I
IndoubtGASIT
Well-known member
My heart goes out to all who were affected. Very sad to hear about this. Does anyone know any info or details? Be safe out there.
Avy death by Hungry Horse, MT
- Thread starter IndoubtGASIT
- Start date
There is some in the Flathead thread in the Montana section. There was another avy as well where two are lucky to be alive. This is from the lost life. http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/26414172/detail.html
I'm not going to put his name out because I imagine there are still people to be notified.
Very HIGH avy danger out right now.
Thoughts and prayers to family & friends.
I'm not going to put his name out because I imagine there are still people to be notified.
Very HIGH avy danger out right now.
Thoughts and prayers to family & friends.
T
Trax 2 Treadz
Well-known member
Peace and blessings to all involved.
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_e16bf412-1ba9-11e0-9180-001cc4c03286.html
Man killed in avalanche near Hungry Horse
Posted: Sunday, January 9, 2011 2:00 am | Updated: 10:40 pm, Sat Jan 8, 2011.
Man killed in avalanche near Hungry Horse Shelley Ridenour/Daily Inter Lake Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments
One man died after being trapped in an avalanche Saturday afternoon during a snowmobile outing near Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The man's name hadn't been released by law enforcement officials as of press time Saturday night.
Three avalanches were reported near the reservoir Saturday afternoon, according to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office. The incident in which the man died was reported at 3:30 p.m.
A group of seven snowmobilers were about 13 miles up Beta Lake Road when the avalanche occurred. Three people were buried in snow, and two made it out safely, the sheriff's office reported. The third man died. His body was recovered Saturday.
Also Saturday afternoon, two people were trapped in snow when an avalanche occurred in the Lost Johnny area. Both of those people got out of the snow safely, the sheriff's office reported.
No one was caught in the third avalanche, reported at Doris Creek.
Avalanche conditions are ripe, the sheriff's office and the Forest Service say. The combination of cold weather, followed by warmer weather and rain adds up to an increased level of danger, Flathead National Forest Public Affairs Officer Denise Germann said.
Temperatures above freezing, coupled with rain, result in a boost of the snow water equivalent in the mountains, Stan Bones with the Flathead National Forest, said.
The avalanche danger is currently rated high in the Mission, North Swan and Whitefish Mountain ranges. Travel is not recommended in any of those areas, Bones said.
"Until freezing temperatures and drying conditions are solidly re-established, the avalanche danger will remain elevated," he said. "Backcountry travelers need to remain alert."
Forest Service and sheriff's office personnel remind winter recreationists to be prepared before heading into the backcountry. It's important that people know their surroundings and equally important to tell someone where you're headed when you venture into the mountains, they said.
The Flathead National Forest issues avalanche advisories for Northwest Montana every Tuesday and Friday morning through April. Advisories include information about snowpack conditions, weather forecasts and hazard evaluations.
The advisories are available online at www.glacieravalanche.org or by calling 257-8402.
Man killed in avalanche near Hungry Horse
Posted: Sunday, January 9, 2011 2:00 am | Updated: 10:40 pm, Sat Jan 8, 2011.
Man killed in avalanche near Hungry Horse Shelley Ridenour/Daily Inter Lake Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments
One man died after being trapped in an avalanche Saturday afternoon during a snowmobile outing near Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The man's name hadn't been released by law enforcement officials as of press time Saturday night.
Three avalanches were reported near the reservoir Saturday afternoon, according to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office. The incident in which the man died was reported at 3:30 p.m.
A group of seven snowmobilers were about 13 miles up Beta Lake Road when the avalanche occurred. Three people were buried in snow, and two made it out safely, the sheriff's office reported. The third man died. His body was recovered Saturday.
Also Saturday afternoon, two people were trapped in snow when an avalanche occurred in the Lost Johnny area. Both of those people got out of the snow safely, the sheriff's office reported.
No one was caught in the third avalanche, reported at Doris Creek.
Avalanche conditions are ripe, the sheriff's office and the Forest Service say. The combination of cold weather, followed by warmer weather and rain adds up to an increased level of danger, Flathead National Forest Public Affairs Officer Denise Germann said.
Temperatures above freezing, coupled with rain, result in a boost of the snow water equivalent in the mountains, Stan Bones with the Flathead National Forest, said.
The avalanche danger is currently rated high in the Mission, North Swan and Whitefish Mountain ranges. Travel is not recommended in any of those areas, Bones said.
