Avi experiences

With all this talk of avi, I thought I'd start a new topic about avi experiences. What I would like to get is a general idea of what others have experienced in the way of avalanches in their skiing career. What time of year, how much you get out, and where. Plus how you felt at the time about avi conditions. I thought this might be educational for us all.

~40-60 days per year
~22 years of BC skiing

I've had in that time 4 instances of avalanches. These were at Rainier. Baker. Saint Helens. And Baker's big avi in 99.

Rainier - Panpoint -
1. Buried. Had to be dug out.
2. Oblivious
3. Winter conditions. Wind slab.
Baker - Past artist point
1. Buried. Was able to dig myself out.
2. Very aware of the danger. Didn't take it seriously.
3. Winter conditions. Wind slab.
Baker - Rumble Gully
1. Not buried. Very close call.
2. Oblivious. Felt very confident about the conditions.
3. Winter conditions. Cold spell earlier in the year creating a very bad layer. Was not dependant on surface conditions, but way deeper in the snowpack. Could've happened any day, any time.
Saint Helens
1. Not buried but fell in moat which caused a 1000+ft slide that took my Brother for an exciting ride.
2. Oblivious. Felt very confident about the conditions.
3. Winter like conditions. Some very thick wind slab.

Yikes. That's 4 more than I have been or ever want to be involved in. Glad you're here to tell the tales. This thread should make for some interesting and eye-opening reading.

Here's a link to a simiilar question on TGR:

www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67567

Two years ago I was at Kicking Horse Bc after a nice dump of 12 inches so we toured out into the deep backcountry and saw what was obviously a huge alpine face that was wind loaded with snow so when the first person cut in the whole face slid and it didnt stop for around a thousand feet he was lucky enough to be up top and easily cut away or he would have been gone for sure and thats why I dont listen to music in the backcountry

Just did a little skiing up at Crystal Mtn. today.  What amazed me was that breakable crust.   There is a crust out there right now that has at least 24 inches of almost nothing underneath it.   I skied too close to the edge of a run and fell through up past my knees.  Took a while to wade out.

Anyway, it seems to me that this crust with the weakest possible layer underneath provides an excellent setup for avalanche conditions right now.  

Years ago I experienced a June avalanche that occured naturally near me with snow falling off a cliff like a waterfall.  That was pretty thunderous.  I fell through the snow that day, into a stream and had to be pulled out.

Couple of years ago, on a sunny June day, I was sitting up above the glacier bowl at Pinnacle Peak and watched a naturally occuring avalanche on Mt. Rainiers SW flank.  

For as much talk there is about skiers setting off these things, it should be noted that sometimes they just happen all by themselves.

I've done avi control work at Irwin Lodge (Colorado), Soldier Mtn. (Idaho) and the backcountry around Soldier (for their cat operation), all ski cutting and hand-thrown bombs.  Exciting stuff but very sobering to see what can happen when a big slope releases. 

I've skied the backcountry for 16 years, never less than 40 days per year, and have never been caught in an avi, or even an unintentionally triggered large sluff.  I've had friends trigger slides, but only one major slide, in all that time.  My friend was killed in 2004 in a Grade 3 slide in the BC near Schweitzer.  Conditions: major windloading, cold and new snow in the previous 3 days.  He skied a transition from low angle to steep terrain over a convex roller, triggered the slide and was slammed into a tree and killed instantly, then buried down 6 feet wrapped around the tree.  I've skied the same line but always bailed out before the roller.  In my opinion, although a great skier he was cocky, perhaps even believing that he could ski out of an avalanche (he'd done so before).  I had difficulty skiing with him because his attitude played hell with group dynamics.  It sucked being the conservative voice, but who knows, he may have died sooner if I hadn't been there in the past.  Also, I believe the group had all the assessment info to point to conservative slope choices, but  he misinterpreted it or chose to disregard it.  By the way...the old caveat is true:  don't use your Reutschblock test as definitive evidence of stability!!!  It is very, very location specific.     

I believe that my success with survival out there can be attributed to:   a) solid avi assessment/route-finding training with experienced friends and professional guides   b) the relatively predictable nature of the Selkirk snowpack  c) conservative attitude (assuming you can't ski it, but then finding evidence to disprove that position)   d)humility and a willingness to say "no" to the group  e)LUCK

After my friend's death, I questioned whether it was really worth it(BC skiing), given that I feel a responsibility to family not to take foolish risks and possibly put them through hell.  However, they support me in challenging myself and living my joys...so I made the obvious decision.  Keep it up!!!  SKI TO LIVE!!!
-Bill

PS:  Jeez Jason H, you're the Joe Simpson of BC skiing!!!  Glad you're here, my friend!

I recently did some work on my trip journal, which refreshed my memory about avalanche experiences.  Here's what I found: 

December 1978 - Chair Peak basin, Snoqualmie Pass.  Triggered a 6-inch slab avalanche below the East Face of Chair.  The slide ran about 200ft and buried some gear I'd left below.  I was alone, hoping to solo the East Face.  I remember sort of dancing (jumping up and down) as the avalanche pushed me down the slope, but it never knocked me over. After more investigation of the face, I retreated.  I had walked to the peak on foot so there wasn't a lot of deep snow around, but I'd managed to find a wind slab.  I wasn't paying enough attention. 

November 1980 - Table Mountain area, Mt Baker.  Two friends and I traversed the south side of Table and began to traverse into Coleman Basin, beyond.  Soon after crossing onto the north-aspect slope, I triggered about a 1-foot slab avalanche.  I was near the top and was not taken for a ride or buried, as I remember.  After this we retreated and dug a snow pit.  Conditions were bad: rain crust followed by an inch of snow followed by clear cold weather followed by new snow and high winds.  Hair-trigger 6-12 inch slabs.  We had seen no natural releases, and were caught by surprise (relatively clueless) when the slide happened.

Two weeks after the Table Mountain slide, I took my first avalanche class from Ray Smutek.  To the best of my memory, I have not been caught by surprise in an avalanche since then. (I've started a quite a few sloughs on purpose.) 

I ski the backcountry less than a lot of people on this forum, probably 20-30 days a year, on average.  When there's a lot of new snow, I usually go lift skiing until it settles a bit.