Avalanche..local, not Colorado.

[OMG!WTF!]

Hopefully this isn't a well worn thread by the end of the season. There was a really super close to home avalanche at my favorite hiking spot yesterday...

https://globalnews.ca/news/3869178/3...try-avalanche/

This is the Kananaskis public safety facebook page with a better description of what happened...

https://www.facebook.com/KCPublicSaf...TA1KDdm56CTsDE

Here is my dog looking at the avalanche site earlier this summer...



And a closer image of the actual avalanche coming from the little col we scrambled up a few summers ago...



It's weird to think you could leave your couch and three hours later be stuck in one of these.

[GGG]

It great to see the people survive here.

One thing that always bugs me in these types of reports is that it focuses on the safety gear people are carryingZ. The articles mention Spot, Avy Beacons, Probes and shovels and how they were used to save a life: That's great but what isn't discussed and should be is Did they make good risk based decisions before exposing themselves to avalanche terrain.

Did they evaluate snow pack
Did they monitor change of temperature
Did they consider solar and wind affects
Were they all trained in Avalanche safety and all took part in the decision to evaluate the risk?

The biggest factor in avoiding avalanches is making a good risk based decision on when to enter avalanche terrain. It bothers me that it isn't discussed and the articles imply that having the right Gear is the key aspect in safety.

Could to see people surviving though. Avalanches are a difficult risk to manage once you decide to enter avalanche terrain.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by GGG

It great to see the people survive here.

One thing that always bugs me in these types of reports is that it focuses on the safety gear people are carryingZ. The articles mention Spot, Avy Beacons, Probes and shovels and how they were used to save a life: That's great but what isn't discussed and should be is Did they make good risk based decisions before exposing themselves to avalanche terrain.

Did they evaluate snow pack
Did they monitor change of temperature
Did they consider solar and wind affects
Were they all trained in Avalanche safety and all took part in the decision to evaluate the risk?

The biggest factor in avoiding avalanches is making a good risk based decision on when to enter avalanche terrain. It bothers me that it isn't discussed and the articles imply that having the right Gear is the key aspect in safety.

Could to see people surviving though. Avalanches are a difficult risk to manage once you decide to enter avalanche terrain.

You are right, a lot more goes into it than just have a beacon and probe and shovel that I feel like so many people think is all you need and are good to go. Training and practice(!!) are extremely important.

For this avalanche they were boot packing up a gully in the Alpine - warning at the time was '3 - Considerable' in the Alpine.

Edit: Just read that it actually occurred on saturday not sunday, where the rating was a '2 - Moderate' to start the day., but later changed. Just goes to show the importance of monitoring the weather and changing conditions.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by GGG

It great to see the people survive here.

One thing that always bugs me in these types of reports is that it focuses on the safety gear people are carryingZ. The articles mention Spot, Avy Beacons, Probes and shovels and how they were used to save a life: That's great but what isn't discussed and should be is Did they make good risk based decisions before exposing themselves to avalanche terrain.

Did they evaluate snow pack
Did they monitor change of temperature
Did they consider solar and wind affects
Were they all trained in Avalanche safety and all took part in the decision to evaluate the risk?

The biggest factor in avoiding avalanches is making a good risk based decision on when to enter avalanche terrain. It bothers me that it isn't discussed and the articles imply that having the right Gear is the key aspect in safety.

Could to see people surviving though. Avalanches are a difficult risk to manage once you decide to enter avalanche terrain.

Most definitely. I'm not sure you'd get much out of evaluating snow pack yet though. There's just not many layers yet. That's probably why they were still hiking up. And this looks like it started at an overhead hazard and probably slid along the surface which probably made it relatively easy to dig them out. I would not have been thinking it was a risky spot for sure. That slope is sort of south east facing and might get some focused sun up top which could loosen up some rocks as triggers. It's so true though about having all the gear and maybe thinking you're bomb proof.

[OMG!WTF!]

Careful this weekend...

[GGG]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Most definitely. I'm not sure you'd get much out of evaluating snow pack yet though. There's just not many layers yet. That's probably why they were still hiking up. And this looks like it started at an overhead hazard and probably slid along the surface which probably made it relatively easy to dig them out. I would not have been thinking it was a risky spot for sure. That slope is sort of south east facing and might get some focused sun up top which could loosen up some rocks as triggers. It's so true though about having all the gear and maybe thinking you're bomb proof.

I wasn't really focusing on this incident in particular, more the reporting around all of these incidents is so flawed and doesn't encourage correct behaviour.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Careful this weekend...

That’s not the weekend report.

Case in point on ever changing conditions. Saturday is expected to reduce to considerable/moderate/low.

That being said conditions will likely be awful from an enjoyment standpoint.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

That’s not the weekend report.

Case in point on ever changing conditions. Saturday is expected to reduce to considerable/moderate/low.

That being said conditions will likely be awful from an enjoyment standpoint.

I was at ptarmigan cirque and elbow lake today and it super dumped heavy wet snow for hours. There were no cars in either parking lot, just an rcmp truck waiting for me to leave so he could close Highwood pass. Kind of a perfect day. But all that new snow piling on the recent melting layer might be really slippery above 6k feet. Sadly though Nakiska is back down to dirt.