow was deceptively light and fluffy. Garfield RS SNOTEL site at 6548 ft elevation showed temperatures the 22nd to be 8 degrees Fahrenheit at 6am, 29 degrees at 12pm, 14 degrees at 6pm. Temperatures would have been slightly cooler at the accident site at 8000ft elevation.
Snowpack:
Snow History 97-98: Up to this point, the 1997-98 winter had not had a very stable snowpack. The Sun Valley Avalanche Center daily advisory had repeatedly discussed the weak nature of the snowpack due to a shallow total snow depth early season, buried surface hoar, and sequential snowstorms that created dense slabs on top of weak layers. We had reported numerous skier, snowboarder and snowmobiler triggered avalanches throughout January and February and warned of this being a continuing possibility. The Center had emphasized the higher hazard in the southern portion of the Wood River Valley due to a shallower snowpack there this season.
Snow Structure: Upon visiting the accident site, avalanche forecasters found that the slab released 26" to 32" deep. The slab consisted of approximately 8-10 inches of now two day old snow and 16-24" of consolidated snow that ranged from four finger density to nearly one finger density. We feel that the new snow had settled from it’s original depth of 10 to 12 inches because we had observed dramatic settlement of new snow depths in the Ketchum area. The slope that avalanched may have had some light wind transport from the ridgeline onto it’s north face, but we really did not see as much as wind transport as might have been anticipated. However, slab depths ranged from 32" at the crown to 16" mid slope, indicating light to moderate windloading from the last four storms. Surrounding ridgelines that were visible during the trip into the site did show significant cornice development and wind deposits.
The weak layer beneath the avalanche slab was a well defined layer of flattened surface hoar crystals that were up to 12mm in length up at the crown face. The bed surface was a one finger slab 8" deep at the crown and up to 20" deep mid slope. Beneath the bed surface was aprx. 6" of well developed faceted crystals and depth hoar. This depth hoar was moist mid slope, but very dry and up to 12mm long columns of 4mmcrystals in the starting zone. The presence of columns indicates an earlier shallow cold and weak snowpack in this area. We received reports that several sleds were stuck down below and that walking through the snow was a very difficult wading process. This indicates that the sleds were sinking deep into the snowpack and may have been more likely to shock and stress the snow slab just above the weak layer.
Snow History this area during previous years: Local riders told forecasters that in many different winters they would ride this slope and cut loose avalanches while traversing or high marking, but nothing this big. A lone 8-12" diameter, mangled pine tree sits on the bench at the base of the easterly face, bent at a 45 degree angle downhill, suggesting previous avalanches in this location.
Other Clues to Instability:
Driving up the access road on Monday, we observed natural slab releases that had run since the end of the storm. One was from a north east facing cornice release that triggered a wind roll on a slope, another was a north to northeast facing bowl (aprx 6-6500 feet elev, class 3 in size) that ran beneath the ridgeline and appeared to propagate several connected slopes in the bowl. On the snow machine ride in, we observed a similar N/NE facing bowl with several connected slab avalanches on it's face. Class 3 size.
It appeared that the group had ridden off the road and up a ridgeline before returning to the road bed a mile or two from the accident site. A long, connected avalanche had released just below their tracks on a N/NE facing slope that dropped to a creek bed beneath the ridgeline. It is not known whether the group noticed this activity. This avalanche was apparent from the slopes that climbed up to the accident site.
A member of the riding party said that he had not noticed any collapsing just before the fatal avalanche had occurred, but that they did notice the snow collapsing and cracking around them as they hiked through unbroken snow while evacuating the victim's body from the debris and out to an open area.
If they were not looking for any avalanche activity and very focused their machines and the trail, it might have been possible to overlook this apparent avalanche activity.
Human Variables:
This particular group of riders was know for achieving the more aggressive rides in the area. Earlier in January, they had triggered and outrun several large avalanches in the Baker Creek area north of Ketchum and had decided to begin carrying avalanche beacons and shovels after that experience.
