Alpine Touring Thread

[raisingarizona]

Isn’t the ideal thing to be closer to the middle of the springs range vs its limits? I’m assuming you ski a 9 based on above comment?

I’ve been rolling mine back one or two off the top setting for almost 30 years now with no issues. That would be with the old standard civilian dins of 14. I’d get my hands on used green springs every now and then and keep those around 13-15. I’ve had green spring salomons that went up to 18 and markers that had a din of 21. Those markers were the ones with the sketchy toe pieces though, they didn’t lock ya in like those salomons.

Those shitty toe wings may have saved my life back in 06 when I was slid in Telluride. I was getting pulled under but managed to pop my boot out of the toe piece before being submerged.

 

[Huezee]

Be smart out there: https://www.necn.com/news/local/backcountry-skier-killed-in-mt-washington-avalanche/2398534/

 

[Ripitz]

13ft!

 

[JTG]

In the last week that makes skiing related avalanche deaths in NH, UT, CO, and NorCal.

Most likely storm/wind slab in NH but it’ll be interesting to see when MWAC posts the incident report, to note what kind of dangers are setting up in the east and might affect ADK BC.

Out west it’s PWL issues in a shitty, low snowpack. The PNW a deeper snowpack and has been unscathed so far, but with recent new snow the avy forecast is High in several area. While PWL doesn’t seem as pervasive in the PNW, reports note weak layers deep in the snowpack with the potential for catastrophic slab avalanches as much as 4’ deep.

Unless I get to some ADK slides, skins are staying in the closet until April....

 

[Huezee]

Someone posted photos of some slides within the treeline from Maine on the BC Touring in the NE FB page. Pretty sketchy.

I'm interested in seeing the after action as well. FWIW here's the archived forecast for the day in question: https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/forecast/#/presidential-range/95531

Edit: the slide may have occurred on Monday.

 

[Ripitz]

Patience is a virtue. Stick to low angle pow until everything binds. Not a lot of avy forecasting in NE. You have to make your own judgements. Trees do not equal safety. Even small sluffs can sweep you off your feet over cliffs. I used to chase hard and have had many close calls. I think it’s important to diversify your outdoor interests so that waiting for good windows becomes more bearable.

 

[Ripitz]

Very sad. Sounds like he was up there by himself when the avy forecast was high. Some accidents are unavoidable many are not.

 

[JTG]

Heuristic traps probably bite as many experienced skiers as people who don’t have a clue. Sometimes perceived knowledge and experience can be a bad thing. So, to add to the good summary above, never assume because you skied something safely before that it will be safe the next time you are there. Do your homework. As to sticking to low angle terrain, most people can’t judge a slope degree by eye, get an inclinometer. While not usually an issue in the east, be aware that sticking to low angle slopes provides no assurance on a snowpack with a Persistent Weak Layer (PWL), as remote triggers and sympathetic releases can happen, even from remote shallow slopes. PWLs are scary because there really is no effective mitigating strategy to avoid potential issues. Storm and wind slabs act more predictably, but the recent NH accident shows that even very experienced backcountry skiers can have trouble with those.

 

[Ripitz]

Heuristic traps probably bite as many experienced skiers as people who don’t have a clue.

Definitely have seen more incidents with experienced adventurers lately. Like the recent one in the San Juans and this one. Ian was definitely not a rookie. The avalanche danger was reported low for Monday. 20” of snow overnight into Tuesday on top of a snowpack that was scoured by 150mph winds the week before quickly changed that. Having a partner, transceiver and shovel is a good idea but they are mostly useless when you are under 13ft of snow. In CO they were under 20! Very very sad

 

[JTG]

Shit, 8 caught, including 4 fatalities, in the Wilson Fork, UT today, not far from Gobblers Knob where 2 were caught (and survived) last Saturday.

More lessons I’m sure we can learn from this one, beyond reconsidering whether one should put themselves out there given the issues with PWL, all the avy activity last weekend, 30 inches of new snow in the past 48 hours, and the fact that other slopes in the Wilson Fork had remotely released avy activity yesterday.

8 people caught in a single slide is a huge number. Not sure if this was one or multiple groups, but anytime there are that many people out there, and especially with the current conditions, extra vigilance is necessary. Being aware of groups above and below you. Spacing on the skin track to only expose one skier at a time when crossing slopes, skiing one at a time safe zones before somebody else drops in.

Tragic to have losses, but if we don’t look for lessons to be learned it can only lead to more tragedy.