Missing Skier Found Dead In NH After Being Buried By Avalanche

[dave.m]

Peakbagger,

My sense of the old guard isn't so much as just go, but rather wait till things consolidate in the spring and avoid days after wind loading and dustings that could produce sloughs.

I also think the Web has dramatically increased the numbers. Back in the mid 80s when I was teaching at Smuggs, there were only a few guys who skied Hell Brook (off of Mansfield) and they were the best of the best from the area (some combination of instructors, patrollers, lifties, and locals).

This was just as backcountry tele was taking shape and before Goodman's book was out.

Now these routes are being glamourized by GoPro footage on YouTube and discussed widely on forums. My sense is that with the popularity of chute skiing, more people are dropping in during mid-season conditions and with that, higher slide potential.

 

[ChrisB]

Peakbagger,

My sense of the old guard isn't so much as just go, but rather wait till things consolidate in the spring and avoid days after wind loading and dustings that could produce sloughs.

I also think the Web has dramatically increased the numbers. Back in the mid 80s when I was teaching at Smuggs, there were only a few guys who skied Hell Brook (off of Mansfield) and they were the best of the best from the area (some combination of instructors, patrollers, lifties, and locals).

This was just as backcountry tele was taking shape and before Goodman's book was out.

Now these routes are being glamourized by GoPro footage on YouTube and discussed widely on forums. My sense is that with the popularity of chute skiing, more people are dropping in during mid-season conditions and with that, higher slide potential.

In researching the Ammo drainage ski route I came across the Synott Guide service. They offer guided BC ski trips into the area and to other high risk drainages.

I wonder how places like Corbett’s in Jackson Hole compare re accidents and rescues.

 

[maineguy]

In researching the Ammo drainage ski route I came across the Synott Guide service. They offer guided BC ski trips into the area and to other high risk drainages.

I wonder how places like Corbett’s in Jackson Hole compare re accidents and rescues.

Apparently, in WY, snowmobiles are outpacing skiers in terms of avalanche fatalities...

https://buckrail.com/snowmobilers-now-top-wyo-avalanche-fatality-list/

 

[ChrisB]

Apparently, in WY, snowmobiles are outpacing skiers in terms of avalanche fatalities...

https://buckrail.com/snowmobilers-now-top-wyo-avalanche-fatality-list/

And more BC skiers in Utah.

Four Dead in Avalanche and four More Injured

 

[maineguy]

And more BC skiers in Utah.

Four Dead in Avalanche and four More Injured

Utah gets insane amounts of snow. I was very impressed when I once encountered this sign in the UT backcountry warning skiers that they are leaving the ski patrol area and are on their own.

 

[dave.m]

A few corrections:
I wasn't in pain, but I knew my femur was broken. I was working on getting my pack off when another solo skier arrived. (I would have been able to get it off.) He helped stabilize me (pad under me, down jacket on etc). Only had a cellphone, but I was able to connect. If the cellphone had not worked, I believe I would have been able to wait for him to ski out and summon help. If the cellphone had not worked and no one had come by, I might not have made it. (It would have been a reasonably pleasant night by winter standards.)

The accident was the result of my ski catching on a blowdown hidden in the snow--something that can occur almost anywhere below T-line. I wasn't going very fast either. A type 1) situation...

Doug

Thanks for the corrections Doug and very glad you're still with us!

 

[skiguy]

Depends on what you mean by "backcountry skiing".

IMO, there are 3 general kinds of backcountry skiing here in New England...

1) Rugged cross-country skiing
2) Skiing for turns in the woods and glades
3) Skiing for turns in chutes, gullies, ravines and snowfields.

As Skiguy correctly notes, avalanches can and have happened in the woods under the right conditions. It is possible to be hiking along a trail or fleeing from a cabin (Wileys) and get crushed. But this is like talking about lightening strikes. A backcountry skier can drive their avalanche risk to practically zero by simply staying in the woods.

