Another loss from Avalanche

[jack97]

Forgot to add this, MR was involved in a previous avalanche, not completely buried but she felt compel to ski the same mountain to have great memories of the experience. She knew the risk, experience this risk and still participated in extreme skiing.

http://www.zam.com/article/825/pro-athlete-matilda-rapaport-killed-while-filming-for-ubisoft

Not saying skiing is about pushing ones limits, some do and some don't.

 

[JimG.]

Forgot to add this, MR was involved in a previous avalanche, not completely buried but she felt compel to ski the same mountain to have great memories of the experience. She knew the risk, experience this risk and still participated in extreme skiing.

http://www.zam.com/article/825/pro-athlete-matilda-rapaport-killed-while-filming-for-ubisoft

Not saying skiing is about pushing ones limits, some do and some don't.

And I'm all good with this.

Got no problem with others who push their limits to the edge of death.

All I said is that it sucks when limits are exceeded and someone dies. And that my appreciation of skill does not require constant pushing of limits. No judgement here and nothing but total respect for the skill/daring. I don't get the chance much since I ski in the east, much easier to push limits out west. In ways I am envious of folks who live there.

Who is to define what "pushing limits" means to anyone other than themselves?

 

[Not Sure]

Speaking of pushing the limits !Not skiing but... I can't watch this one , bugs me the guy has a young family but his arse .
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/...tly-good-airplane-without-parachute/87753066/

 

[Edd]

Speaking of pushing the limits !Not skiing but... I can't watch this one , bugs me the guy has a young family but his arse .
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/...tly-good-airplane-without-parachute/87753066/

He made it safely. http://abc7.com/news/luke-aikins-becomes-1st-skydiver-to-land-without-parachute/1450538/

 

[fbrissette]

We are going to see a lot more avalanche deaths. The culture of the backcountry has changed. 30 years ago, few would venture in the backcountry without proper avalanche training and good evaluation skills. Staying home and turning back was part of the game. I know two mountain guides who have been guiding in the Alps for 25 years. That's 25 years with 200 ski days per year, guiding in steep and glaciated terrains. They have never been involved in a slide. Why ? Because they are extremely conservative. They keep the risk to a minimum. Some runs can only be skied a few days every few years. No run is worth dying for.

The new backcountry crowd is at the other spectrum of that. Read TGR forum. A large number of those guys have been in slides, and several slides in some cases. They never turn back, they have minimal avalanche skills and get away with tons of mistake. Videos of pros outskiing their own slides get 'thumbs up' and 'wows' whereas the proper reaction should be 'these guys can ski but they are total morons'.

 

[Not Sure]

He made it safely. http://abc7.com/news/luke-aikins-becomes-1st-skydiver-to-land-without-parachute/1450538/

The math was good ! I'm waiting to see an inovation in wing suits , Vaiable geometry ,landing without a net .

 

[dlague]

He made it safely. http://abc7.com/news/luke-aikins-becomes-1st-skydiver-to-land-without-parachute/1450538/

Awesome to watch!

https://youtu.be/pILjv9Q22sM

 

[deadheadskier]

We are going to see a lot more avalanche deaths. The culture of the backcountry has changed. 30 years ago, few would venture in the backcountry without proper avalanche training and good evaluation skills. Staying home and turning back was part of the game. I know two mountain guides who have been guiding in the Alps for 25 years. That's 25 years with 200 ski days per year, guiding in steep and glaciated terrains. They have never been involved in a slide. Why ? Because they are extremely conservative. They keep the risk to a minimum. Some runs can only be skied a few days every few years. No run is worth dying for.

The new backcountry crowd is at the other spectrum of that. Read TGR forum. A large number of those guys have been in slides, and several slides in some cases. They never turn back, they have minimal avalanche skills and get away with tons of mistake. Videos of pros outskiing their own slides get 'thumbs up' and 'wows' whereas the proper reaction should be 'these guys can ski but they are total morons'.

Probably true. I think some of the TGR type crowd still existed decades back though.

I went out to ski Keysone/ABasin with family my junior year in high school. (1993) Different times back then. My folks went to bed and I ended up hanging in the hotel bar and the bartender had no problem serving me as a minor. He agreed to let me tag along with his crew at ABasin the next day. There was about six of us in the group and we headed out of bounds to ski the beavers. Right at the top of one of the gullies the first guy made two turns and kicked off a slide. Somehow he remained above it and didn't get sucked in. We tip toed out of there with everyone but me slightly panicked that we had a very close call. I wasn't panicked because I hadn't a clue about avalanche danger at that age. I could have been a casualty to avalanche at a very young age, but I was lucky.

Guess my point is that the recklessness has always been around in the sport. But you're likely right that the participation rate is much higher now.

 

[JimG.]

Awesome to watch!

https://youtu.be/pILjv9Q22sM

+1

 

[JimG.]