These riders were very skilled and knew the mountains and terrain very well. However. Their avalanche evaluation skills did not match their riding ability. The day of the fatality was a day of considerable avalanche hazard. It is not known if any members of the party had obtained the avalanche advisory for that day.
Sunday had been a great day for being out in the mountains. Perfect sun, perfect powder. If they had noticed some of the avalanche releases, their ability to ride around without a problem may have given them a false sense of confidence to try highmarking in this area.
Equipment/Resources: The group did have beacons and shovels, but no probes. A set of probes may have enabled a quicker recovery time of the victim. At this point it is not known if he died from trauma or asphyxiation. He did go for a relatively short and unobstructed ride before coming to rest. The group responded quickly to locate the victim as well as to alert outside help. A significant time factor was the remoteness of the site. It is not known if they carried any first aid equipment or attempted CPR once the victim was extricated from the debris.
Comments:
This fatality was a very sobering experience for this accomplished group of snowmobile riders. It appears that this group had begun to think about avalanche safety. Sunday they had definitely been pushing the limits by highmarking in recognizable and known avalanche terrain, the day after a significant storm and during a time of considerable avalanche hazard. If they had traveled in the same manner several days after the storm, they may or may not have experienced the same result due to the the stabilization process of the newer snow and the unpredictable nature of buried depth hoar.
Several members of the party were on the slope at the same time and this could have stressed the slope enough to trigger the avalanche. One rider was able to ride off the edge of the avalanche, another was caught but only partially buried. The third person in the slide, the victim, was carried into a serious terrain trap at the base of the slope. General rules for traveling in avalanche terrain are to expose only one member of a party at a time to suspected avalanche hazard, and to avoid areas of terrain traps where debris can result in deep, destructive burials.
The sequence of events and details of this avalanche fatality are all too similar to other fatalities the past several years. The facts from recent avalanche fatalities all point to the need for winter recreational travelers to pursue avalanche education and skills if they plan on venturing into avalanche terrain.
A backcountry snowboarder was killed in a class 2 avalanche near Judah Peak in the Donner Pass area west of Truckee, CA. He walked out on a cornice without his board and the cornice broke releasing a slide 2' deep and 100' x 300' burying the victum 6' deep. He was found by 2 avalanche dogs from the nearby Sugar Bowl ski area and had a pulse when found. He had been buried for about an hour and apparently died of trauma sustained in the slide. The victum was from the east coast.
Russ Johnson, Squaw Valley Ski Patrol
1 person was killed in an avalanche on Round Top Mountain in the Yanks Peak area near Barkerville on Sunday Feb. 1, 1998. I am uncertain as to the size of the slide but the fella was only buried under 30 cm of snow. However he was not wearing a transciever and it took other riders in the area about an hour to locate him. He could not be revived.
Update:
On Sunday Feb 1 '98 Jerry Manarin, 39 of Quesnel was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
4 snowmobiling companions tried to dig him out of a "large" slide. It took them over 45 minutes to dig him out. He was not wearing a transeiver.
Terry Sawchuk
Anchorage Daily News
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1998
By LIZ RUSKIN, Daily News reporter
A slope loaded with wet, heavy snow avalanched in the mountains south of Portage over the weekend, sweeping three loaded coal cars off Alaska Railroad tracks and closing the rail route to Seward.
The route remained closed Monday evening. Railroad officials, fearful of another avalanche, didn't let workers into the area to repair the rails and couldn't say when the line would be reopened.
The derailment dumped some 300 tons of coal at a spot called Tunnel, 12 miles south of Portage and about 50 miles north of Seward. No one was hurt, but the avalanche took out 200 feet of rail. The train, hauling coal from the mine in Healy to the port in Seward, was not moving and had no one aboard when the avalanche struck. Each car carried about 105 tons of coal.
"We don't know how to get them out yet," said Alaska Railroad spokesman Scott Banks, of the derailed cars. He said, though, that the railroad would retrieve the cars and cleanup all the coal.
