Man Gets Wake-Up Call After Being Caught in Avalanche

HATCHER PASS, Alaska (KTUU) - "I was way overconfident, my ego was really big," said Ed Sallison after learning an important lesson about the mountains: that no ego is as powerful as mother nature."

... 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.

Read the whole article and watch the video here.

Because You Like Alaskan Pictures...

I've been looking back at the thousands of pictures we've taken since moving here, to make some enlargements for my office. These are some of my favorites.

All these images should enlarge when you double-click them, but you know how Blogger can be. :)

Floatplanes at Lake Hood in Anchorage, the world's busiest floatplane airport.

Pike's Landing in Fairbanks, along the Chena River

The Igloo Motel, along the Glen Parks Highway near Denali National Park

Milepost at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline visitors' station, about 15 miles north of Fairbanks

Warning sign at the head of the Byron Glacier trail at Portage

Mountainside above the Byron Glacier

Humpback whales

Small boat harbor at Seward

Some of the mountains around Alyeska Resort at Girdwood

Ditto

The Chugach Mtns, along the east side of Anchorage

Hiking a nature trail out of Girdwood

Snowboard moguls & half-pipe at Alyeska Resort

Looking down from the top of Alyeska Mountain, toward the Turnagain Arm

Fish Lake, near Talkeetna

Little Susitna River, along the road to Hatcher Pass and the Centennial Mine

Looking down from Hatcher Pass toward the Matanuska Valley

Ditto

Chugach Mountains, on the north side of Turnagain Arm, viewed from Hope Road on the south side

Up close & personal with Mr. Moose, while he munches on a juniper bush

Floatplane taking off from Lake Hood in Anchorage