"What a Fuc*ing idiot"

How many times have I said that regarding a news report of someone falling above a waterfall; someone getting caught in as storm that had been predicted for days; or someone getting avalanched after going into some steep gully during a period of high avalanche danger?

More than half way through a life filled with skiing, climbing, rafting...I've said that many times. Yesterday I was the idiot - but it won't be in the news - because of my usual dumb luck.

After a beautiful Saturday in Paradise, I pretty much knew that Sunday would suck. The soft snow over the hard crust would re-freeze and the days previous tracks would also become a hazard. The forecast called for clouds so I considered buying some wands but dismissed the idea because I knew the area soooooo good. When we got to the parking lot there were very thick clouds just a few hundred feet up. My wife (who is not a backcountry skier or mountaineer) and I headed up the wide snow shoe track towards Edith Cavell Basin. We soon crossed the buried creek at the big dip and headed up into a quickly worsening whiteout. My idea was to skin up the track to the first knoll and ski down and right thru the small trees and then back up the road. The crust in the trees was as hard as water ice, and the whiteout was about a 9 on a scale of 1-10 so my wife (being smarter that me) soon demanded we go back. I said something about how she "never listened to me" and took my skins off. She wanted to stay on the track but it was so hard and full of ruts I opted for the smoother crust just south of the track and had her follow closely. Controlled side slipping with an occasional snowplow turn soon brought us back near the big dip and the buried creek crossing. I could see tracks to my right so I kept my eye on them so I wouldn't lose the trail. Visibility was just a few feet. When Kathy joined me I looked around and realized we were standing on sloping, frozen crust about 5 feet from the top of Myrtle Falls. It was an ugly, steep, icy drop that would have certainly been our last. There was a second set of tracks running right along the treeline that day probably by people wanting the better visibility of the trees. The main track (and the buried bridge) was just a few feet upstream but out of sight in the whiteout. In those conditions that day, it was a very bad idea to be so close to the trees (and the drop).

Sooooo......
I didn't get wands.
I skied into a whiteout with a novice backcountry skier (and wanted to continue).
I didn't stay on the trail despite almost zero visibility.
I didn't mention to my partner the obvious danger of the falls being close by.
I didn't remember that years ago I had skied that same bowl back to the Inn and there was a large creek and canyon waterfall right there.
I guess I didn't have a safety meeting either

What an idiot....

Heads up everybody - keep alert

Sounds like your wife came down on you pretty hard...

In all seriousness, thanks for sharing. The Paradise environs can definitely get big time quick.

It didn't really bother her much. I haven't really told her that I've been kicking myself over it ever since. I've been on top and in plenty of places in between, but coming that close to slipping off something (or losing Kathy) in a whiteout (less than half mile from the parking lot) was a really stupid feeling. Shit CAN happen anywhere and I'm usually better about it.

We're all idiots waiting to happen.

A public confession is one thing but a private one to the wife is out of the question. Better lucky than good!

A couple weeks back in a good solid whiteout I was trying to find a line I had skied too many years back. I came slowly up over a wind lip and 10' out in front of me things drop off in a huge way (topo shows 600' of cliff/extremely cliffy terrain). My buddy came by a little too fast (not hearing me chanting No, No, No!) and got an even closer look. Gotta dial it back in the whiteouts I guess.