In-Bounds Avi at Snowbird; 3/4

[thetrailboss]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=194...-one-canyon-reopened-to-traffic&s_cid=queue-7

My friend and I came across this. As the article says they also closed the Canyon Road from 11:30 through 4:30pm or so. We were stranded up there on a beautiful sunny day...with lots of fresh snow...what a terrible thing!

 

[steamboat1]

It must have been horrible being stranded.

 

[drjeff]

I saw that on both Alta's and Snowbird's twitter feed yesterday. I'd imagine that there were a few folks up at Alta and the Bird yesterday with dinner time departure flights from SLC that were on their phones trying to either rebook to later flight and/or see if their hotel room was available for another night.

 

[evantrentful]

Guy I went to college with at Plattsburgh was the snowboarder injured, despite the report, he was pretty banged up and is having surgery.
He was a Whiteface, Jay Peak regular

 

[snowmonster]

^ I hope he has a fast recovery. + vibes.

What a strange snowpack we have beneath us this year. I guess it's not too silly for me to bring an avalung inbounds. And shovel, probe and beacon.

 

[thetrailboss]

It was spooky as hell seeing the patrol working on the scene with probes and the dog, even after he was cleared. They must have been training or looking for the guy's equipment.

The other spooky thing was being in the Canyon with snow and ice cascading down Mount Superior. You'd hear a rumble and look up to see a slide. The police and UDOT had the road buttoned up. Folks were just hanging out at the base areas enjoying the sun and acting like nothing was wrong.

 

[kingslug]

I always have my avilung and avi stuff on me whenIi ski out there..this is why...the whole area is an avi zone...

 

[thetrailboss]

I always have my avilung and avi stuff on me whenIi ski out there..this is why...the whole area is an avi zone...

Yeah, you're right there Kingslug. Trying to decide if an Avalung or an air bag or both are a good idea.

And more coverage about this: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=19460172

One misnomer in the story is that the huge slide that they show above a road is actually from Mount Superior, that is NOT part of Snowbird.

 

[jimmywilson69]

So do Alta/Snowbird, not control very good or is it just the nature of the mountains there? Seems odd that you guys are considering "backcountry" type devices for inbounds skiing at popular destination resorts.

 

[drjeff]

So do Alta/Snowbird, not control very good or is it just the nature of the mountains there? Seems odd that you guys are considering "backcountry" type devices for inbounds skiing at popular destination resorts.

They do a ton of control work at all the greater SLC areas. But it's a combo of you really don't realize how much terrain needs control work out there until you see it with your own eyes, plus in the last 10 days out there, they've had essentially the perfect storm recipe for avalanches in that it hadn't snowed appreciably in many weeks, and the existing snow pack was very granular, almost ball bearing like in nature. Then, just prior to the "Utah snow machine" turning back on this last week or so, there was an icing event, essentially all the way up to most summits out there that put a thin crust on top of the very granular base layer, and then on top of that crust there was from 3 to almost 6 feet of snow in some places, generally the type of light fluff that Utah is famous for, deposited on it. Take that, and then combine a large core group of locals, and tourists alike, that have been "powder challenged" this season and there you have the recipe for what's been happening out there this last week or so.

When I was out there last week, I can personally attest to the fact that the most common sound on heard while on the hill wasn't the yelling from the joy of powder turns, but the sounds of avalanche bombs by the patrol going off

 

[jimmywilson69]

I've never been, thanks for the info

 

[thetrailboss]

Yeah as Dr. Jeff said, it has been a bad year. Sunday it was in the 40's and sunny, which set off the avalanches.

 

[marcski]

So do Alta/Snowbird, not control very good or is it just the nature of the mountains there? Seems odd that you guys are considering "backcountry" type devices for inbounds skiing at popular destination resorts.

Avalanche Control Work was basically founded at Alta and in LCC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_LaChapelle

His wife, Delores, was also quite an interesting character. I've read one of her books.

http://www.fsavalanche.org/NAC/techPages/articles/04_Manali_Abro.pdf

 

[ScottySkis]

Avalanche Control Work was basically founded at Alta and in LCC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_LaChapelle
O
His wife, Delores, was also quite an interesting character. I've read one of her books.

http://www.fsavalanche.org/NAC/techPages/articles/04_Manali_Abro.pdf

Thanks for those links.

 

[kingslug]

The whole area is a slide zone..the whole area...especialy the areas looming over the road up....