Baker Avalanche on Sat. April 15

Does anybody have any info about the avalanche that occurred last Sat. just outside of the Baker Ski Area? I heard there was a film crew present. Has anybody seen the footage or know who shot it? I volunteer for a local avy awareness and mountain safety group and we could use this for educational purposes. Thanks

I was at Baker on Saturday making laps in Arm Pit.  About 1pm, I came back to make another run out there and there was a patroller there keeping people out because there was a rescue in progress.  There was a burial, but according to him, no fatalities or major injuries.

This may be a different incident:

April 19, 2006
www.bellinghamherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../604190344/1001/NEWS

California man dies near Mt. Baker


KIRA MILLAGE
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

A 25-year-old man died Tuesday morning after getting caught in a snow slide while skiing west of the Mt. Baker Ski Area, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.
Tobias Lee of Truckee, Calif., was skiing with his brother and a friend on Mount Herman when snow broke loose and carried him over two rock faces and through trees, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Lee was unconscious after the slide and didn't respond to CPR attempts, according to the Sheriff's Office. After members of Bellingham Mountain Rescue were unable to reach Lee due to avalanche danger, a private helicopter was called to remove the body.
The two survivors' identities were unknown Tuesday evening, but they are reportedly from the Glacier area, the Sheriff's Office said.

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www.kgmi.com/news.asp
MAN KILLED IN SKI AREA ACCIDENT

A California man was killed yesterday in a ski accident near the Mt. Baker Ski Area. A Sheriff’s Office spokesman says 25 year-old Tobias Lee slid down a hill and over at least two rock faces. Bellingham Mountain Rescue was not able to enter the area because of severe avalanche danger. A private helicopter company assisted in the recovery effort. Lee’s brother, and another skier—both from the Glacier area—were not injured in the accident.

 

Josh has some video footage of the slide that occurred just above the canyon on the hemi's side. I think the area is called elf chutes or something like that. Anyways, if you want it....we could probably either upload it somewhere or send you a dvd. Please let me know. Yep,yep,yep.

*bounce*

I watched the fun from the top of Pan Dome. It seems a number of Mt Baker employees made the traverse from the top of chair 8 to drop into the canyon. There were at least 10. Most seemed fairly skilled and knew to straight line it after awhile to avoid any avalanches. Some set some off, others didn't. However the last person to drop in made a number of turns and then traversed off his track and then inexplicably made a long turn back attempting to stop directly beneath his initial turns. By then the avalanche he set off, picked him up, and carried him down a gully at extremely high speeds. He reappeared at the bottom of the slope, just above the entrance to canyon proper. He was partially buried, but quickly got out and began looking for his skis, one of which I don't think he ever found. By this time, they had a snowcat down there, but I don't think it really did anything. So there wasn't really any rescue.

Also there was another skier, that had been hanging halfway down the slope for about half an hour, who then attempted to sideslip the gully. He fell and did many ungraceful spinarounds, but seemed generally uninjured.

I assume it's clear that these are separate incidents on different days. The original query related to an in-bounds, non-fatal avalanche during the weekend. The Bellingham Herald paste describes a backcountry avalanche fatality which happened yesterday in Stoneman (Mt. Herman). Details at:

www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51661