Reply to 8 Skiers dead after accidental Avalanche in California!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is tragic.

I'll never be faced with this dilemma, because although I love to ski, backcountry skiing is well beyond my ability level.  But, even if I were inclined to do so, stories like this would make me reconsider.  [/quote]

Same but I love watching videos of it. I *wish* I could do it. It looks amazing - like flying. I think it would be addictive.

I'm interested in hearing what drove their decisions. Someone upthread said they ran out of food. Maybe knowing they'd be stuck for days in the cabins with no food drove them to try to get out. 
[/quote]

The guides and hut bookings dictate the schedule. You have to move on as the next group arrives at the hut. They are fully booked with a new group heading out every day. The cabins are small and people are paying a lot of money for these trips.

I have done backcountry hikes and there is zero flexibility in the schedule. One time when we couldn't move on due to a crazy rain storm and a flooded river, we had no accommodation as the next group had already moved in. We had to sleep outside and we had equipment but the temperature had dropped much lower than expected and it was really, really cold and wet. [/quote]

It's not rocket science that people die when bad decisions are made. For example when hiking Mt Everest and getting caught in a storm. Yet it happens year after year. But you don't need to climb Mt Everest or ski in the back country.[/quote]

+1 Too many posters trying to defend stupidity and hubris as being brave and adventuresome. [/quote]

Some of us are neither defending it, nor relishing it and milking the moment to feel superior. It’s called being a decent human being. [/quote]

Hogwash. The more we talk about it the more people might reconsider thrill seeking for the sake of thrill seeking. They can't say they didn't know there weren't risks, or worse, avalanches are unknown and completely unpredictable.[/quote]
 
However, the CONDITIONS for creating avalanches are predictable.

Heavy, high volume snow + craggy peaks & river valleys + sunny warmer day temps = moving supporting downhill snow (uphill avalanche starts) or cleaving off snow (downhill avalanche starts) = avalanche [/quote]

Well plus skiers. But for the skiers might have been a different story. Humans trigger avalanches.[/quote]
They absolutely do. There was a story about a well-known backcountry guide in Utah who set off an avalanche ironically while leading an avalanche safety class. He was buried for over 20 minutes and his team was able to locate him with the beacon and dig him out, but he had a rough recovery.[/quote]

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