The chutes, gullies, ravines and snowfields are another matter completely. These slide on a regular basis. I view the chutes, gullies, slide paths and such as sort of the free climbing of the gravity sports. In the forward to his book "Chuting Gallery", Andrew McLean noted that he wrote the book for young men with a death wish. And many of these places have other dangers beyond avalanches. Many of these places are really "no fall" zones. I recall an interview with Dickie Hall who noted the the first time he skied on of the steep lines near Tucks (Dodge's Drop, IIRC) he had to ski around some roped up ice climbers who were ascending the same route he was skiing down.

I completely understand the understand the appeal of these chutes and what might lure a solo skier to drop in. I skied Gulf of Slides once, and that single run is like a fresh memory - every single turn.

I would hazard a guess that in terms of skier hours, that the percentage of New England backcountry skiing done in the chutes, gullies, ravines and snowfields makes up less than 1/3rd of the activity. Even counting the hordes at Tucks in the Spring. That's just a guess but it's not an entirely uneducated guess. There are an awful lot of people skiing in the woods and along trails every weekend.

I've never seen a woods skier dig a snowpit nor do I know of woods skiers who routinely carry beacons/shovels unless they just keep them in their winter pack as a matter of routine.

The springtime hordes in Tucks is another thing to consider. I'll wager that fewer than 1 in 1000 carry a beacon and fewer still dig pits. A good bit of this can be somewhat excused if you buy the argument that pits tell you less in known, well-consolidated conditions. From what I've seen in the years I used to ski Tucks, the spring time slides I've seen were all surface sloughs, not slab avalanches caused by unstable layer deep under the surface. And then again, one can argue about whether or not Tucks is backcountry or side country.


In terms of the risk, I'll contrast it to rather seemingly mundane "cross-country" skiing.

View attachment 6596

This little stroll in park shot was taken while skiing the Upper Nanamacomuk a few years ago. It's a beautiful rolling XC ski trail that ambles down from Lilly Pond to Bear Notch Road while following the north side of the Swift. And that's the rub...

A simple leg injury would leave you stranded on the wrong side of a river a good 3-5 miles from any entry point.

Is it rational to ski the Upper Nana solo? Couldn't something like a Spot or InReach call in the rescue if you need it?

@DougPaul's terrible injury on the equally tame and much closer Livermore Road suggests otherwise. Doug had a satellite phone in his pack but reported here that he was in so much pain, he was unable to get his pack off to get out his parka or his phone. Had one more stray solo skier not been behind him on the loop, Doug may well have not made it through that night.

My long-winded point here is that solo winter travel is inherently risky to begin with, particularly when you're in remote places off of high volume routes. A simple twist of an ankle or busted binding (see the recent TR from Belvidere VT) can be a game changer.

Lightening does strike and you don't want to be the one that is hit. Having knowledge to be able to assess the snowpack whether your in the woods or on open bowls and chutes is critical. To just assume that because I am in the trees the likelihood of an avalanche is near zero is just the kind of slippery slope of reasoning (no pun intended) that gets folks into trouble. Just because never seeing anyone dig a pit in the woods does not mean it does not happen. If those are the kinds of partners one has I would be looking to hang with a different crew. Personally having skied all over the Northeast for decades including skiing GOS more times than I can count with all the digits on all my extremities. I will say a lot can be learned from the snowpack in the trees and extrapolated to other areas outside the woods itself. I also would not belittle so called Springtime sloughs in Tuckermans. One could easily snap a bone or send one into the rocks. Knowledge and respect of the conditions what ever they are are paramount. Down playing any of it could be the beginning of a decision making process that leads one in to a situation no one wants to be in.

 

[egilbe]

I've heard that tell tale "Whump" before when walking along rolling hills in the Winter. Its a weird sound, but I've since learned its a precursor to an avalanche, signifying unstable snow. Never been in an avalanche and try to stay away from areas where there are no trees growing on the slopes of mountains or hills. But, I'm risk averse. I'm no longer one of those young men who have a death wish. Part of growing older is realizing you are mortal. It can happen to you.

