Saturday heli-evac from Snow Lake

Skier took a long injurious slide on firm snow, is more okay than not.

NWHikers thread has the most information:

www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8009227


A big thank you to the rescue teams, as always.

My first instinct was to let this whole episode fade into oblivion, but decided that the chance of someone learning from our mistakes would be better than tucking tail and hiding in the corner.

Our plan for the day was to ski Kaleetan on a trip around Chair.  We anticipated conditions similar to a spring day with a shorter window of opportunity for quality skiing mid-day.  We packed ice axes, ski crampons and boot crampons to account for the firm snow.

With the expectation of icy north facers (especially in the morning), we opted to drop over to Snow Lake at the low saddle instead of the higher notch to the NF of Chair.  We decided to traverse over to where the summer trail drops down to the lake to avoid the scattered cliffs since we figured they wouldn’t be filled in very well this year.  After transitioning from skins to downhill on the ridge we started slowly skiing – generally trending to the right.  A few “turns” later the terrain dropped off in front of us and we realized we had gotten a little low, so we started traversing a little harder to stay high.  You could hold an edge traversing, but not in any sort of confidence inspiring fashion.  Taking out an ice axe would have probably been a good idea.  We rounded a corner and could see where we wanted to be.  At first glance, it looked like there was a nice bench that would put us right back on track.

We quickly saw that there was a short (maybe 15’ wide) steep (still icy) spot that we would have to cross and that there was a gentle rise to gain the bench, so we couldn’t make quick work of it by just holding an edge and gliding across.  This is where we definitely should have taken out axes…  Dave started across the steep section while I waited on a bench above a small tree.  About 2/3 of the way across he grabbed a small tree branch and pulled a bit.  I think that’s when he lost his edge and couldn’t get it back.

He slid down ~20’ over a roll and I lost sight of him.  A second later I hear some crashing, then quiet, then more crashing, then just quiet.  Shit, meet fan.  I couldn’t see exactly how far down it was, but I could tell that it wasn’t a minor drop.

I transitioned to boot crampons and started searching.  I climbed up, around and then down toward the lake, wrapping back to the left to try to find where Dave could have stopped.  I yelled out a every few seconds hoping to hear a response.  After about 7 eternities, I heard Dave yell back.  I rounded a corner and saw him at the top of a group of trees, a couple trees in.  He was moving and trying to stand, but it was obviously painful.  Lots of blood around.  I retrieved one ski that was stuck in a tree above him and could see the line he came down – a mix of steep trees, then a ~50’ cliff, then ~200’ of steep snow before finishing in the trees. Whoa. His other ski and poles were stuck in trees above the cliff – I wrote them off.

We started trying to figure out how we were going to get out.  I asked Dave if he could walk and brainstormed some sort of pole-crutches or assisted walk.  I thought about trying some sort of carry, but it would have been very difficult with the frequently breakable crust and feared that any injuries would be exacerbated in the process.  His right arm looked bad too (it was broken).  I kept asking if he could walk and never got a definite answer; it was clear that there was some confusion about the situation and shock was setting in.

I checked my phone for cell coverage but didn’t have anything in the basin.  I thought about running up to the ridge, but didn’t want to leave Dave by himself if it wasn’t 100% necessary.  I could hear voices around, so I started yelling.  Three guys (Rob, Robb and Matt) immediately came up from the lake and saved the day. One ran to make a call to SAR while the other two helped on the scene.  They had been snow camping the night before so they had extra gear to help get Dave comfortable and a stove to make a hot drink – very generous and more than we could have ever asked for.  They said SAR was on the way (in a couple hours) and we dug a platform next to Dave to get ready.

After a bit we heard the helicopter coming over the ridge.  It circled around then a guy (Eric?) dropped down with a board to get Dave.  Once he was out, we gathered all the gear and hiked up.  We saw where the other ski and poles were, but it wasn’t worth trying to get them without a rope.  The Backcountry Ski Patrol team was waiting on the ridge and, going above and beyond, they belayed down and retrieved Dave’s poles and other ski before we walked out.

I’m sure I glossed over a good bit of the day here, but can’t thank everyone involved enough for their help.  Who knows how it could have ended without the guys that came to help/call SAR, the heli team, the folks that came of foot and everyone behind the scenes that backs them up.

Luckily, injuries weren’t as bad as originally feared.  A broken arm, stitches down the nose, lots of smaller cuts and serious bruises. 

I think what I’ll take away is to take the necessary precautions when you are facing a potentially dangerous situation because all the safety equipment in the world won’t do you a lick of good if it’s in your backpack.  It doesn’t matter if you’ll only be in the "danger zone" for 15 seconds – if a simple slip could have catastrophic results, it’s worth taking a minute or two to prepare for it.  If we had taken out our axes on the ridge, that slip would have been a “Whoa, good thing you took out your axe!”  instead of “Oh f__k.” and everything that followed.

Here are a couple photos from the guys that came to help (I wasn’t in much of a picture taking mood at the time.)

Yikes! The first photo really helps bring home the story you wrote. Thanks for sharing these details. I hope that Dave will heal up just fine.

Really looking forward to focusing more on avalanche hazard than on risk of death slides on ice.

That's quite a story. Will try to take your observations to heart.

A big thank you to the rescue organizations that are capable of rescues like these on a few hours' notice. May these be the last callouts of the season.

Heal well, Dave!

thanks for the write up John, I was wondering (with yr detailed comments on nwhikers) but just thought I'd ask next time I saw you...
I heard the helicopters coming up the valley during lunch hour and thought uh-oh. Someone on the lift said it was a snow shoer which I didn't quite believe.
I was thinking of Kaleetan that day having caught that splendid glimpse up the Denny Creek valley on the drive up to the pass, and with the conditions as they have been, was thinking I bet that skis really nicely today (S. facing as it is), but man, I would not want to skin back there today... Not that it was an option anyway, I had kids to teach. Lower Alpental was frozen solid all day, and Edelweiss up top was a t-shirt slush bowl...

Thanks for reminding us it's worth the small pain of preparation for even short moments of exposure.

but man, I would not want to skin back there today... 

Climbing was quick and easy with ski crampons on skinny skis - and if we'd left them on for another 5 minutes we probably would have been in the clear.