The area of the avalanche, a known slide zone, is just north of Grandview, the destination of the annual Ski Train, the popular event sponsored by the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage.
Saturday morning, when the coal-laden train headed toward Seward, it had 66 cars and weighed nearly 8,600 tons, Banks said.
To climb the steep grade to Grandview, the train is normally split in two at Spencer, about 10 miles south of Portage. That morning, with six inches of fresh snow on the tracks, the engines had trouble hauling 33 cars, so railroad workers decided to split the train again. They left 16 cars at Tunnel and took 17 cars on to
Grandview. Before they could return for the remaining 16, the railroad's avalanche expert told them to stop because the area was unsafe.
It's not great to leave railroad cars in a slide zone, but it's worse to endanger lives by sending in people to remove the cars, said avalanche forecaster David Hamre.
"I felt the risk was too high," Hamre said. He was right about that.
Workers bringing a locomotive from Portage discovered the slide at 6:15 p.m. It had pushed the first three cars off the tracks, nearly burying the middle car in snow. The avalanche also piled up against the next six cars, but they remained on the tracks.
Sunday morning, after a safety meeting, railroad workers removed all but the three derailed cars. Hamre shot down more of the snow load to prevent more uncontrolled slides.
Hamre had been keeping his eye on the Tunnel slide zone. The cold weather in January had left a layer of sparkly snow, called "surface hoar," high on the slopes in the area, he said. If enough snow piled on top of the surface hoar, a slide was likely.
"Nothing sticks to that," he said.
But how much snow was enough to set off an avalanche? It snows 500 inches a year in that area, so an avalanche forecaster can't overreact.
"It's an inexact science. You don't know if it'll take two or four inches," he said. "If you told them not to bring a train through every time it snowed, the trains wouldn't run."
A few storms came through during the week, causing minor slides. Then, Saturday morning it began to snow heavily.
At 10 or 11 in the morning, snow on some slopes began to slide naturally, and avalanche technicians responsible for the slopes around the highway started setting others off with recoilless rifles. That's when Hamre called a stop to work in the slide zone near Tunnel.
Banks said the railroad had hoped to fix the tracks by Monday evening, but Hamre said the avalanche danger was still too high.
Two or three coal trains usually go to Seward each week, bringing coal from Healy to the docks, where it is loaded on ships and sent to Asia.
The derailment should not effect the Grandview Ski Train, scheduled this year for Feb. 21 and 28, Banks said.
Officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation said they will ask the railroad to find out if the coal will effect any streams. If it does, the railroad will have to work with the DEC and the Department of Fish and Game on a cleanup plan.
On Thursday 1/29/98 at about 1230 hrs we had a partial burial of an alpine skier in a hard slab slide on "FAA" peak just west of the Big Mtn Summit. The individual was part of a five person group that had gone just outside the ski area boundary to ski the steep chutes just below the snow fences to the north of the groomed snowmobile trail. The victim was the first to enter the top of one of the chutes and was the farthest to the west and slightly uphill from the others. He said he was cutting across the slope (to the north west) and slammed his edges into the snowpack "to see if it might slide" and IT DID! The 15" crown broke about shoulder level just up slope from him on a 40 degree slope angle. He yelled "slide!", stayed upright and tried to ski with it as things went down the elevator shaft. He felt he was at the leading edge of the slide when things came to an abrupt halt when he "pancaked" face down, onto the cat track of the Gray Wolf ski run about 25 yards below the starting zone. The rest of the debris piled up on top of him to a depth of about three to four feet. Only his right arm, beyond the elbow was exposed. He still had his skis on and a pole in one hand.
At this point his "pals" thought he had just skied down, so three of them dropped into other chutes along the slope to the east, this also triggered two other smaller slides. They were able to ski these out and kept going beyond and below the Gray Wolf run and headed down to the bottom terminal of chair seven on the back side where they reported starting an avalanche and dumping a bunch of snow on the cat track but nothing else.
