Request for stories of avy forecast saved lives

As some of you may know, the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) is facing a budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year, as are many state funded programs. FOAC (Friends of the Northwest Avalanche Center) is working hard to both prevent NWAC from losing funding and to lessen the blow in the event that the state is forced to cut funding.

I would like to appeal to the community to submit personal stories on this thread about how the avalanche forecast made a direct impact on your decision-making process and likely saved your life. Something along the lines of “I was going to ski Moonlight basin at Steven’s pass, but due to NWAC forecast we decided to ski Yodelin where it was safer. That afternoon we saw Moonlight slide in the exact location we would have been if we had not used the avy forecast (insert picture of slide here if you have one). NWAC saved my life.”

My idea here is to collect stories that can then be presented to lawmakers by FOAC in support of NWAC in the event of lobbying or testimony in front of committee. You will not be asked to testify and we are happy invoking screen names.
It would be great if this thread did not drift and stayed on topic so that it is a more usable reference. Please start another thread if you would like to discuss FOAC/NWAC, the avalanche forecast and related topics. If you do not agree with this message, the intent or the methodology, I would ask you to make these statements on the other thread. Marcus has offered to help me in keep this thread on point.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a member of the Board of FOAC and I am very passionate about preventing deaths due to avalanches. As things progress, we will be keeping you updated with the status of NWAC. Please consider supporting the Center at VertFest in February and at the Snowball auction in April.

I look forward to reading your stories of how the avalanche forecast has saved your bacon.

I could not imagine touring without the information so readily available on the NWAC. I don't have any stories of any avalanches that definitely occurred same day in any area I decided not to ski due to the influence of NWAC but I can say as one element in determining the risk of avalanches I use the NWAC website heavily. Not just the avalanche forecast, but the weather telemetry graphs give me the best data available on weather data I can print and share with my partners. The NWAC's danger level influences every tour regardless of its rating. As a simplified example... Every time the NWAC shows a high danger level it has an influence on where I chose to ski or not to ski... and just because no one was there doesn't mean it didn't or would not have avalanched. that said, NWAC has saved my life every time it has influenced me.

I am a ski touring beginner and I look at your awesome avy forecast several times a week to help determine where to go to and what I should be looking for in the snowpack. No cool direct life saving stories but I have used your forecast to make the decision to stick to the lifts a few times now. Also your forecasts after the Rainier avalanche that caught 11 people last season were a large part of the reason I chose a lower elevation climbing goal that weekend instead of attempting a peak with higher elevation. The new danger rose is a great improvement over last year also.

Does the Avy Center save lives?
Sometimes it's a bit of a subjective opinion when we're still alive and reviewing the avy forecasts regularly before trips, eh?
Probably not a good topic for setting up a double blind study to prove our point.
Nonetheless, one particular incident comes to mind...
On the last Saturday of December, 2002 I got a call from a fairly regular ski partner suggesting we go for a backcountry tour at Crystal Mountain. Recalling the weather reports and daily reading of the avy forecasts indicating there was significant new snow deposited on a firm crust which had been exposed to a cold spell (indicating the possibility of surface hoar), I recall saying something like "well, while I agree that we can find some safe areas to ski in the Crystal backcountry, I think a better choice, given the past weather and avy forecast, would be the Paradise area.... more varied terrain choices".
And, in fact, that's where we skied the following day. After that trip we discovered that some of our fellow backcountry skiers had been involve in THIS AVALANCHE ACCIDENT in which one skier was killed.
So was it the avalanche Center that saved us from having the same accident? Probably not.
Was the avy center's info a likely contributor to the decision we made as to where to ski? Probably so.
Mightn’t the skiers involved in the accident above have avoided their accident had they made the same decisions we did regarding their skiing destination based on the same avy center info? Probably so.
I believe the metrics and forecast information provided by the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center provides crucial information that saves scores of lives every winter in the Pacific Northwest. If this very efficient organization were allowed to close due to lack o funding, I am convinced we would see a marked rise in avalanche fatalities in the Washington Cascades.

As some of you may know, the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) is facing a budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year, as are many state funded programs. FOAC (Friends of the Northwest Avalanche Center) is working hard to both prevent NWAC from losing funding and to lessen the blow in the event that the state is forced to cut funding.
...
In the interests of full disclosure, I am a member of the Board of FOAC and I am very passionate about preventing deaths due to avalanches. As things progress, we will be keeping you updated with the status of NWAC. Please consider supporting the Center at VertFest in February and at the Snowball auction in April.

I look forward to reading your stories of how the avalanche forecast has saved your bacon.

The data provided by NWAC is of primary importance for estimating avalanche hazard. This is important information for many citizens aside from backcountry skiers.

The expertise, scientific approach, and professional ethics of the NWAC staff are all superlative. Thank you!

Some of us involved with the Wenatchee Mountains Coalition have decades of experience in avalanche terrain including professional experience. We understand and support the mission of NWAC.

I will write to my State Rep. in support of NWAC and will encourage others also to do so.

Thank you jdclimber and FOAC for your admirable efforts!