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NYTimes Article - Snow Fall by John Branch (really cool interactive features too)

BenedictGomez

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I dont think I've ever seen embedding in a webpage quite like that. Is that some sort of new technology?
 

MadMadWorld

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It's sad but there are going to be plenty more stories of this nature in the coming months. Stevens Pass sees so many avalanches and has taken many lives.
 

billski

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The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier, wore a backpack equipped with an air bag, a relatively new and expensive part of the arsenal that backcountry users increasingly carry to ease their minds and increase survival odds in case of an avalanche. About to be overtaken, she pulled a cord near her chest. She was knocked down before she knew if the canister of compressed air inflated winged pillows behind her head.


She had no control of her body as she tumbled downhill. She did not know up from down. It was not unlike being cartwheeled in a relentlessly crashing wave. But snow does not recede. It swallows its victims. It does not spit them out.


Snow filled her mouth. She caromed off things she never saw, tumbling through a cluttered canyon like a steel marble falling through pins in a pachinko machine.


At first she thought she would be embarrassed that she had deployed her air bag, that the other expert skiers she was with, more than a dozen of them, would have a good laugh at her panicked overreaction. Seconds later, tumbling uncontrollably inside a ribbon of speeding snow, she was sure this was how she was going to die.

(more)
 

mriceyman

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crazy story... just goes to show one bad judgement can mean life or death when out in the bc... and these guys werent beginners.. feel for the families
 

Angus

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Excellent and extensive article. Should serve as a warning about going along with herd. The folks involved were pros and made some big errors. this got passed around among my friends who do a lot of ice and rock climbing and very technical mountaineering - generated a lot of discussion.
 

Cannonball

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One of the best written and presented articles I've read in a long time. Plus just an incredible situation.

BTW: This has been posted here at least 4 times in the past few weeks. With each thread only having a few replies. Maybe they can be combined?
 

Nick

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I knew this was posted before. It's still a very cool article. The way they wrote it with the interactivity really brings it to life.
 

wa-loaf

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Haha, well guess I need to pay better attention. I actually came across it on a Information Graphics site.
 

TheArchitect

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Powerful and sad story. It drives home the need to speak up when something doesn't feel right, which is something so many people have a hard time doing. I agree that the mix of the photos, video, graphics and audio is well done.
 

fbrissette

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A must read for any backcountry skier. Very surprised they did not dig a snow pit. On conditions like this, you would think at least one of them would have done minimal on-site assessment. Lots of mistakes were made for sure.
 
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