8 Skiers dead after accidental Avalanche in California!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:But people keep insisting climate change isn’t real. Despite the avalanche of evidence. Pun intended.

All I know is we never had avalanches like this 20 years ago.

Absolutely not true. You're obviously not someone that skis out west much less does helicopter back country skiing.

Grew up skiing out west. Know people killed in their car from an avalanche 20+ years ago. Daily avalanche control is a thing that's been done for decades. Choosing not to ski during HIGH avalanche warnings is also a thing.

Avalanches were basically unheard of until the early 2000’s. And when I say unheard of, I literally mean “no one had ever seen one, ever”. Now they’re commonplace.

Nope, you're wrong. I grew up in Washington State in the 90s. We talked about avalanche danger regularly (we skied, my dad climbed Rainier and other local to Washington mountains) and there were warnings then.

Not only do I remember talking about them, there was a Lake Tahoe Avalanche that killed 7 people in 1982. Which has been in the news this week because it was close to where this weeks Lake Tahoe avalanche was.

I grew up literally in the shadow of Mt Hood in the 70’s-80’s. We had never heard of an avalanche until about 2004. We didn’t even know what the word meant. This is climate change.

You didn’t know what the word avalanche meant until 2004? You must be super dumb and the schools you went to failed you.

I guess that PP must have been super confused about the 1978 movie "Avalanche" with Rock Hudson. Their tiny little hamlet, cut off from the rest of the US, didn't know about this word until 2004 for some reason.

DP


The point is that there were never avalanches before the 2000’s, and they’re happening all the time now because of climate change.


Are you dense, or just a maga climate denier? Which is it?

What do you call what happened here in 1910?

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/1910-stevens-pass-avalanche-still-deadliest-in-us-history/

It says it was a wall of snow. Which is a completely different phenomenon. Duh. Or something. But there was NEVER an avalanche before 2000. Never I tell you!

Read the title. Learn descriptive English.

Lol.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Nature is harsh. You can prepare and have all the experience and training and equipment in the world but when it becomes man against natural forces - be it fire, water, cold, snow - nature is stronger.

But there is also an incredible amount of reward for spending time in nature and reaping the benefits of the beauty and adventure. Is there a risk - of course. But life has risk and you only live one life. We can all die tomorrow. For those of us who aren't risk adverse, you accept the risk of nature and adventure just like you do every time you get in your car.

Growing up without your mom because she wasn't risk adverse and loved nature? I doubt most kids think that's worth the cost.

Its a fluke accident. That is why it made the news. Women and yes mothers (and fathers) go into the backcountry and the ocean and other places that have risk - all the time and 99.999% of the time, it all goes well. Driving a car is still more dangerous.

Not a fluke accident at all.

Will wait to hear from the survivors about their decision making. I don't believe that the guides, the tour company, and the women were completely indifferent to all the warnings, intentionally ignored all protocols, and deliberately put themselves directly into harms way.

They set out on a ski trip on Sunday with warnings of extreme weather approaching. That was a stupid decision.

New poster here. I can imagine they felt pressure to participate. Group think is the most dangerous dynamic when assessing risk. They booked this 9 months ago apparently. I imagine they were excited, spent much energy and time planning it out, and I assume a few of them were pushing harder for it, and the others fell in line and agreed. This happens in all groups.

The biggest lesson is if you feel there’s a risk, bow out - even if it means disappointing your group or losing big money.

I guarantee that time-driven anxiety played a huge role in this poor decision making.

These are wealthy women who are executives, busy moms, and advanced outdoorsmen. They planned this long in advance and likely couldn’t accommodate rescheduling. Then they decide to leave (rather than wait it out an extra day or two) likely because people have to get back to their real life responsibilities.

From everything I read, the guide took them on an alternative route back to the parking lot that was less avalanche prone than the normal route. But they still had to pass at the bottom of a few couloirs and were too close to the run out. With the poor weather, they may not have seen how close they were to the couloir run out. It was just dumb bad luck - the couloir avalanched as they were passing by it. 10 minutes before or later they would’ve been fine.

Yup. Frog Lake huts are booked into next year. If they were gonna go it was now or never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nature is harsh. You can prepare and have all the experience and training and equipment in the world but when it becomes man against natural forces - be it fire, water, cold, snow - nature is stronger.

But there is also an incredible amount of reward for spending time in nature and reaping the benefits of the beauty and adventure. Is there a risk - of course. But life has risk and you only live one life. We can all die tomorrow. For those of us who aren't risk adverse, you accept the risk of nature and adventure just like you do every time you get in your car.

Growing up without your mom because she wasn't risk adverse and loved nature? I doubt most kids think that's worth the cost.

Its a fluke accident. That is why it made the news. Women and yes mothers (and fathers) go into the backcountry and the ocean and other places that have risk - all the time and 99.999% of the time, it all goes well. Driving a car is still more dangerous.

Not a fluke accident at all.

Will wait to hear from the survivors about their decision making. I don't believe that the guides, the tour company, and the women were completely indifferent to all the warnings, intentionally ignored all protocols, and deliberately put themselves directly into harms way.

They set out on a ski trip on Sunday with warnings of extreme weather approaching. That was a stupid decision.

New poster here. I can imagine they felt pressure to participate. Group think is the most dangerous dynamic when assessing risk. They booked this 9 months ago apparently. I imagine they were excited, spent much energy and time planning it out, and I assume a few of them were pushing harder for it, and the others fell in line and agreed. This happens in all groups.

The biggest lesson is if you feel there’s a risk, bow out - even if it means disappointing your group or losing big money.