 

[dave.m]

Lightening does strike and you don't want to be the one that is hit. Having knowledge to be able to assess the snowpack whether your in the woods or on open bowls and chutes is critical. To just assume that because I am in the trees the likelihood of an avalanche is near zero is just the kind of slippery slope of reasoning (no pun intended) that gets folks into trouble. Just because never seeing anyone dig a pit in the woods does not mean it does not happen. If those are the kinds of partners one has I would be looking to hang with a different crew. Personally having skied all over the Northeast for decades including skiing GOS more times than I can count with all the digits on all my extremities. I will say a lot can be learned from the snowpack in the trees and extrapolated to other areas outside the woods itself. I also would not belittle so called Springtime sloughs in Tuckermans. One could easily snap a bone or send one into the rocks. Knowledge and respect of the conditions what ever they are are paramount. Down playing any of it could be the beginning of a decision making process that leads one in to a situation no one wants to be in.

I guess it's my turn to make a few clarifications...

I definitely didn't intend to belittle springtime sloughs. I was just giving an account to my experience in the community back in the mid-80s. I certainly don't advocate this approach. The last time I took skis up to Tucks (mid 90s), it was classic posted LOW spring conditions but there was a dusting on the summits with westerly winds. I was standing down by the 1st aid cache and watched as 4 skiers were ascending in Chute. Then a snowboarder appeared high on the rim well above Left Gully. He made an arcing traverse along the rim moving to skier's left towards Chute and then above the head wall. His traverse cut a slough off that picked up surface corn and then funneled down into Chute, flushing the 4 skiers out like toy soldiers. Neither the snowboarder nor the climbing skiers would have been able to see each other due to the convexity of the slope. My conclusion then and remains now that there just isn't a safe way to ski there. I've not been back to ski Tucks since.

The next clarification is a bit harder to articulate. On the one hand, I totally understand why people ski the chutes and ravines. From a Freedom of the Hills POV, I'll defend it strongly. This is why I said I pass zero judgement on the skier who died recently. But I also know where my personal risk tolerance is and I've concluded that (for me) there is no way to ski the chutes and ravines safely. Yes, one can make marginal improvements in driving down the threat by digging pits and understanding snow layers and weather and yes, one can make marginal improvements in driving down impact by using beacons, skiing in a group and carrying a shovel. [Aside: I view Risk = threat x impact, which is the standard probabilistic formulation of risk.]. But at the end of the day, chute and ravine skiing is fundamentally risky and I simply choose not to do it.

Closely related, I'm a firm believer of the Risk Compensation effect in outdoor sports. Risk Compensation asserts that people tend to have a set risk appetite and that mitigations meant to lower risk tend to correlate with people taking on more risk. I recall a study from one of the western avalanche study groups (and republished in Couloir) that demonstrated that people with avalanche training are more likely to be caught in avalanches. This is a correlation, not a causal effect, obviously. And just as obviously, if you're going to ski avalanche terrain, one should get and master avalanche training, just as if one is going to climb routes with rock fall hazard, they should wear a helmet or if they plan on climbing routes with the potential of slide-of-life danger, they should get and master the ice axe. The other Brave Sir Robyn approach is to simply make the decision to not ski avalanche terrain, to not climb in the face of potential rock fall and to avoid routes with slide-of-life potential.

Lastly, I do stand by assessment that the risk of avalanches in the New England woods is functionally zero (provided you aren't under a known slide path). I was incorrect in relating it to lightening strikes, as lightning strikes are much much much more common than new slides in the New England woods. Winter travel as a whole bunch of risks associated with it but in the woods, worrying about avalanches isn't on that list for (beyond a basic working knowledge of avalanche conditions).

I'm happy to be corrected on this. But you'll have to convince me that there's a significant non-zero frequency of avalanches in the woods (outside of existing, known slide paths).

