Accident Report          Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

 

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

 

Hell’s Canyon near Mt Ogden:  One skier caught, carried, buried to eyes, dug himself out, OK.

 

Accident Report diagrams and text by G.R. Fletcher, Snowbasin Professional Ski Patrol.  Information reviewed and compiled by Brett Kobernik, Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center.

 

Location:

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

 

Accident Summary:

Miles Dickson 21, John McDevitt 24, Jess Perrie 24, Jamie Stockham 36 had plans to spend the day skiing at Snowbasin Utah.  No one in the group had much backcountry skiing experience other than a few trips outside of ski area boundaries and attendance at a few avalanche lectures.   Miles did bring avalanche rescue gear with him to the area that day, but because the plan was to spend the day in area he left it in the car. They spent the early part of the day skiing in the area.  As the day wore on and the in area powder got skied up they were looking for more untracked snow.  When they heard that the No Name area would be opening they were one of the first groups to access this terrain.  The group hiked to the peak of No Name, and from there they stopped briefly, Miles mentioned seeing very few tracks into the “in area” ski terrain, but they decided to continue to the backcountry access point leading into Hell’s Canyon.  Miles had previously skied Snowbasin, and in the past had skied in the Hell’s Canyon area which is adjacent to No Name and is backcountry not controlled not patrolled terrain.  He reported that the previous season he had spent a good part of the day skiing in Hell’s Canyon and had a very good time.  Miles mentioned that the group passed the “are you beeping” sign at the top of the Mt. Allen tram, this sign is a reminder to those that will be leaving the ski area to have the proper rescue equipment and to be thinking about potential avalanche hazards.  The group also saw the forest service warning sign at the backcountry entrance and the signs posting the ski area boundary.  Miles did say that leaving the ski area did not seem to be a big concern.  He was looking for some good powder skiing and from past experience figured Hell’s Canyon was a good place to get it.  Standing at the entrance to Hell’s they saw a group of two skiers skiing a ridgeline that separates Hell’s Canyon from Cold Water Canyon, other than that there were no other visible tracks.  Once in the Hell’s Canyon area the group had one more discussion.  Miles mentioned to the group that it was best to avoid going to far skiers left as that could put them in a different drainage that would not allow them to get back to the resort.  There was no discussion of avalanches, other possible risks, or of travel protocols while traveling in this terrain.  John McDevitt later did report feeling uncomfortable about getting into this terrain but did not voice his concerns to the group at this time.  Miles skied the first open shot at the entrance and then the others followed.  Miles reported that the skiing was good at the start, but as the terrain got steeper there was extensive sloughing of the new snow.  He stopped part way down the area he was skiing as he was starting to feel uncomfortable.  He also noticed a sizable avalanche off to his left.  His friends were above him, and they were also apprehensive and had not skied as far into this terrain.  John with some early apprehension was off to the skiers right closer to the ski area boundary, and the other two were in the center of the terrain above Miles.  At this point the whole group could still communicate and were still in visual contact.  Miles called up that he did not feel good about this terrain and wanted to get out by skiing to his right back to the ski resort.  They all agreed that this was a good idea.  The three skiers that were up higher in the terrain were all able to ski to the right and traverse back to the resort.  They then skied along the boundary back to the bottom of the ski resort.  On their way down they did pass a ski patroller who was doing some work on the boundary, they did not mention to him anything about their situation.  Miles who was lower in the terrain was blocked by a rocky spine and had to ski down farther into the terrain to find a way to traverse out.  Because of his drop in elevation he was separated from the group and they lost contact with him.  He eventually found a way to get across this rocky spine.  As he was coming into the next gully he passed under a steep pitch of snow.  He said that when he came into this area he could see the slope crack and the fracture start to open up.  His first thought was that he could maybe ski off of this slab by gaining some speed, but he was immediately pitched forward.  He then tried to grab the bed surface to avoid going with the slab, this also did not work.  Soon after beginning to be taken with the slide he hit a tree and tried briefly to hold on to that, but the force of the slide pulled him off and he was now in an uncontrolled ride with the avalanche.  He was spun around traveling head first, he fought to stay on the surface of the slide but spent most of the ride under the snow.  He did report occasionally poking through but was immediately pulled back down.  He did feel the snow starting to slow down and at the same time could feel the snow starting to become denser.  He had the feeling that he had one last chance to get to the surface because if he didn’t the increasing density of the snow would not allow any movement at all.  When the snow came to a stop he was tightly buried up to his eyes with his left hand sticking out.

