Tragic avalanche news

I am sorry to start winter with such a tragic weekend. I agree with everyone's sentiment. I am at a loss on how such a forecast was ignored by such wide range of people and training?

From the hikers on snowshoes to the seasoned patroller, it seems as if the concept of high to extreme hazard was ignored. I guess this leaves a troubling question for avalanche educators, how do you explain the decision making of the four separate groups to go out in the face of such a forecast?

I hope the boarders are on their way to Yakima, it has happened before.

Thanks Mattski, for the question.  As an avalanche educator and backcountry skier, I struggle with that one.  I believe, as does every other instructor I'm sure, that we do our best to teach and educate our students on the whys and wherefores of the avalanche phenomena, including everything from snow mechanics, hazard recognition, stability analysis, safe travel, consequences and self rescue.  Even so, I must unfortunately say that people I've taught or lectured to, who were friends, have subsequently gone out and died in avalanches.  That really hurts.  And when the analysis is done, they all ignored multiple obvious signs and signals of current or predicted instability. That damned human factor gets us every time.  Nevertheless, most of us continue to teach, continue to refine, revise and update our presentations.  Short of taking each student out on a SAR and digging up a twisted, broken, frozen body, I'm sometimes unsure of how to further communicate the seriousnous of the game.  I'd welcome any or all of your opinions on how we can collectively do a better job of communicating - both to our students, friends and unknowing public, no matter how "experienced" they are.  With respect,
Gerry Haugen

Alpental partrol staffed rescue squad was declined. 
Gerry

Not sure where you got that from, Alpental patrol both paid and volunteer were active in that incident from the start.

Not sure where you got that from, Alpental patrol both paid and volunteer were active in that incident from the start.

My statement was gained from first hand quotes from leaders and members of the Mountaineer group who were in close proximity to the accident, at the time they met up with the first group(s) responding to the accident.  This statement didn't suggest, and was certainly not meant to, cast aspersions on the Alpental patrol or any others in the rescue chain, who were responding in dangerous conditions with unknown threats in a most timely manner.    Without getting into an in depth treatise on rescue procedures, I do know that the first responsiblity of the rescue coordinator - the Sheriff - and site leaders, is to prevent further injury or death to the rescuer and searchers.  Secondly, to manage the rescue in as  timely and resource efficient manner as possible.  That being said, my comments reflected the unfortunate decision made by someone,  which effectively lost the opportunity for the rescue effort to gain a significant number of available, trained  human resources in the most timely manner. Obviously any rescue coordinator is forced to weigh both the potential benefits and negatives of throwing unknown (as to skills, training, mentality, etc.) volunteers into the dangerous dynamics of mountain rescue. Since we're all human, subject to our various bias and incomplete knowledge, it is critical that we gain knowledge from these tragic avalanche accidents - maybe we can do better before there's a next time.

Thanks, Larry_R for the avalanche bulletin. Note the time that the avalanche bulletin was issued. 8:30 am Saturday morning. No doubt, the people involved in the avalanche incidents had already left for the mountains. Part of educating the public includes issuing warnings in a relevant time frame. The avalanche forecasts are issued too late in the morning. It is unlikely that most backcountry users check the avalanche forecast on the day of their trip. That said, it was quite clear several days in advance that a major snow/rain event was likely Saturday-Monday implying that backcountry travel was going to be quite hazardous.

Backcountry users do have a responsibility to at least check the weather forecast and understand the implications. If the relationships between past, current and future weather to snow stability are not clearly understood, then the backcountry user should educate himself by taking an avalanche awareness course.

Thanks, Larry_R for the avalanche bulletin. Note the time that the avalanche bulletin was issued. 8:30 am Saturday morning. No doubt, the people involved in the avalanche incidents had already left for the mountains. Part of educating the public includes issuing warnings in a relevant time frame. The avalanche forecasts are issued too late in the morning. It is unlikely that most backcountry users check the avalanche forecast on the day of their trip.

for what its worth, I've always felt that the nwac forecasts that are issued the day before I plan to do a trip are good enough to figure out what to expect that next day.   

If there is a significant change overnight and you need the latest forecast,  you don't need to check online, you can call 206-526-6677 for a recording of the current NWAC forecast which could always been done enroute to wherever you're skiing that day or at one of the many ski areas that have cell phone coverage.