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Closely related, I'm a firm believer of the Risk Compensation effect in outdoor sports. Risk Compensation asserts that people tend to have a set risk appetite and that mitigations meant to lower risk tend to correlate with people taking on more risk.

I think this has been outlined in all sports. For example, the more protective gear we add to full-contact sports (hockey, football) the harder the hits get.

Tim

 

[skiguy]

https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/

 

[skiguy]

https://vtskiandride.com/avalanche-...ot-ZiBLqEcrFnIygvAysZRdRHJTpuzh2iJUlRu4P4rUX8

 

[ChrisB]

https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/

This amazing and detailed report concludes:

Skiing technical lines, in a thin snowpack above a notorious terrain trap, with no partners, even on a Low danger day, raises the stakes tremendously.


Which brings us back to the solo issue. He was very unlucky to encounter that small D1 wind slab alone. I so wish he had been with a partner.

 

[TEO]

https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/

Here's the correct link:

https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-fatality-ammonoosuc-ravine/

 

[TEO]

This amazing and detailed report concludes:

Skiing technical lines, in a thin snowpack above a notorious terrain trap, with no partners, even on a Low danger day, raises the stakes tremendously.


Which brings us back to the solo issue. He was very unlucky to encounter that small D1 wind slab alone. I so wish he had been with a partner.

"In this case, when Ian Forgays triggered a small wind slab, a partner may have saved his life…but given the terrible terrain trap below, maybe not." (Source.)

The moral of this story isn't "don't ski alone." Rather it is, "if you choose to ski this type of terrain, this is the potential consequence." That consequence is tragic and sobering. It is: you have ~15-20 minutes to live, locked in cement, unable to move. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

 

[Mike P.]

I think this has been outlined in all sports. For example, the more protective gear we add to full-contact sports (hockey, football) the harder the hits get.

Tim

Although, OTOH, the participants are bigger, stronger faster. In hockey what they did notice was that when people started wearing head protection, sticks were no longer carried low. There were few players over 6' tall and 200 pounds. Big Bad Terry O'Reilly 6'1 200 and he earned his money as an enforcer. Maurice Richard 5'10" 170; Sid Crosby 5'11" 200, Ovechkin 6'3" 238. (Richard is closer to a Jockey at this point five inches taller and 55 pounds heavier than Steve Cauthen, he is 5" shorter than Overchkin and 68 pounds lighter.)

Football players have even changed more. LB's and lineman run 40 yard dashes as quick as QB, Safeties and smaller men used to, Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton was 6' 190 pounds, today people thought Kyler Murray might have been too small, while 2" shorter, he's 17 pounds heavier than Fran was according to Pro football reference. Your first OL inducted into the HOF was Jim Parker who played in the 50's. 6'3" 273. (he was considered better than any before if he got the HOF to allow OL in the Hall.) On the all time 50's team, Bob St. Clair was called a huge player at 6'9" and 263 and was a tackle. Gronk this year is 6'6" and 268 and I don't believe he is as big as he was in NE. The players are bigger, faster and stronger. 300 pound lineman didn't exist let alone them being able to run faster than most of us. I don't recall anyone saying Butkus, Nitschke or Night Train Lane hit softly. Brady's not quick, however faster than most of us and slower, according to Vince, than Vince Wilfork when both or Patriots and he was listed at 325

 

[peakbagger]

Long article

https://mountaintimes.info/avalanche-on-mt-washington-skiin-ians-final-run/

 

[Mike P.]

Long article

https://mountaintimes.info/avalanche-on-mt-washington-skiin-ians-final-run/

It's a very nice read though, thank you

 

[hikerbrian]

Long article

https://mountaintimes.info/avalanche-on-mt-washington-skiin-ians-final-run/

Great article. Note, it's the same one as the vtskiandride link posted above by skiguy.

 

[ChrisB]

Great article. Note, it's the same one as the vtskiandride link posted above by skiguy.

Two more avi fatalities in Colorado on Valentine's Day.

Stay alert!!