"Until freezing temperatures and drying conditions are solidly re-established, the avalanche danger will remain elevated," he said. "Backcountry travelers need to remain alert."
Forest Service and sheriff's office personnel remind winter recreationists to be prepared before heading into the backcountry. It's important that people know their surroundings and equally important to tell someone where you're headed when you venture into the mountains, they said.
The Flathead National Forest issues avalanche advisories for Northwest Montana every Tuesday and Friday morning through April. Advisories include information about snowpack conditions, weather forecasts and hazard evaluations.
The advisories are available online at www.glacieravalanche.org or by calling 257-8402.
SAD day in the Flathead Rest in peace my friend 
My thoughts and prayers are with your family and friends!
Everybody that reads this...if you haven't taken a Avalanche course PLEASE do so...get familiar with your beacon shovel and prob..practice and check the Avy report before you go riding.
Rest in peace my friend My thoughts and prayers are with your family and friends!Everybody that reads this...if you haven't taken a Avalanche course PLEASE do so...get familiar with your beacon shovel and prob..practice and check the Avy report before you go riding.
PhamtomCat....sorry but you can suggest classes, beacons, etc, etc...none of it matters because no matter how much training someone has or how much equipment they carry all common sense is tossed out the window by 80 percent of the riders as soon as they hit the hill...this is a cold heart truekkkkk fact.
Thoughts and prayers to the family...
sorry, but your a complete douche for writing that. That could very well be the dumbest thing I have ever heard, to sugest that it is worthless to take any sort of Avy training, Maybe your common sense goes out the window, but I know for a fact my decicision making abilities changed dramatically after taking Avy training. And I won't even start on how much better I know how to use my equipment. Take a look at the Turbo Hill Tragety last year in Revy. Do you have any idea how much worse that would have been if no one out there had any training? or bothered not to get it because it "doesn't really matter"...pull your head out of your ***
I don't doubt training helped on Turbo but did the training help with the common sense decisions not to be sitting at the bottom??? Let's face it you didn't even need training to know not to be there, there were signs posted, new reports stating that avy conditions were bad, reports here on snowest to stay off the hill, etc. etc. etc..
I've personally watch one friend get swallowed up by a major slide, he walked away I had another friend get killed in a slide because they were on a hill that no one thought would slide, I've taken a class, I've screwed up I'm just offering a cold dose of reality.
Douche...nice is that really the best you can do? The Canadian's I know have far far more class than that. If you want to attack someone try to do it with facts rather than going after them personally.
Many people likely also think...at least he died doing something he loves...I'm sure as he was dying he was thinking, "man is this a great way to go"...it was more likely god please don't let me die, I'll never see my family and friends again if I do.
R
Rush44
Well-known member
Your riding party is your lifeline. I was one of the people buried up in Hungry Horse on Saturday that lived. I've been humbled to the fact now that you HAVE to push your riding party to know their equipment and know how to use it. You won't be coming to your own rescue, they will. You won't be the one telling your family how sorry you are that you died, they will.
Push push push your members to learn. Open their packs and kick them around for not having a probe, not having a shovel, not knowing how to use their beacon. Our group owes a lot of thanks to other people that showed up at the right time, but I will be demanding a new performance standard out of my team or else I won't ride with them.
I think this experience opened a lot of eyes, including mine. I definitely take it as a positive experience and as something to be learned from.
Push push push your members to learn. Open their packs and kick them around for not having a probe, not having a shovel, not knowing how to use their beacon. Our group owes a lot of thanks to other people that showed up at the right time, but I will be demanding a new performance standard out of my team or else I won't ride with them.
I think this experience opened a lot of eyes, including mine. I definitely take it as a positive experience and as something to be learned from.
Some of you guys disagree with this post, but it is true. All the avy gear and training does nothing if you don't adhere to the rules of common sense. You need to use your training and common sense and this will significantly reduce the chances that you will be using your gear in a recovery.
Here's a perfect example; in this thread there is a video with at least 4 people on the hill at the same time and several people here thanked the guy for posting the video, but none mentioned how irresponsible they were.
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2578827#post2578827
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Skibreeze...thank you for getting it, without common sense none of it means anything. It's like the smart kid in class they can solve any problem a text book throws at them but when its time to apply what they learned in the real world they can't.
