Photo courtesy: Petra Cliffs
Last month, three unlucky skiers were caught in a large avalanche in the Alaskan backcountry. Guide Steve Charest of Petra Cliffs and one of the skiers were taken for a ride and partially buried. The other skier was fully buried and nowhere to be seen. Read More …
Photo by: Steve Charest
A few weeks ago I was on the last leg of a red-eye from Los Angeles to my home in Vermont. I was haggard. As I was zoning out at my window seat, a young woman sat down next to me, looking equally as tired. “Are you as ready as I am to get back to Burlington?” I asked.
“You have no idea.”
With a knowing smirk, I waited patiently for the typical sob story of missed connections, bitchy airline employees, and lost baggage.
“I’m coming back from Alaska … I was caught in an avalanche.” Read More …
While driving up Little Cottonwood Canyon, I received the news that an extraordinary person and dear friend, Jack Hannan, had passed away. My heart sank deep into my insides. On March 31st, Jack and three others were dropped off by helicopter on Mt. Currie (near Jack’s home in Pemberton, BC) for a fun day of backcountry skiing. The crew had safely skied down their line and had been getting ready to boot-pack up to another area of the peak when the highest member of the group suddenly noticed a slide heading straight towards them. Jack was positioned a bit lower than the rest of the group and was the only one swept away by the avalanche. It’s believed that the Class 3 slide occurred naturally due to a cornice failure. The rest of his party wasn’t harmed by the slide, and they were able to find and uncover him quickly, but unfortunately the trauma was too much for Jack, and it’s believed he was killed instantly. Read More …
Around noon on Tuesday, December 22, 2009, a pair of skiers triggered an avalanche that ran 20 meters flank-to-flank by 300 meters crown-to-toe on the Col de Mottets at France’s Valmorel ski area. The slide left one skier stuck waist deep in snow and his sister buried under 1.5 meters of hardened avalanche debris. Neither skier carried avalanche gear of any sort. Their father alerted ski patrol with a cell phone.
At first glance this scenario might sound like a recipe for a body recovery and easily could have been. But the incident ended up the first successful RECCO rescue recorded in the 2009-2010 winter season. The lucky victim was dug out within 20-30 minutes of burial and escaped with only a mild case of hypothermia. Read More …
Whether you ski, snowboard, snowmobile, or snowshoe, we cannot stress enough the importance of avalanche awareness and safety when you travel in the backcountry. Knowledge is key; experience is a must. Next time you’re skinning up in avalanche-prone areas, remember avalanche expert Dr. Ian McCammon’s two checklists for avoiding slides: ALP TRUTh and FACETS. Read More …
In December, The New York Times ran a basic article about splitboarding. The author, Jesse Huffman, did a good job of giving a high-level view of what splitboarding’s all about. He missed a few important things, though. Read More …
Whether you occasionally dart out of the resort gate for a couple of virgin turns or you spend entire seasons shunning the ski lift in favor of the backcountry skin track, you need a beacon strapped around your sternum. It can make the difference between sharing a pitcher with your pals at the end of the day and explaining to search and rescue why you couldn’t dig your pals out of a slide before they asphyxiated. Stark, but there it is. Read More …
Photo: Curt Gwilliam
Shoes to packs, hit the trails.
Backcountry house-hunting, simplified.
Stay dry out there.
Plugging into the Backcountry – Dangers of Technology
By: Cole Lehman | March 23rd, 201012 Comments »
The use of electronics in the backcountry offers an enhanced experience for those who use them wisely and a presents a danger to those who choose to use them lightly. In order to stay alive and unharmed, wilderness veterans must remember and rookies must discover that total dependence on technology can be a hazard. Why? Either group is vulnerable to the hubris that these devices can encourage.
Read More …
Tags: avalanche safety, outdoor survival, technology, wilderness survival
Posted in Commentary, Newsletter |