... A video posted to YouTube on Sunday showed Sallison's harrowing run: he begins a descent in a mid-sized couloir, makes two sharp turns, cracks appear in the top layer of snow, and then 50-foot slabs sluff off the mountain, consuming Sallison as he tumbles down the mountain, his body popping in and out of visibility as he struggles to stay above the snow.
... Weather conditions had changed overnight with wind packing parts of the face with a layer of snow that could be susceptible to a slide, it's a process called "wind-loading" which Avalanche.org calls a "common denominator in most avalanche accidents" since the wind can lead to rapid snow accumulation.
Moreover, wind-loaded snow is denser than free-falling snow, forming a more dangerous layer that also fractures easily.
On top of that, Sallison admitted several more mistakes that he now regrets: not checking radio batteries, not making a game plan beforehand, and not planning a line out to safety.
15 comments:
A similar situation killed a woman backcountry cross country skiing just a few days ago in Colorado.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/backcountry-skier-killed-avalanche-colorado-officials/story?id=67593046
I’m sorry to hear that, sir. The only reason this guy survived was that he wore a flotation vest.
I tell the "Nature is so wonderful!" folks that good ol' nature will kill you in a heartbeat and not blink twice the instant you get stupid.
Glad he lived to tell his tale.
Sorry for the delete. I don't like when my fingers are dumb. :-P
PH, Alaska turns “stupid “ to “dead” faster than anyplace else I’ve been.
I’m glad too, ma’am. And no worries about the deleted comment.
A flotation device for snow. Wow.
Yep, mother nature can/WILL turn stupid into dead in a hurry, especially in the winter.
Those things have saved several up here in the recent years.
Very true.
Modern urban society (and video games) have given most folks an inflated sense of thin the line actually is.
It sometimes disgusts me, I’m sad to say, how helpless “modern man” actually is. Nature is entirely unforgiving.
Since we've moved here I've dozens of stories about "City Folk" wandering out poorly prepared, with no plan, no backup, and no supplies.
Makes you want to grab them by the shoulders, shake the stupid out of them, and say WAKE UP!!
IF they survive.....
drjim - but but but it looks so EASY in all the movies...
This ain't Hollywood, Jack!
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