Splitboard.com Forums

Sad new people, stay safe out there.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-avalanche-death-avalanche-near-snowbird-kills-one-man-20111113,0,4386006.story

Super sad news. This one hits hard. Not a good start to the season either.

RIP Jamie.

The Fox reporter was a nob!!

But anyways, im glad that it paints the face of death at every turn when out of bounds off the groomers. It'll keep the punters in the lift line and out of the POW!

Its too bad that they didnt talk about JP having some Avy knowledge, and that he, as a pro, did his research of the snowpack, but that avalches are mountain sharks and even with proper precaution they still can bite. (This is speculative on my part and i feel stongly about the first paragrph!!)

My , thank you very much!

My thoughts and prayers go out to his soul and family.

According to the UAC, they had no formal training and were not carrying rescue gear??

The fact he was carried over rocky terrain and a "small" cliff band probably means that it ripped to ground level and that he was not wearing a helmet and this was a head injury. I'm just deducing this from the fact that he was "partially buried." Not that a helmet can cure every accident, but it certainly doesn't hurt. We'll have to see the full report later today.

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/accident ... y_11132011

From UAC - This is a Preliminary Report -

Hardesty and Kobernik plan to head to the accident site tomorrow (Monday 11/14) for the full investigation.

Two men in their 30s left the closed Alta ski area with the intent to ride the well known terrain of Alta and Snowbird. Neither ski areas are open yet and have yet to conduct any avalanche control within their boundaries. We interviewed the victim's ski partner. While neither had any rescue gear or formal avalanche training, they were both expert skiers and new the terrain well. They continued to Snowbird via Baldy and accessed the Peruvian Cirque to gain the Gad Valley. Rescue reports indicated that they had likely triggered another slab avalanche prior to the victim triggering the fatal one. The partner did not recall hearing any collapses or whumphs in the snowpack, however.

With the partner watching, the victim dropped into the slope, immediately triggereing the slide. He was carried hundreds of feet through steep rocky terrain and reportedly went over a small cliff band and came to a stop only partially buried. The partner called for a rescue, alerting both the Snowbird Ski Patrol and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, who subsequently accessed and evacuated the victim.

Terrain Summary:
This was in steep northwest facing terrain, terrain that no doubt held old rotten snow from October. The investigation will show more on Monday.

Weather & Avalanche History:
Collapsing of the snow pack occurred all week prior to the accident. There were two slab avalanches triggered early in the week and no less then 12 human triggered avalanches during the day of the accident. Over an inch of water weight was added to our weak pre existing snow, obviously too much weight for the snowpack to stay put with people on the steeper slopes.

Seriously, stay safe. Lot's of snow moving around the last few days.
http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche_list

That avalanche report does seem a bit weird.

Still, we should all know that early season snow is some of the most dangerous. Especially with the early October snows that the mountain states got. It snowed a bunch then nothing for weeks. Facets galore and lots of hard stuff to bang into if you get carried.

Enough snow to ride equals enough snow to slide. We should never forget that.

http://www.powdermag.com/stories/uac-re ... me_oneline

^UAC Investigation Photos

That report paints a pretty harsh picture. So sad.

Saying that someone has no "formal" avalanche training can draw the wrong conclusion. I myself have never taken a formal avalanche class. I have 13 years of backcountry experience and have read many leather bound books on the subject. I've had experiences that I feel cannot be gained from a classroom, and have developed my own mindset for my personal acceptable levels of risk.

As far as Jamie Pierre, I have no idea what his level of training and experience is. I'm guessing the fact that he has spent a lot of time in avalanche prone terrain, he had more experience than your average Level 1 avy class graduate. As for why they had no gear, who knows. Bad decisions are made, and prices are paid for them.

We all do stupid shit and sometimes we get away with it, sometimes we don't. We try to mitigate the risks so that we can do stupid shit safely, but at the end of the day, the risk is the fun part.

I have read the Utah report and still feel that their avy knowledge is based on experience vs formal classes. All in all its a sad loss. These pictures they posted are quite impressive. http://utahavalanchecenter.org/accident_gad_valley_11132011

The picture of the avy after their boot pack and then the chosen line to ride...

I'm curious to those more experienced than me, does the chosen line seem like a better idea because of more anchors? To me once i set off the first id say im done for the day. Let me know your opinions on terrain management and choosing a line post clear avy danger.

It said they weren't sure if JP and friend were aware they set off the first slide. If they were aware then obviously low angle meadow skipping would have been a good call that day.

I think the angle was 40 degrees.

Also, not trying to QB, god knows I've made my share of mistakes.

Rest in Peace Jamie. Thanks for the stoke.