High Campbell no more

My two youngers near the top in January of 2013.

I beg to differ. The freezing level is going up and having been at Crystal from Thursday night through Monday morning I can attest that there's a ton of new moisture in the snowpack. Super saturated. There's actually concerns about several large slide paths that could go naturally and have bad results.

If given the choice between "making it go with no loss of life but potential for property damage" or "roll the dice, hope nothing happens" I think they made the right call. I think their intention was to make the slope safe for the weather to come, not the weather we've had. What happened between the 7th (I skied it on the 7th) and when the slide happened is irrelevant.

Beg all you like, you're still wrong.  Root cause analysis: Too much bang too soon after the pineapple.  None of those in-area slide paths have gone naturally to anywhere near that degree, now (or ever) have they? And they're certainly not going to slide naturally on that layer anytime soon.  How many times has the snowpack in that spot been in the exact same condition over the past 30 years, without ever sliding like that?  I'm guessing it's hundreds of days - this wasn't nearly the worst pineapple in recent memory.  How long before the snowpack stabilizes (rhetorical, it already has)?  Putting that charge on that face on that day was a mistake, plain a simple.  Guarantee they wouldn't do it over again the same way, even if they won't admit it.  It's got to be cheaper to close the resort, or portions of the resort for a few days than lobbing a climax avy onto your facilities.

There's lots of "I don't know" answers to your rhetorical questions, and lots of guesses and speculation on your part. None of those "answers" were good enough for the risk managers. To me, just the fact that it slid like that tells me they did the right thing to bomb it. If they knew it would take out the chairlift, I agree, they would probably have done something different.

I continue to appreciate your statements, though, as they make very good points.

It might have slid at some point in time...all the ingredients were there, and they can't take the risk of killing people with an uncontrolled slide.  Closure for the season might have been another option, but the thing could still conceivably come down and kill someone.  This is all pretty obvious....don't want to insult your intelligence.

I see it as the lesser of several evils.  I do see your point, but since it is in their boundary they are responsible/liable for it.

Why would they need to close it for the season, when it would stabilize within a few days following the end of the pineapple (like it already has, just like always)?  As for current "concerns about several large slide paths that could go naturally and have bad results" I call BS. It got clear and cold, and the surface is now well crusted, and snowpack is becoming like glue at depth. In case you haven't noticed, NWAC removed the PWL warning from its forecasted risks for the west slopes (which I'm hoping will help quench that hysteria.)  Even a 100 pound charge probably wouldn't move that snowpack at this point.  Pretty sure they would not place that charge if they could get a do over.  Assuming that's the case, it was unequivocally a mistake.

I should have said, "close it until they thought it was stable". You're right, maybe waiting would have been a better option. My assumption is that the structure of the snow pack, and the warming weather is increasing the unpredictability and the risk of a big slide, not decreasing it.

How many times has the snowpack in that spot been in the exact same condition over the past 30 years, without ever sliding like that?  I'm guessing it's hundreds of days - this wasn't nearly the worst pineapple in recent memory. 

Wow. You really don't have a clue.

It's not just the pineapple express that caused the problem, it's what has happened throughout the whole season, with the ice crusts, weak layers, huge dumps, and pineapple express piled on top of it. I challenge anyone to document a similar scenario in the past 30 years. Go ahead.

I trust that you'll be submitting your resume to manage avalanche control at Crystal, since you know so much more than they do.