Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Roj photo from Feb 2009 at the top of the Snot/Not couloir. (Thanks for the technical assistance Marcus).

If anyone is still awake and reading this,

Read every word Doug and will probably read again. No apologies needed for taking up so much space. Thanks for your observations and organized thoughts as they will no doubt help others be better prepared.

Just wanted to say thanks to Marcus, Dan and Doug for sharing your experience so openly and completely.  Running laps on Mt Snoqualmie has become routine for me and reading the accounts of this incident has already made me re-evaluate my own decision making processes.  Just a few days before this incident I got lucky on the upper Phantom, climbing too high in an intense snow storm.  I noticed that the snow started cracking and I decided that day to turn around very close to where this slide occurred.  On the ski down I was extremely careful in terrain selection but still set off several large sluffs that would have been ugly had I been caught.  At the time I felt relieved to have made it down safely and your candid writing has help me fully process my own experience.  So thank you.

Howdy folks, sorry it took a bit, but I’d like to start by thanking everyone on this post/thread/site for a better than expected positive response to our roadside Dawn Patrol epic; a culmination of many factors that the 5 of us will be processing on different levels for time to come.  HUGE thanks to my 4 amigos, Marcus, Dan, Doug and Drew that made a potential nightmare a very manageable rescue scenario. (I wish I could say self rescue as my mantra is that it’s the responsibility of myself and my partners to get our asses out of any predicament that we put ourselves in)  EXTRA HUGE thanks to all rescue workers involved. Your efforts were beyond superb.  Your communication and respect for each other when having to negotiate and problem solve was impeccable.  When I get your names, I will contact each of you with our gratitude.  Fitz Cahall, Zac West and Dave Burdick, when you first to arrive on scene, it brought me to tears amigos that you dropped everything to run up there and drag my sorry ass off of one of our favorite DP ‘laps’.

I can’t agree more with Marcus, Drew, Dan and Doug’s deep and thoughtful TR’s as they were inspiring and led me to write this; part catharsis as well as food for thought for anyone interested.  I won’t spend any time on being redundant with the well stated details, snow science, logistics, and terrain assessment, as we feel we know quite well what we were getting into upon clicking in at the trail-head, the signs that lead to me triggering the slide, and most everything in between.  I think that we all agree that if one of us pushed for pulling the skins a little earlier, it would have been a different scenario.  Also keep in mind that believe that no matter how much experience, training and success one has in the mountains (or life for that matter) there are no guarantees and if there were, it would seem a bit anti-climactic, almost disappointing and take away the random magic keeps life vibrant.

For those who don’t know me well or at all, this is the first post that I’ve made on any site/forum/blog as a result of not being impressed by the tendency for most interactive sites becoming a downward spiral, or the ‘black plague’ of regional, national or global climbing forums.  On the contrary, I’ve always appreciated TAY’s mostly positive chat, gear, and trip reports without much bottom feeding.  I mostly use TAY and NWAC combined with UW’s global weather models for my winter climbing/skiing bible, using it from the moment I awake until a quick check before bed. 

Those that do know me, probably agree that I’m ridiculously obsessed with the mountains and feel that they are a gift to all of us not to be taken for granted; thanks to my parents for taking me into them at the age of two…I hope to always go to them in search of adventure balanced with humility.  Although rock, ice, mixed and alpine climbing has been and still the main passion driver since my late teens, backcountry skiing has been a close 2nd for at least as long.  For me touring complements and gives a different, almost relaxing perspective relative to the sometimes all out battle of a committing alpine route or big wall.  Could this be one of the reasons why my risk assessment and commitment level may be different than some? And part of why I feel a bit more responsible for not pulling the skins earlier on the upper Phantom? 

Marcus’s summary of mistakes, communication, new behavior and missing data is spot on.  Thank you Andy Hill for professional and easy to read scene investigation plus your honest and sobering thoughts, I would share the same feelings if I was in your position.

A few bullets of reflection;

• Out of the 100+ trips of climbing/skiing on Mt. Snoqualmie, I’ve gladly pulled the plug or completely bailed at the parking lot at least a dozen times in similar conditions or of lesser avi concern; Why was Wednesday different?
• I’m super passionate about tele (and wish everyone would at least give it a chance!) and love skiing/touring on fat skis, ridiculously stiff bindings and boots…could this be part of my why both my knees are destroyed?  Maybe.  Will I continue to ski with the same system?   Absolutely.
• Why didn’t I stick with pulling the plug at the top of the Snot Couloir (aka New York Gulley)? At that point we had slowed down for more precautionary travel and spread out enough between safety zones, then lured into ‘peeking’ down the Slot entrance.  Curiosity ultimately ended in supporting the rest of our mistakes.
• I’m of the school that enjoys the up nearly as much as the down, as it gives the cardio that I crave and allows me to get new perspectives and learn from even the most familiar terrain.  How ironic that my “home Dawn Patrol” nearly wacked me and 4 wonderful friends…a fact that will eat at me (in a productive way) for the rest of my years.
• I feel incredible fortunate that the outcome wasn’t worse or one or more of us being killed.  I’ve lost too many friends to the mountains and the Bering Sea (I was a Crab Fisherman for nearly 21 years), I shutter to think of trying to make sense or justify each case and how we could have joined those statistics.
• As a new father of a beautiful 21 month old girl, I promised my amazing wife Merridy that I would quit soloing completely, and take a 2 year sabbatical from hard alpine climbing expeditions.  Recently fulfilling that commitment, two close friends and I received large support to attempt a new route on the monstrous NE Face of Mt. Dickey (Ruth Gorge, AK) in a couple weeks… obviously now out of the question for me…will my desire and level of commitment for remote alpine big walls change?  This will remain TBD as some of the most deeply intrinsic times in the mountains have been with incredible partners, exploring the biggest challenges on new terrain…even when the route hadn’t been completed or ‘successful’ (success in my opinion is everything that makes the journey, whether you reach the top or not, and coming home alive)

Please feel free to reply on this thread or me directly; rogmahaj@hotmail.com, 206-276-5954…as I don’t pay much attention or give much validity to pseudo names…How can anyone have an opinion when no one knows who you are!!??  I want to know who you are so when we see each other in the hills, we have more to share

Thanks all for listening…be safe, follow your heart and take time to appreciate our incredible community, family and friends just a bit more. 

Everlasting thanks to all loved ones with the incredible support you have unselfishly given us at every level.  It’s all of you and the time that I’m blessed to share with you that make life such wonderful ride…

Cheers,
Roj

Thanks for posting, Roger. Here's to a quick and full recovery!

I've been following this thread each day since it started and I appreciate the thoughtful contributions everyone has made, especially those involved in the incident. It's a powerful thing to to think about how we make decisions and relate them to real world consequences.

I feel a little guilty about seeing a bright side to this unfortunate event, but I have to admit it's been a pleasure to hear from you and others in the community who have not been active on TAY in the past. I really appreciate these perspectives.

Can anyone involved in the incident explain the manufacture and use of a traction splint with materials that would normally be carried on a tour?