In the mean time, the last guy in the group (who attended the Glacier Country Avalanche Center avalanche awareness class just prior) realized that one of the party was not visible after counting heads. Fortunately he had the common sense to search the debris on the cat track looking for the guy he could not locate. When he reached the northwestern edge of the debris he saw the arm of the victim sticking out from the snow and starting digging with his hands and a ski. It was about four to five minutes from the time of burial to when the victim's face was first exposed and another fifteen minutes until he was out of the snowpack. He was shaken but uninjured. None of the group had transceivers, shovels or probes.
I was in the patrol cabin at the summit gearing up for pit work and hazard evaluation when the lift attendant at the bottom of chair seven called the patrol dispatcher reporting the slide. I joined three patrollers and skied down to the site. We arrived just minutes after the victim was uncovered from the debris. The time was 1311. At the site two individuals were digging in the debris looking for a ski pole. One turned to me and explained that he had been buried in the slide and had "almost died". I immediately tried to figure out if anyone else could possibly be buried in the debris. The second individual was certain there was nobody else involved and he was very confident about that. A second witness had confirmed with him that no one else was buried. Both individuals felt they could ski down and did not want a snowmobile ride so we skied down to the base of Chair Seven and rode back up to the summit. At 1340 the Patrol Director and I interviewed the two individuals who were involved.
I then went back out to the slide location and recorded the following information:
1/29/98 WEATHER WAS CLEAR IN THE MID TWENTIES
FAA PEAK / NE ASPECT / 6700' ELEVATION / 40 DEGREES SLOPE ANGLE AT CROWN
SIZE CLASS 2 / HARD SLAB / HUMAN TRIGGERED - SKIER (29 year old male)
CROWN HEIGHT WAS 6-15 INCHES AND THE ENTIRE SLIDE WAS ABOUT SEVENTY FIVE YARDS WIDE WITH A VERTICAL DROP OF ABOUT 25 YARDS. THIS WAS ACTUALLY THREE SMALLER SLIDES THAT LINKED TOGETHER. THE CROWN OF THE PORTION OF THE SLIDE(S) THAT BURIED THE VICTIM WAS ABOUT 15 YARDS ACROSS.
THE SLAB WAS HARD AND BLOCKY - ONE FINGER TO PENCIL IN HARDNESS AND WAS ENTIRELY COMPOSED OF SNOW TRANSPORTED BY WIND ALONG THE GROUND FROM THE PAST 6-8 HOUR PERIOD.
THE WEAK LAYER WAS BURIED SURFACE HOAR ABOUT 1/8" - 1/4" THICK AND THIS LOCATION PRODUCED VERY EASY FAILURES IN SHEAR TESTING AND RUTSCHBLOCK TESTS. ISOLATED COLUMNS WERE FAILING WHILE ISOLATING AND THE RUTSCHBLOCK FAILED WITH A SLOPE ANGLE ADJUSTED SCORE OF A "1" (FAILED WHILE GENTLY STEPPING ON BLOCK - 28 DEGREE SLOPE). THESE WERE VERY "CRISP" SHEARS OF A VERY COHESIVE HARD SLAB. THE BED SURFACE WAS COMPOSED OF AN OLDER WIND SLAB LAYER WITH ONE FINGER TO FOUR FINGER HARDNESS. BED SURFACE SLOPE ANGLES NEAR THE CROWN VARIED FROM 39 TO 44 DEGREES IN STEEPNESS.
WEATHER WAS A SIGNIFICANT AND UNIQUE FACTOR IN THE SLIDE. THE NIGHT BEFORE WAS CALM, CLEAR AND COLD. THESE CONDITIONS PRODUCED WIDESPREAD SURFACE HOAR IN THE BIG MOUNTAIN AREA. AT SOME POINT IN THE MORNING THE WIND PICKED UP OUT OF THE SOUTH EAST CAUSING SIGNIFICANT WIND TRANSPORT Of SURFACE SNOW ON TO THE LEEWARD NORTH EAST SLOPE PRODUCING THE WIND SLAB THAT SLID.
