xxx 2 Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Anyone ever get caught up in an avalanche - to a greater or lesser extent. I'd be interested to hear any stories. cheers Link to post Share on other sites
lorne 0 Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Thank god no... but we had a close cause - a cartoon style crack apearing in front of me - in the direction of the line i was taking - hence the rest of the slope (below the line - riding toe edge regular) dropped away in front of me -pretty scary - and glad we used caution - i.e one at a time accross the potential hazard area - diving from tree zone to tree zone... if we hadnt of used that caution one of us would likely have been buried for sure... - btw this was in the back valley of Tanigawa-dake 2 or 3 years ago - the year before a lady got buried and killed on the long green run at Tanigawa by an avalanche...caused by other people who were off piste! - so the story said... Link to post Share on other sites
Raury 0 Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Never been that unlucky (touches all wooden objects within easy reach) Link to post Share on other sites
peaker 0 Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Ive told my story on here before. Cant remember the thread but if you search my posts youll find it. Link to post Share on other sites
xxx 2 Posted January 12, 2003 Author Share Posted January 12, 2003 ....will take a look Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 I got caught in one at Mt Hood in July of 96. We were skiing the Palmer snowfield and decided to climb to the top of Hood at about noon. It took us 4 hours to get from the top of the Palmer lift up to the bergschrund. We didn't make the final pitch and instead decided to ski down from where we were. It had snowed about 2 feet at the elevation we were at (9,500 feet). Well, 2 feet of heavy, wet powder on top of ice isn't exactly good. I'm really surprised we didn't trigger something on the climb. As we began our descent, I hear my buddy start yelling and whooping up above me - the slope had released. There was nowhere for me to go. Luckily, I was high enough on the slope that when the initial slab hit me, I was above it. I rode that damn thing down for almost 300 meters until it stopped. We had no avi gear, no beacons, no shovels, no nothing (stupid I know and this taught me). I lost a ski in the avi debri and we spent an hour trying to find it. Once we did, everything was kosher. we had a nice 30 minute run back to the car. Another time, the same guy that triggered one on me, I let one go on him in Heather Canyon at Hood. He did his requisite 15 jump turns to get to the bottom and I watched. He was at the bottom with a huge grin on his face. I launched from the cornice, planted my skis and went in to my first turn. All of the sudden, the slope just went. This was probably a 45 degree pitch. The entire slab just took off and burried my buddy. Thank God he is 6'6". Only his head was sticking out when I got down to him. I had to literally dig him out because he couldn't move. He ended up being fine and we had a beer over it. It really was scary though watching it transpire. I have some bad Alaska stories too - people actually die in those though. I don't really like to relive them. It could/should have been me type of thing. Take a basic backcountry class, get the right gear and live to tell the tale the next day. Those mountains can be treacherous. Link to post Share on other sites
HERON 0 Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Thank the lord, no. Link to post Share on other sites
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