In a recent post, I ooh-ed and ah-ed and cheered the prodigious snowfall that the West has enjoyed this winter. At the end of my post, I added the caution, "All that snow does mean avalanches are a real hazard, so this is a time to stick to resort skiing and riding. Save the backcountry until conditions are more stable. And, if you're driving, make sure your car is fitted with adequate snow tires, possibly chains, emergency gear and a level-headed driver." Now, I'm elevating the caution to a red-flag warning.
Colorado
I've been skiing at Snowmass for a few days, under idyllic conditions: blue sky, sunshine, no wind, superior snow conditions. But every once in a while, the boom of avalanche-control explosives can be heard as the resort's patrollers and snow-safety crew blast dangerous snow depositions and cornices, presumably on the backside steeps, before they can slide on their own
and harm anyone.Amazingly, not all avalanches occur in the backcountry or steep inbounds areas. At Snowmass' heralded new Base Village, I watched a series of harrowing slides unload from a brand new condominium building's metal roof directly onto the Sneaky's Tavern terrace, where visitors were having lunch. If those huge chunks of sun-softened wet snow had fallen on anyone's head, the result would not have been pretty. Quick-thinking managers emptied the tables, cordoned off the danger zone (right) and before long, dispatched workers with shovels up to the roof to push the remaining snow off the edge.
Given this unfortunate design, they are going to have shoveling teams at the ready after every significant snowfall. Think about it: A snow-loaded, south-facing metal roof + bright sunshine = problems like this afternoon's. Imagine what this will be like in spring when generous March/April snows are typically followed by warm sun.
The developer, Related Westpac, is proud of such high-profile projects as Time Warner Center in New York City, CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Florida, and other places far from ski country. Did they hire architects from Miami or Phoenix? Didn't the Town of Snowmass Village building inspector alert them to the ill-conceived combination of design and materials?
Wyoming
Meanwhile, following inbounds slides in Utah and California earlier this winter, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has experienced far more catastrophic problems from several inbounds avalanches. Laramie Bowl reportedly slid to the ground, and just two days after Dave Nodine, a 31-year-old local was killed in an inbounds slide, the Headwall released, an
d tons of snow ran straight into the lodge at the top of the Bridger Gondola. A site called Skiing the Backcountry posted a report about Nodine's death and a second report with dramatic photos of the snow damage to the restaurant. Stephen Koch has also premitted me to post photos like the one on the right. For more images, see his blog. Fortunately, this avalanche happened around 9:30 a.m. If it had released three hours later, the restaurant would have been filled with skiers who lunch. According to the resort's official press release on the incident:Followup news report: The day after I posted this item, the Jackson Hole News reported more extensively on the Headwall slide that damaged the Bridger Restaurant:"At approximately 9:30 am this morning, after JHMR Ski Patrol had completed one
avalanche hazard reduction route and were getting ready to conduct another, the
Headwall slid naturally from the southeast aspect above the Bridger Restaurant.
This incident took place before this area of the mountain had been opened to the
public. A search for potential victims took place and everyone has been
accounted for. This incident is under full investigation and a more detailed
report will be released at 4p.m. At this time, JHMR will remain closed until
further notice."
"The Headwall avalanche that raked the Bridger Restaurant building...trapped or hit seven ski patrollers...Five patrollers were slightly injured in the incident, which tore the railing and glass shields off the restaurant deck, burst through doors and windows and piled snow 8 feet deep inside. The avalanche roared down the Headwall slope at 9:26 a.m. after being provoked by a ski patrol bomb, resort officials said. It piled snow about 30 feet deep around the mid-mountain restaurant building and sent patrollers and other workers scrambling to free colleagues.
"Airborne snow that eddied around the corner of the building pinned or partially pinned four patrollers among scattered furniture on a patio. The blast knocked down two other patrollers who were hiking up to the building. Debris shuttered a seventh, and his search dog, inside the ski patrol room in the restaurant building until workers cut through an interior wall to set them free.
"The slide ran two days after an in-bounds avalanche below the Paintbrush
trail buried and killed 31-year-old David Nodine, of Wilson. Nodine skied off
the trail into an area unofficially known as Toilet Bowl with a friend when the
slide ran; patrollers found him within six minutes using a transceiver and
uncovered him within another four minutes. Bridger-Teton National Forest
avalanche forecaster Jim Springer and resort President Jerry Blann on Tuesday
fleshed out details of the Headwall slide, including how Blann dug out veteran
ski patroller Larry Detrick, who was buried up to his neck."
Remarkably, but perhaps on lawyers' advice, other than one "incident statement" following the Headwall slide, the resort's website makes no mention Nodine's death or of the avalanche that slammed into the restaurant and could have killed some of its own patrollers too. The Mountain Dining page still lists restaurants at the top of the gondola. Perhaps the resort cleaned out the snow and fixed the mess fast, but Nodine is gone, and there is no word about the injured patrollers.
British Columbia
The Vancouver Sun reported that eight snowmobilers are missing from a group of 11 buried in an avalanche in southeastern British Columbia in the Harvey Pass area, about 25 miles south of Fernie, on Sunday afternoon. According to the report, "The group had reportedly split into two when seven of them were buried in an avalanche at about 2 p.m., said Fernie RCMP. As the other four tried to dig them out, they were hit by another avalanche, which buried the entire group. All of the men, who are from nearby Sparwood, B.C., were wearing avalanche beacons. Police said two of the buried riders managed to dig themselves out within 20 minutes and used their avalanche beacons to locate a third man, who was rescued after another 20 minutes of digging." Three safe; seven bodies reportedly recovered on Monday and the final victim still missing. The search had to be called off because of darkness and continuing high danger.
Just a week ago, in Grand County, Colorado, two of four snowmobilers riding up a steep slope near Gravel Mountain in the Arapaho National Forest. One was a 38-year-old firefighter and paramedic and the other a 19-year-old.
These are examples of the differently types avalanche-caused fatalities in the West this winter, so please, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers, be careful. For my part, I'm sticking to the groomers.