A PATROLLER LOOKED AT THE SLOPE IN THE MORNING ABOUT 0900 AND DETERMINED NO NEED FOR CONTROL WORK AT THAT TIME. IN THE HOUR OR SO I WAS AWAY FROM THE SLIDE INTERVIEWING THE VICTIM AND WITNESS MOST OF THE CROWN HAD FILLED IN WITH WIND DEPOSITION AGAIN. DURING THE 30 MINUTES I WAS WORKING AT THE SLIDE GATHERING DATA MY PACK WAS COVERED WITH 3" - 4" OF NEW WIND DEPOSITION.
I WOULD HAVE ESTIMATED THE WIND AT ABOUT 15 - 20 MPH. THE INTERESTING THING WAS THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO WIND AT THE SUMMIT JUST ABOVE FOR MOST OF THE DAY. THE WIND WAS ONLY PRESENT THROUGH THE LOWER SADDLE OUT OF THE SOUTH WEST. IT APPEARS THAT SOLAR WARMING OF THE AIR MASS IN THE BOWL JUST TO THE SOUTH WEST WAS CAUSING UP-SLOPE WINDS.
THE AVALANCHE ADVISORY ISSUED TWO DAYS PRIOR ON 1-27-98 BY GLACIER COUNTRY AVALANCHE CENTER RATED THE AVALANCHE HAZARD FOR THE BACKCOUNTRY AROUND BIG MOUNTAIN AS "CONSIDERABLE" ABOVE 5500 FT.
KRAIG LANG - Snow Ranger Tally Lake Ranger District Flathead National Forest (406) 862-5400
On the afternoon of Saturday, January 24, 1998, a 21-year old snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in Northwestern Montana at Inspiration Pass in the Swan Mountain Range, south of the community of Swan Lake and southeast of Kalispell, Montana. The victim from Columbia Falls, Montana was riding with another young companion along the crest of the Swan Range. They had reached the 7000 foot elevation site by traveling up the Soup Creek drainage on the west face of the Swans.
The victim triggered the slide when he dropped into an irregular shaped bowl on the east face of the range. The resulting avalanche was approx. 1200 feet wide with a variable crown fracture depth of 1-5 feet and ran approx. 600 slope feet. The crown fracture was irregular in shape running sometime along the ridge, then down to tree outcrops, around a rock face, then back up toward the ridge. Aspect was generally southeasterly. Slope angle from the stauchwall to the crown was 35 degrees. The failing slab covered almost all of the open slope top-to-bottom with debris, often blocky, deposited in the trees below.
Like many areas in the Northwest and Western Canada, Northwestern Montana has had below-normal snowfall this season. Dry conditions in November produced a shallow snowpack with considerable weaknesses associated with buried facets and surface hoar. Snowfall amounts increased somewhat in December. Between Christmas and New Years the mountain snowpack developed melt-freeze ice layers associated with freezing rain events well up to 7000 feet. These ice layers and subsequent warmer and deeper snow began to give the snowpack a base, yet the weakly bonded basal facet layer and the buried surface hoar layer slightly above persisted in most all areas above 5500 feet in elevation.
During the week before the avalanche this portion of the Swan Range and the neighboring Mission Range had received significant amounts of new snowfall. The snotel site at Noisy Basin, 25 miles to the north from the avalanche, had recorded over. 3 inches of snow water equivalent between Monday and Saturday morning. Friday night prior to the avalanche winds in the areas were reported to be strong from the west/southwest. Friday and Saturday also saw temperatures warming from the low 20's to the high 20's and low 30's.
The crown fracture was variably loaded with recent wind deposited snow and the failing weak layer appears to have been a weakly bonded layer of buried facets and surface hoar. Our time at the site was very late in the day and we were limited in our investigation before nightfall. The bed surface was a much denser layer approx. 1 foot above the ground.
