Apology 12/15/07 Top Secret Clandestine=Dead

OK this is starting to get a little tiring. Yes, there are other places to ski. Yes, we can all read an avalanche report (I hope). Some of us have even taken a few Avalanche classes. We all know by not how strongly you feel on this subject. Some of us agree with you while others do not. Some might even think you are a little imbalanced and crying out for help. IMO this rant is doing your cause more harm than good.

BTW I have not been up the Valley this season just incase you were wondering.

... he just wants no one else there so he can get fresh tracks

I think a good point may be buried under all the ranting, but the delivery is awful.

The investment analogy may not be applicable, because BC skiing is more about love than ROI. Why go, or return, to a specific spot? Because you love being there. Of course, love sometimes leads you astray ...

savegondor, you are a funny bird indeed. You have read so much into my very brief post that I hardly know how to reply. Hmmm, where to start?

1. I wrote a short report because I didn't feel like writing a long one. I was hungry. Brevity, it has been said, is the soul of wit. It does not, however, reflect one way another on what went into the decision-making of the author hours before the act of writing.

2. An avalanche that occurred two weeks earlier, a mile away, on an aspect 180 degrees different, and during a rainstorm dropping 4.5" of rain has no bearing on whether avy danger was high on the lower mountain of Alpental on saturday. You should know as much.

3. I suspect you might be trolling. If so, good job, sir!

4. Finally, and most importantly, the NWAC avy forecast for saturday was for moderate avalanche danger below 5k increasing to considerable in the evening. You erroneously posted the forecast for Sunday. If you are going to criticize one's decision-making, you should consider double-checking the facts first before ranting about that which turns out to be untrue.

1) To the remark that I am trolling, I'm not sure what that is...but if it means I like picking a fight just for the hell of it, yes, I have been known to to do that.

2) To the remark that this is tiring, I reply: Yes it is. And I must admit I was already pissed off when I picked this fight.

3) To the remark about avalanche danger: Yes I posted the wrong report. I seem to recal the report for Saturday was similiar danger: Moderate (not extreme).

4) To the remark about avalanche danger: The patroller's report still indicates weak layers with an increasingly dense and heavy snowpack developing on top. The original post also indicates instability. Additionally someone else reported a large slide on international that very same Saturday.

5) To the remark about aspect danger: Yes the avalanche was on a different aspect and as such is not a fair comparison for stability of the slope at Top Secret. And the snowpack itself was completely different. My main point here was/is only that such a recent history of deaths should at least sober us up a little bit. It sobered me up. Danger this coming weekend will be high to extreme it looks like: are we sober enough to stay safe?

6) My thought experiment I think is completely valid. Alpental ski valley even in relatively safe conditions is still infamously known as being one of the, if not THE most dangerous area in the state for avalanches: So many deaths occur there: 1) Because of the number of skiers 2) Because of terrain

7) To the comment about love: I hear you.