Guess my point is that the recklessness has always been around in the sport. But you're likely right that the participation rate is much higher now.

My mom was Swiss and was a lifelong skier. We visited and skied in the Alps yearly. We often went on guided tours of glaciers and there was always a dicey area or two to navigate. During a tour of Corvatsch glacier our guide literally demanded that everyone in our group immediately follow the fall line straight down a very steep pitch and that no traversing was allowed because of avalanche danger. A Dutch skier didn't listen and then got trapped going further and further out as the pitch increased. That man disappeared so fast when the snow broke loose I never saw him again. I was 13 at the time and the noise of the slide and the rumble was awesome. To this day the only sudden death I have witnessed. I guess you could say it left a mark.

Anyway, the recklessness has always and always will be there, I also think that new technology of all kinds makes it much easier to be that way.

 

[jack97]

The guy had plenty of training and experience to pull off this stunt. That along with gps technology, at the plane and in his jumpsuit allowed this level of precision. A Joey would have never pulled this off or even allowed on a jump plane.

"As the owner of Para Tactics, Aikins provides advanced skydiving training to elite military jumpers and serves as a safety adviser for the United States Parachute Association, an instructor to the instructors."

 

[fbrissette]

Guess my point is that the recklessness has always been around in the sport. But you're likely right that the participation rate is much higher now.

Agreed. I was dumb and probably lucky in my early days in the Chic-Choc.

However, the number of clueless and reckless skiers out there has gone up exponentially and the recklessness is been fueled by irresponsible pro videos of skiers outrunning slides.

 

[dlague]

Agreed. I was dumb and probably lucky in my early days in the Chic-Choc.

However, the number of clueless and reckless skiers out there has gone up exponentially and the recklessness is been fueled by irresponsible pro videos of skiers outrunning slides.

I think on part due to the ski movies because it has given so much exposure to extreme skiing.

 

[JimG.]

The guy had plenty of training and experience to pull off this stunt. That along with gps technology, at the plane and in his jumpsuit allowed this level of precision. A Joey would have never pulled this off or even allowed on a jump plane.

"As the owner of Para Tactics, Aikins provides advanced skydiving training to elite military jumpers and serves as a safety adviser for the United States Parachute Association, an instructor to the instructors."

Awesome example of technology making something that should be impossible doable.

Let's hope Joeys don't start jumping out of airplanes without parachutes as attractive as that may sound.

How many jumps like this do you estimate it would take before someone dies doing this? Skydiving is risky enough. I have done 3000' static line jumps twice. I actually was able to jump in a decent spread eagle position my second jump (my first jump was more of a fetal position). Nice to try, certainly thrilling. An expensive hobby.

 

[steamboat1]

A friend I grew up skiing with passed last year in a skydiving accident.

http://www.higginsandbonner.com/obits/obituary.php?id=648471

 

[JimG.]

A friend I grew up skiing with passed last year in a skydiving accident.

http://www.higginsandbonner.com/obits/obituary.php?id=648471

Nothing that I have done comes close to the terror of stepping out of a perfectly good airplane onto a little metal plate welded to the landing gear of the Cessna I was in and clinging to the wing strut standing 3000' in thin air. No wonder I went fetal my first jump. Talk about being exposed.

The only 2 things I can think of were bungee jumping in the early days when you jumped off the top of a crane (remember that 180?) and the first time I climbed up and stood on top of the headwall at Tucks and realized I had to ski.

Sorry about your buddy, RIP.

 

[jack97]

Awesome example of technology making something that should be impossible doable.

Let's hope Joeys don't start jumping out of airplanes without parachutes as attractive as that may sound.

How many jumps like this do you estimate it would take before someone dies doing this? Skydiving is risky enough. I have done 3000' static line jumps twice. I actually was able to jump in a decent spread eagle position my second jump (my first jump was more of a fetal position). Nice to try, certainly thrilling. An expensive hobby.

He logged over 18K jumps.... helps since he owns a skydiving company. Another tech that has increased the compete level is indoor skydiving. That type of training would keep him on target for the drop zone. Most of these centers are booked by regional skydiving clubs.

I can't help but think that was driven by military purposes.... they already train HALO but I wonder if radar can detect the parachute when opened. And yes even HALO instructors die due to accidents.

 

[JimG.]

And yes even HALO instructors die due to accidents.

One of my personal heroes is the guy who lost his legs in a skydiving accident that killed his partner. They were performing a crossing pattern and they slammed into each other in free fall. Lost both legs, one above the knee I think.

He is still a member of the Army's elite skydiving team and he is more active than anybody I know. He skis, kayaks, hikes, scuba dives, etc. The word "disabled" is not applicable despite his injuries. More able than most.

 

[jack97]

We are going to see a lot more avalanche deaths. .....

For the state that has the largest number of avalanche deaths, I see another plateau.....

The caveat (disclaimer) is I have not found the fatalities per state per year.

 

[jack97]

Here's one for Switzerland