I was there for the dig out after it happened and my comments are in no way meant as a disrespect to the victim. I read in the link that woman was trained and took classes, but they could not have made more mistakes on this one. Avys were snapping off all around on similar sloped and aspects. The reports were posted at the entrance to the trails but to be honest I did not see that day as I had just arrived. Following days were high/considerable. She was stopped at the base of the climb that was visibly wind loaded watching her boyfriend make a pull. As he made it through the pinch point and into the upper bowl, the fracture established just ahead of him and traveled across a ridge to the looker's left. He was swept down with it about 3/4 down and was able to get himself out. The woman was hit and brought 75yrds or so to the terrain trap she was at the leading edge of(high banked bowl) and buried about 8-10ft right next to her sled. People in the area heard her scream, so she saw it coming but not enough time to get out or maybe just froze watching her boyfriend. She was under for 30 minutes by the time her boyfriend located her with a beacon and others arrived to help. Reports are that she was really bent up and bleeding at openings, so they speculated that it may have been trauma as cause of death.
It was a reminder to me of just following the basic rules and how much of a difference they can make. If she was just watching from where I took the pic, which to me was too close), they both would have been ok. I saw a lot of crazy things go down that week that will be stuck in my mind.
