Fattwins 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Read this, I think this guy works for the Canadain Avalache center but I cant remember anyways he does know his stuff. http://www.biglines.com/articles_readmore.php?read=1304 Sorry this guy works for the highway, An area in Canada known as Rogers Pass. If anyone has traveled through the pass you will notice gun platforms everywhere. Also from time to time youll see great skied/riden lines. If your truly lucky you can watch someone fly down one of the 4000 to 5000 vertical feet. There is a best western hotel in the middle of the pass where you can stay when they shut the road down for blasting. This is also a good base for great touring terrain youll find snowshoe and skin lines going up. I love and hate driving through this pass. Love the sheer beauty of the place, Hate fear the massive snowstorms when driving through the high pass. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Author Share Posted January 8, 2004 Im posting a reply just cause here is something thats happened in Japan. This is a journal taken from snowhaus in Hakkoda. Again play it safe. RESORT: Hakkoda, Aomori VISITED: 4th Jan 04 As an aside, 5 Japanese mates went to do a bit of backcountry at Hakkoda on the 4th. Why they felt like going when there was so much powder on the resort I don't know, but they're locals, and wanted to check out conditions a little further out. Chatted on the way up the ropeway and waved them off. At the end of the day one of them came out to the car as I was getting ready to leave. He told me an avalanche had gotten him and buried him upside down. His head was 1.5 metres under, and his skis were half a metre under the snow. One of the others saw where he was buried and started digging him out. A second avalanche buried the second guy, but he managed to keep an arm above the snow, so the other three saw him and got him out. They then had to dig the first guy out based on where the second guy told them to dig. All up it took around 15 minutes to dig him out, and he was blue and nearly unconcious. He had been wearing a beacon and two of them had had avvy training and were carrying shovels. Unfortunately one of them was the guy that got buried! The only thing that saved him was that the second guy knew EXACTLY where he was, and there were enough of them to dig like crazy. All of this took place not terribly far from the top of the ropeway. With the dodgy base from all the warm/cold weather we've been having, its a timely reminder to only go backcountry if you have enough people, enough training, and enough of the right gear - for everyone. These guys are some of the hardest core tele skiers I know, but it was the usual accumulation of little mistakes that nearly cost me a friend. Take care out there! Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 From reading the article, so it would be much safer to ride the ridge, than gullies beneath (speaking generally)?? Still studying up on avalanche 101.. That's something I wondered about when I see people in the BC at Kagura (they usually seem to be descending on the mountain ridges, instead of barelling down the valleys below): http://www.interq.or.jp/world/suji/mr161.html http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/ma_honda/mountain/010227/010227.html Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Author Share Posted January 8, 2004 The second link forth picture on the right side has people grouped together below a convex roll. I hope that pic says that they are stupid. Sorry my Kanji is not that good. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 It hasn't seemed to snow that much the past few days, but today/tonight it looks like a good dump in the Yuzawa region. Considerations about terrain aside, does this type of difference in snowpack stability usually increase the probability of an avalanche?? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 9, 2004 Author Share Posted January 9, 2004 basic rule due not ski true BC after a storm of more than 2to3cms an hour for more than a few hours. This snow usally has not bonded wait a few days thensauce it out. Link to post Share on other sites
stripper on coke 0 Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Best bet yet, why not enroll in an avvv safety course. You'll sure learn a lot more than you will posting notices on websites. there is an experienced Kiwi guide offering avv safety courses in the Naeba/Kagura area for VERY reasonable rates. I've done his course myself, and you would be surprised on just what is (possibly) not very stable or safe. Having said that, it is nice to be able to recognise where to go and where to stay away from.......wouldn't want to miss out on tomorrow now, would we....... If you would like to hooked up, just let me know. Link to post Share on other sites
gammaman 0 Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Could this `experienced kiwi` possibly be you?! Was interested in the Evergreen set up but couldn`t get the time. What`s this geezers set up then? What does he offer in terms of recognisable certificates etc? Link to post Share on other sites
JMS 0 Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I also did the av course with the kiwi guy up in Naeba last season. He has a good set up including accommodation, snow mobiles which are a blast and a bar. Check out his website at http://www.backcountryclub.com/ for some more info. JMS Link to post Share on other sites
Siem Reeves 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 what worries me is the number of people without any kind of gear at all in niseko hiking to the summit (there was a steady stream) on a nice clear day... maybe 1 in 10 had a pack of some kind, and as to how many of them carried even a shovel i really don't know. Link to post Share on other sites
Teledude 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I've never been to Roger's Pass but I have heard many great stories from there. We've got Red Mountain pass in Colorado that's like that. The lifeline of the plow drivers isn't very long there. Gorgeous country though with great lines everywhere. I've seen so many stupid people in the backcountry it never ceases to amaze me. But then again, I've seen some really smart people as well who still get caught. It's like building a house and forgetting a beam here and a nail there. You can finish the house and it may look ok but a little snow on the roof will collapse it. If only you had put that beam in maybe...In Colorado, I wouldn't ski most backcountry for at least 5 days after a major storm and even then, it would have to be in the spring. The snowpack just hasn't had time to set. But it's cold there and dry and the snow just sometimes never sets but almost always has death hoar (sugar snow) in at least one of the layers if not more. But Japan may be different. Experience of where you are is absolutely essential for us gaijin. Get someone who knows the snowpack, weather patterns, crystalization periods and snow temperatures in the area where you're going. You could be an expert in New Zealand or Colorado and it wouldn't make a difference here as it's a completely different snowpack. Take a class from a certified instructor, find some good trusty partners and start learning. Link to post Share on other sites
stripper on coke 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 .stoke. , just FYI, I am not the Kiwi dude, actually I am an Ozzie, and a satisfied one at that........ See ya off the trail.... Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts