If you ski off piste this is worth a look

[Cheib]

Blog and video from a guy who got caught in an avalanche. Sobering.

http://avalanchesurvival.tumblr.com/

I am happy to admit that I will like many people ski just off the piste "inbounds" without my avalanche gear (although would never do that right after a huge storm like these guys did).

[Salgar]

terrifying

[krallicious]

So he went off piste with a 4/5 avalance warning. Even when skiing inbounds that is asking for trouble.

[anonymous-user]

krallicious said:

So he went off piste with a 4/5 avalance warning. Even when skiing inbounds that is asking for trouble.

Quite.

[Disastrous]

Still, easy done when there's a group of you having fun and you're feeling brave. Not the best idea but I completely sympathise.

Horrible story and video - hope I don't get caught out!

[Rosscow]

I'm sure it was a silly thing to do and scary at the time - but I'd hardly call that terrifying?

I was waiting for him to be covered as the whole side of snow came down on him - but nothing happened!

[hornetrider]

Rosscow said:

I'm sure it was a silly thing to do and scary at the time - but I'd hardly call that terrifying?

I was waiting for him to be covered as the whole side of snow came down on him - but nothing happened!

I've got no sound but from 2:50 onwards seems like he's digging someone out who's completely buried?

Edit: yeah, actually if you read the blog it's from the perspective of the buried guy.

Edited by hornetrider on Tuesday 14th April 10:08

[p1stonhead]

hornetrider said:

Rosscow said:

I'm sure it was a silly thing to do and scary at the time - but I'd hardly call that terrifying?

I was waiting for him to be covered as the whole side of snow came down on him - but nothing happened!

I've got no sound but from 2:50 onwards seems like he's digging someone out who's completely buried?

This. Is not the camera guy who gets buried.

[Rosscow]

p1stonhead said:

hornetrider said:

Rosscow said:

I'm sure it was a silly thing to do and scary at the time - but I'd hardly call that terrifying?

I was waiting for him to be covered as the whole side of snow came down on him - but nothing happened!

I've got no sound but from 2:50 onwards seems like he's digging someone out who's completely buried?

This. Is not the camera guy who gets buried.

Oh - I thought he was trying to get his ski out or something

My bad - really should have read the page!

[krallicious]

It is all about managing the risk.

They just seemed to be skiing blind because they had found some nice powder and look at how close they are skiing together. I have done some stupid things when I was younger but now it is all about scouting out the lines before skiing untracked snow. I have no illusions that I will get it wrong one day but I'll do my utmost to minimise my chances.

Can't wait to go skiing again next year though.

[a311]

Skiing powder is addictive, I don't get his inbounds/out of bounds in his story as this is only applicable on the other side of the pond. In Europe anything off piste is off piste. His last paragraph is very true though.

When off piste I will always pay for the services of a guide. They're aren't immune but had years of experience reading conditions and know the area better than you could ever hope to. To an extreme they also 'break the trail' which is to say they'll ski down first taking that initial risk.

This video is doing the rounds at the moment too. Quite easy to get yourself in all kinds of st very quickly. No matter how good of a skier people are most don't have many if any mountaineering skills.

http://www.koreus.com/video/mesaventures-skieurs-a...

[NRS]

Disastrous said:

Still, easy done when there's a group of you having fun and you're feeling brave. Not the best idea but I completely sympathise.

a311 said:

This video is doing the rounds at the moment too. Quite easy to get yourself in all kinds of st very quickly. No matter how good of a skier people are most don't have many if any mountaineering skills.

Problem is when you combine these two - good skiers who want to make the most of the powder but don't have the skills to make the right decision. There was so many things in the description in the story that jumped out as being bad.

• Avalanche level 4/5 with big powder dump - skiing it straight away before it stabilises
• Week long period before being dry - bad binding layer for new snow although warmth may have helped - but depends what "warm" is.
• "Skied into a small V-shaped gully" and "followed a small creek back to the base of the lift" - terrain traps
• Not having the full equipment needed (although it can be argued it shouldn't affect your decision making anyway in that it's a backup, not something to increase your risk picture).
• Plus the obvious ignoring of the whumping sounds.

Not to mention the previously mentioned skiing close together. It was also a pretty clear trigger point that started the avalanche (although much harder to see when skiing, but then not a good idea to ski unsighted lines on high risk days).

Take some avalanche courses, practice with your equipment and actually follow what you learn on the course is important.

[Zod]

They were lucky. That was a small avalanche. I've been caught in one like that in Val d'Isere. We got buried up to our shoulders, so we were able to get out out shovels and dig ourselves out. I never ski off-piste these days without shovel, probe, airbag and beacon.

[castex]

Amateur hour.

[robbocop33]

It's me that's buried,i'm still under a couple of feet of snow,tell them to dig a bit quicker damnit!!What's been happening on Eastenders??