 

Rescue Summary:

With his left hand he was able to clear the snow to his mouth,  at this point he realized that he still could not breath and probably had not had an airway for some time because his mouth was stuffed full of snow not allowing him to breath.  He was able to force this snow out of his mouth and clear his airway.  He then proceeded to unbury himself.  He came out of this ride with no major injuries.  He later noticed some soreness of the ribs from hitting the tree, but with the adrenaline of the event the only noticeable sign of discomfort was his throat being sore from the snow that was forced into his mouth.   He had lost all of his ski equipment and his ski hat, but he was able to move so he then proceeded to walk out.  Peter Francis an off duty ski patroller was in the area and was able to find out that Miles was not hurt.  Peter then phoned into ski patrol dispatch that there was an individual walking out of Hells Canyon with no equipment and that he had been in an avalanche.  As Miles was beginning to walk out, Paul Wright and Chad skied up to him.  Paul stayed with Miles and assisted him to patrol.  Paul also reported to patrol dispatch that Miles had been skiing with three other people and at that their whereabouts were unknown.  Chad exited Hell’s ahead of the group so that he could report his findings to ski patrol.  He was met at the bottom of Hell’s Canyon and taken to patrol.  No Name terrain was closed by the ski patrol and the patrol was put on stand by as there were still 3 individuals in the group not accounted for.  Paul eventually walked Miles out of the Hells area and he was taken to ski patrol.  By the time Miles arrived at ski patrol his friends had been located and also directed to ski patrol. 

 

Avalanche Data: 

The avalanche was a SS-AS-R2-D2.  The fracture was estimated to be on average 2 feet deep with a max of 3 feet and about 100 feet wide.  The avalanche fell about 1000 feet vertical.  It released on an east facing slope that was estimated at about 40 degrees.  It released at an elevation of about 8400 feet and the debris funneled into a gully and was about 8 to 10 feet deep. 

 

Weather History: 

The winter of 2006-2007 had been one of the driest on record.  The lack of snowfall and the colder temps had created a snowpack of primarily faceted snow.  Mid February brought a change to the weather pattern.  From February 10th to the 27th there were 13 days with snowfall.  The Snowbasin ski patrol produced large destructive class 3 and 4 avalanches with control work in many areas that had not been heavily skied.  Many of these slides were taking out the whole winter snowpack and sliding on faceted snow near the ground.  Also on February 20th there was an avalanche fatality in the Hell’s Canyon area when a 17 year old skied out ahead of his father and brother, got caught in a slide and died of trauma.  This would be the same path of this accident only a different starting zone.  The weather change for February brought 46 inches of snow and 4.34 inches of water to the Snowbasin ski area.  This new snow was a welcome sight to all those looking to ski some of Utah’s famous powder.  From February 23rd to 24th 9 inches of snow were reported with .83 in water.  Temperatures were in the mid teens to low 20’s and the winds were WNW 20 – 30 mph.    By the morning of the 26th 10 more inches of snow had fallen with .64 inches of water.  Temperatures stayed primarily in the teens, and winds started to increase to 30 – 40 mph and backed to a south westerly direction.   The morning of the accident brought one more blast of snow 4 inches and .60 inches of water, along with this snow were the strongest winds of the period SSW winds 40 – 50 mph with gust up to 70.  On the morning of February 27th an avalanche warning was issued for the mountains of northern Utah by the Utah Avalanche Center.  When this storm was ending the ski patrol went up to assess the No Name area, after this was complete the access gates were opened.  By 1: 45 PM all of the No Name area was open.        

 

Comments:  (Click here for photos)

Skiing and riding in the Hells Canyon area adjacent to Snowbasin is a very common practice.  This terrain is easily accessed via a short walk to No Name peak.  This terrain is very popular because it provides the adventure of backcountry skiing with very easy access back to the Snowbasin ski area.  This terrain is very steep tree skiing with numerous narrow gullies.  The Canyon faces east with steep shots from the north, east, and south all dropping into the drainage at the bottom.  All of the slide paths converge at the bottom of this drainage making it a very dangerous place to be with any type of avalanche danger.  This group did not really consider the differences between skiing in the ski area where avalanche control has been done, and the very different uncontrolled terrain that is just the other side of the boundary.  The close proximity and easy access to backcountry terrain in that area easily lures people into a sense of complacency in dealing with avalanches.  This group very quickly got themselves into trouble by entering backcountry terrain.  Miles commented that the in area terrain of Snowbasin was nearly untracked, but the lure of powder beyond the boundary was very attractive.  Because this group was in a resort skiing mindset, they went into this terrain casually.  Miles was partly deciding on where to ski from previous experience in this terrain which was positive and very rewarding.  But any venture into backcountry terrain should be approached carefully with the proper avalanche travel and rescue equipment.  Safety decisions dealing with travel and terrain are now up to the individuals and the full scope of decision making skills needs to come into play.  Weather, current condition of the snowpack, and travel considerations for the given terrain all need to be discussed with the group.  It is important to have good communication within the group so that everyone knows what they are getting into, and knows what the plan is.  This group did eventually realize that they were getting into dangerous terrain with dangerous conditions.  And they made the right decision to not continue.  By not having good travel techniques and a good plan from the start they got separated and Miles was left alone.   When he was caught in the slide no one in the group was aware of his situation.  If it were not for the luck of every thing lining up just right for him this could have very easily had a very tragic ending.  As Miles said “things unraveled very quickly once we left the ski area boundary.  I was very fortunate the way that things turned out.  No matter how euphoric the powder skiing is you still have to use your brain.”  During the slide he had to miss all of the trees and rocks that fill the gully that he slid down.  Then he had to get his hand out of the snow because as he admitted the density of the snow when it stopped may not have allowed him to move at all.  With no one aware of his situation he is very lucky to have had things turn out as well as they did.