I guarantee that time-driven anxiety played a huge role in this poor decision making.

These are wealthy women who are executives, busy moms, and advanced outdoorsmen. They planned this long in advance and likely couldn’t accommodate rescheduling. Then they decide to leave (rather than wait it out an extra day or two) likely because people have to get back to their real life responsibilities.

From everything I read, the guide took them on an alternative route back to the parking lot that was less avalanche prone than the normal route. But they still had to pass at the bottom of a few couloirs and were too close to the run out. With the poor weather, they may not have seen how close they were to the couloir run out. It was just dumb bad luck - the couloir avalanched as they were passing by it. 10 minutes before or later they would’ve been fine.

Yup. Frog Lake huts are booked into next year. If they were gonna go it was now or never.

Oh, well.

[Anonymous]

Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It's not being smug to realize it actually doesn't take much of a brain to review weather reports before traveling and think perhaps best to not go back country skiing when the probability of major snowfall and avalanches have been predicted for a week in an area known for heavy, dangerous snowfalls. Even more important to use sound judgment when you have young children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It is what it is. They rolled the dice and lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It's not being smug to realize it actually doesn't take much of a brain to review weather reports before traveling and think perhaps best to not go back country skiing when the probability of major snowfall and avalanches have been predicted for a week in an area known for heavy, dangerous snowfalls. Even more important to use sound judgment when you have young children.

Mmmmmm, someone else’s folly led to tragedy for me to consume….mmmmm, I’m superior, I’m a better parent, when tragedy befalls others, it keeps me safeeeeeee, yes, yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's an accidental avalanche? Are any intentional. I know someone whose sibling died in an avalanche 30 years ago out there. It happens, sadly. Everything has risks.

Yes, avalanches are absolutely triggered intentionally. Did you really not know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It's not being smug to realize it actually doesn't take much of a brain to review weather reports before traveling and think perhaps best to not go back country skiing when the probability of major snowfall and avalanches have been predicted for a week in an area known for heavy, dangerous snowfalls. Even more important to use sound judgment when you have young children.

Mmmmmm, someone else’s folly led to tragedy for me to consume….mmmmm, I’m superior, I’m a better parent, when tragedy befalls others, it keeps me safeeeeeee, yes, yes!

Lesson to be learned: Hubris often leads to disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It's not being smug to realize it actually doesn't take much of a brain to review weather reports before traveling and think perhaps best to not go back country skiing when the probability of major snowfall and avalanches have been predicted for a week in an area known for heavy, dangerous snowfalls. Even more important to use sound judgment when you have young children.

Mmmmmm, someone else’s folly led to tragedy for me to consume….mmmmm, I’m superior, I’m a better parent, when tragedy befalls others, it keeps me safeeeeeee, yes, yes!

Are you stupid or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's an accidental avalanche? Are any intentional. I know someone whose sibling died in an avalanche 30 years ago out there. It happens, sadly. Everything has risks.

Yes, avalanches are absolutely triggered intentionally. Did you really not know that?

Apparently people here are astoundingly ignorant of avalanches. Either they had never heard of them before or think they are completely random acts of God that nobody could have predicted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, tragedy, exclamation point!

We make better decisions and are better people. Smug smile.

FAFO, the tension builds…

They’re rich, white, privileged women and bad things happened to them…yes, yes, right there, oh yeahhhhh!

It is what it is. They rolled the dice and lost.

Harsh but I agree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/us/avalanche-tahoe-huts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.N1A.BL1d.EQGhJFXjvC3w&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

How many times have you inadvertently escaped death or major injury in your everyday life? How many times have you slightly paused at green light and watched a car blow through their red light? How many times has someone at home left the stove on or a lit candle? How many times have you caught yourself from stumbling down the stairs or on an icy sidewalk?

This group’s reservation slot had expired. I wonder how much of their decision to leave was due to the fact that another group was coming in. Many places in storm prone areas have a stash of sleeping bags and a blanket policy that allows you to stay if you don’t want to travel. Resorts in little cottonwood canyon (Alta, snowbird) and less often in big cottonwood canyon (solitude, Brighton) have a policy called interlodge in which you must stay inside due to avalanche risk. They can call it at any time and even if you are just there for the day, you must stay inside. There was one in 2021 that lasted 3-4 days. During big storm cycles, I don’t go there because of the risk of being interlodged.

Reasoning will always be faulty, big groups will always have dynamics that do not allow for quieter voices, and forecasts will always be imperfect. But at least we can try to enact policies that remove some pressures like the end of a reservation.

[Anonymous]

Exclamation point! People who were wealthier, hotter and more popular than me DIED! YAY! Motherless children means *I’m a better mom!*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exclamation point! People who were wealthier, hotter and more popular than me DIED! YAY! Motherless children means *I’m a better mom!*

Ignore warnings at your own peril.
From the NY Times article:
The group had set out for the trailhead that morning, despite a “high danger” warning issued by the Sierra Avalanche Center before dawn. The center had specifically warned of a “weak layer” expected to reach the point of failure that day. Before noon, a guide shouted, “Avalanche!” before the mountain gave way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's an accidental avalanche? Are any intentional. I know someone whose sibling died in an avalanche 30 years ago out there. It happens, sadly. Everything has risks.

Yes, avalanches are absolutely triggered intentionally. Did you really not know that?

Apparently people here are astoundingly ignorant of avalanches. Either they had never heard of them before or think they are completely random acts of God that nobody could have predicted.

Kind of like floods. No one can predict those either.