Boarded Falls into Crevasse at Tucks: Pulled Out OK

[riverc0il]

http://www.tuckerman.org/weekend.asp - 04/02/10

That is not a static page, so I am going to quote for the record. Not normally my style, but I doubt the folks over at Tuckerman.org will mind in the name of promoting good route selection.

At about 3pm Friday, a snowboarder was setting up for a run down the Headwall. He and his group had scoped out the line from below. It was over the smaller of the two waterfalls just beside the Lip. They’d done this line at least once before in prior years. He rode down through the bushes that marked the entrance to the line they wanted to drop. His brother was just above him, also going for the line, and another friend was out in the actual Lip. His girlfriend was watching from Lunch Rocks. The turns were all planned out in advance, unfortunately the plan didn’t work out right. He lost his heel edge in the snow and ice just above the rocky waterfall, and slid on his backside right down the waterfall, ending up about 20-25 feet deep inside a crevasse, with icy water cascading over his head. Fortunately he was uninjured, but nevertheless he was stuck inside a narrow crevasse. He climbed up a couple feet to a small rocky edge, put up his hood to fend off the spray of water, and waited.

I could have written this paragraph years ago, knowing that the potential for something like this to happen certainly existed, but I don’t write fiction. The incident did actually happen today, and we’re all very happy with the ending to the story. Numerous bystanders witnessed the incident and mobilized to help out in any way they could. About 15 minutes after it happened, word made it down to the Snow Ranger cabin. We were packed up and out the door quickly geared up for a full-on technical rescue. In the time it took us to get word of the incident, pack, and get up to the bowl the bystanders had pulled the snowboarder and his board up out of the hole and had lowered him down the Headwall to Lunch Rocks where I met up with him. He was cold, but otherwise uninjured. We gathered the story while he put on dry clothes, then it was over. I’ve seen a lot of accidents over the years here. I will honestly tell you he’s one of the luckiest people I’ve ever met.

It would be too easy to blame the snowboarder for choosing a route with hazards like falling into the waterfall. The problem with that solution is that it ignores the fact that we see people doing things almost every day throughout the winter that someone else could call a stupid idea and they end up just fine. If you spend enough as much time up here as we do watching people’s actions, you see that frequently accidents happen to good people, doing good things, and making good choices—an accident. But far more often you’ll see unprepared or uninformed people make what could be called poor decisions and they walk away unscathed. So what’s going on???

Here’s how I see it…we all have different tolerance for risks, so what one person thinks is a stupid idea might be completely reasonable to someone else. It’s up to each individual who comes to play in the mountains to make their own decisions, but in order to do that one must be able to evaluate and understand the risks he or she is taking. Truly understanding the risk is the most difficult thing to do. Does it take the personal experience of falling into an icy waterfall crevasse and waiting for help to come for someone to understand the magnitude of the risk? I hope not, since there are better ways to come to the same conclusion. One way would be to spend 5 days a week in the mountains for years on end. If that’s not practical, another way would be to listen to the information and advice offered by those who can and do spend that much time in the mountains.

This is where we come in. Every day since late November of last year a Snow Ranger has been on Mt. Washington, collecting and analyzing information, and putting it out there for anyone in the world to see, as long as they are receptive to it. This has been happening for more years than I’ve been alive. One theme that’s been taught to me from my start working here, and is reinforced every year, is that each year is different. Conditions are always changing, especially during spells of weather such as the past few days. The usual springtime hazards have erupted this past week, and the fact that we had someone today get incredibly lucky falling into the waterfall is a sign of the times. Every year, we highlight the same springtime hazards: avalanches, rock and icefall, crevasses, undermined snow, and bad weather. The important thing to remember is that although these tend to stay the same, the conditions that create them are very dynamic. It’s our jobs to give you information so that you can make good decisions in the mountains, so that you can safely enjoy your day, and so that you can come back again another day. We spend as much time as we do up here so that we can give you good information. Don’t hesitate to use us, the Volunteer Ski Patrol, or the AMC caretakers as sources for information.

I think at this point I feel compelled to add some judgment to the story. Was the snowboarder’s line a good choice of route? No, the risk of serious injury or death was far too great, especially considering what other options exist that don’t carry nearly as much risk. Was he lucky? You bet. Many people who have gone deep into the waterfall hole come out either seriously injured or dead. He’s lucky others were able to get to him quickly and get him out. Do I think the bystanders did the right thing? Yes and no. Yes in that they got him out without anyone else getting hurt, but no in that I’d bet not many of them seriously considered the importance of their own safety. At one point there were about 20 people in very close proximity to the edge of the crevasse (the edges are often undercut more than you’d expect.) With that said, I would like to publicly thank each and every person who helped out in this incident, especially Craig and Doug, two people who were quickly on scene with technical rescue and medical skills. As I look back on it, I see someone who made a poor choice of route involving excessive risk then had the rare experience of fully learning what the risk was while having minimal consequences and walking away from it. From talking with him, I think he now “gets it” and he’s very thankful of everyone’s efforts to help him out.

Thanks for understanding. If you’ve made it this far, the least I can do is give you some conditions information. I posted pictures on our website early this afternoon, but look at them knowing that the snowpack got hammered by skiers in the time between when I took the photos and the end of the day. I’m not expecting much of a freeze-up overnight. Maybe some radiational cooling will put a skim coat of crust on the surface, but it probably won’t lock up hard. That means that the deep mush will get deeper tomorrow. Sluff runnels are beginning to show in lots of areas, especially the Headwall and Lip. It’s going to be hot tomorrow again, so crevasses will be more open than they were today, icefall will be more of a hazard, undermining will continue, etc. The one thing I’m not going to be terribly worried about is the avalanche hazard. Bring extra water bottles, bring sunscreen, bring a hat and sunglasses. Bring an open mind and good judgment. And please, don’t try to ski the Headwall.

Also, don’t block the entrance to Pinkham with your vehicle. Park in the overflow lot if the main lot is full. Two weeks ago the State Police were issuing tickets for vehicles illegally parked.

Jeff

 

[dmc]

The guy is lucky.. Cravasses are scary - I steer clear from them.

And I think it's OK to post quoted text as long as the link is posted first. Depending on why it's done.. I guess..

thanks for posting

 

[campgottagopee]

One lucky dude, and I hope he knows that!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Johnskiismore]

Wow, that man is lucky! Glad everything was okay in the end.

Well written post

 

[skidmarks]

Great Info!!
Lucky Guy

 

[kingslug]

Will be there next Sunday...oy

 

[skibumm100]

ouch

I was wondering what kind of news I was gonna hear about the weekend up there. He is one lucky guy. Drowning in a crevasse is not on my list of "Ways I Want To Die". The snow rangers up there do a great job. Time to put some money in the box. It sounds like the bystanders did most of the heavy lifting on this one.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Though this guy might have skied that line before,there are too many amatures in Tuckermans for me.So many other great places to ski on George.Happy about the turnout.

 

[riverc0il]

Though this guy might have skied that line before,there are too many amatures in Tuckermans for me.So many other great places to ski on George.Happy about the turnout.

Tuckerman is best mid-week for sure. Agreed about other great places, though. Tuckerman runs are pretty short in comparison, especially when the LH is blown out.