The victim was totally buried approx 5.5 feet and was reported to be missing his helmet. He suffered facial lacerations when he slid through a clump of trees. Exact cause of death is unknown at this time. The final location of the snowmobile after the avalanche is also unknown currently. Both the victim and his companion were wearing transceivers, but the witnessing companion was unfamiliar and untrained in how to use the instrument.
There was another party of snowmobilers in the area and they also witnessed the slide. One of these riders had a transceiver but it operated on the old 2275 frequency and the victim's beacon was a single frequency 457. This rider however took the companion's transceiver, conducted a search, and was able to locate the buried victim. He was uncovered lifeless approx 60 minutes after being buried in the avalanche.
Soon after the avalanche a cell phone call from the other party on site alerted both Lake and Flathead County authorities of the accident. There was a period of confusion as to the exact location so both counties began to mobilize search and rescue efforts. The west face of the Swan lies in Lake County while the east face is Flathead. The falling of nightfall and the confirmation of a fatality led the Flathead authorities to suspend the recovery Saturday night and the body was subsequently recovered by ground Sunday mid-day.
The location of this avalanche is very typical to the terrain that snowmobilers are currently capable of accessing. It is high and deep in with routes that require strong machines and very capable riders. It is imperative that these parties be prepared with both the equipment and training to conduct a search and rescue effort in the event of a slide. As in this case an outside organized rescue effort is many, many hours away.
We also encourage these parties to develop at least a rudiment understanding of snow stability evaluation. It is impossible to keep snowmobilers and skiers from playing in avalanche terrain. With a basic understanding of what makes avalanche terrain however, and a somewhat notion of the effects of weather on snow stability, they will stand a much better chance of timing their play and avoiding accidents. After that someday, maybe they will even begin to dig and test the snow for stability.
Stan Bones, Glacier Country Avalanche Center, Flathead National Forest
Report by: Kit Katzebach, San Miguel SAR member
1 victim - snowboarder, local 25 year old male. Buried completely - head approximately 3 feet deep, with feet approximately 6 feet deep.
San Bernardo Moutain, San Miguel County, CO. Chute was east facing, however the aspect that slide was SSE. Fracture involved new snow, approximately 12" slab, 50' across. The Snow traveled 200' down slope with a vertical distance of 100'. At the crown the slope angle was approximately 35 degrees, however half way down the slide path the slope increased to 60-70 degrees. It was at this steep section that the snowpack pulled out all the way to the dirt.
The survivor used his beacon to locate the victim, then dug him out to the head and shoulders. The victim had no pulse and was not breathing, with blue lips. The survivor then left the scene to go for more help. It was dark when search and rescue got the call so we met with the survivor and planned for the body recovery in the morning. At first light, two SAR members flew with the Helitrax pilot and guide and effected control work with hand charges, and set down the helicopter. The two SAR members then skinned up through the trees (Heli landing zone was half way from San Bernardo developement to the avalanche site) to the accident site. The victim was dug out and long lined out with the helicopter.
Both persons were wearing avalanche beacons, and carrying shovels. the survivor was on ski gear. The decision to ski was precipitated by the fact that the victims friend had left early in the AM that day to ski the same mountain. The victim and survivor got to the trailhead at 1 PM. They chose to ski the chute to the skiers right. of the mail chute (the main chute had been skied by the earlier party, and seemed more exposed). They skied in the trees for the first half of the run. The victim was then located below the survivor, he then said that was going into the chute. The survivor followed but fell a few times, and was nervous about how much snow was around, so he pulled out into the trees to regroup himself. When he was ready to ski again, the survivor went back out onto the chute cand saw that the avalanche had happened.
This area is an ugly terrain trap, or the slide would have gone further, if not for the hollow. The 2 persons listened to the avalanche forecast on the radio that morning, they did not have any formal avalanche training, however they had practiced with beacons in the past. They did establish that the victim would lead the way, however they did not follow safe protocol of skiing one person at a time.
Please note that distances were approximated.
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