I know guys that have gone through several levels of training and still to this day once they hit the hill they throw common sense out. I've had several people tell me I've never seen this hill slide so it's safe...really...I was almost of that same understanding until I had one of those hills that never slides chase myself and another guy down through the trees after it had already got one of us.
Now because I look at hills from a different perspective like, I want to go see my kids and wife tonight or I really don't want to pile up my sled people talk behind my back and don't want to ride with me because I'm a wuss. Trust me it's not that my sled can't do it, it's simply my choice and if that eventually means I run out of people to ride with I'll find something else to do.
I'm sorry if I've offended some of you but the same old tactics of someone died now lets all be careful and buy some new equipment and take some classes isn't working, ITS SIMPLY NOT WORKING. I know every December these Threads are going to start and every time we get a big snow fall I log on to see if one of my old buddies is the one that got killed over the weekend.
I've decided I'm not here to Pump sunshine up anyone's rear but I will tell you what I think.
I know guys that have gone through several levels of training and still to this day once they hit the hill they throw common sense out. I've had several people tell me I've never seen this hill slide so it's safe...really...I was almost of that same understanding until I had one of those hills that never slides chase myself and another guy down through the trees after it had already got one of us.
Now because I look at hills from a different perspective like, I want to go see my kids and wife tonight or I really don't want to pile up my sled people talk behind my back and don't want to ride with me because I'm a wuss. Trust me it's not that my sled can't do it, it's simply my choice and if that eventually means I run out of people to ride with I'll find something else to do.
I'm sorry if I've offended some of you but the same old tactics of someone died now lets all be careful and buy some new equipment and take some classes isn't working, ITS SIMPLY NOT WORKING. I know every December these Threads are going to start and every time we get a big snow fall I log on to see if one of my old buddies is the one that got killed over the weekend.
I've decided I'm not here to Pump sunshine up anyone's rear but I will tell you what I think.
J
Jaynelson
Well-known member
I agree with what you are saying 100%. Maybe this sounds bad, but after the BIS thing, and just the last few years of sledding avi deaths in general, coming on here to recommend avi equipment and courses seems somewhat pointless. I think everyone is aware of what is available, and many have taken some training, or have at least seen the consequences via the forums and the news media. Of course we all feel awful for this man's friends and family, but if we don't use these accidents as learning experiences....it's just the same story on repeat.
The bottom line is.....when the news, weather channel, avi report, newspaper and the 10 year old kid that delivers it tell you to be careful this weekend because avalanche conditions are bad....how much more information do you require to make an informed decision? You're going to go out there and dig a pit on a day when the avalanche danger is maxed out and determine....what exactly? That this hill has a chance of sliding but might be ok if you're lucky? C'man.
Given that 99% of us do not have enough avi training to be guides or experts, the decision is actually quite simple. You're either ok with rolling the dice, or you're going to ride mellow terrain that day. Unless you live in a hole, pleading ignorance in today's information age doesn't fly. You found this site....you can find the avi site and the weather channel.
Straight off the avalanche.ca website:
"Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended during periods of high danger. Hit the ski hill instead, or travel only in simple terrain, like large meadows or low-angle forest, well away from avalanche runouts. As the danger drops to considerable, extreme care and a high level of expertise will be needed to avoid triggering an avalanche. If in any doubt, stick to simple terrain."
I'm willing to bet virtually none of us have the aformentioned "high level of expertise," so it's one one of 3 options. Either we obtain a high level of training over the years, stick to simple terrain choices when danger levels are high, or we simply ARE as dumb as the non-sledders think we are.
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A
aadougie
Well-known member
Heart felt condolences to the family and friends of Bruce Lee Jungnitsch, 53...
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_ffaddc4c-1c67-11e0-8864-001cc4c03286.html
Guys...can't we all get along right now? Training, proper equipment, good sound common sense, good riding partners and sometimes a good dose of luck when you screw up and get into someplace you regret...all excellent things to take along into the backcountry.
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_ffaddc4c-1c67-11e0-8864-001cc4c03286.html
Guys...can't we all get along right now? Training, proper equipment, good sound common sense, good riding partners and sometimes a good dose of luck when you screw up and get into someplace you regret...all excellent things to take along into the backcountry.
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Thanks for posting...this is directly from the story and goes along with what I'm trying to get across.
The area where the avalanche occurred is not a normal avalanche area, Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said. The snowmobilers were in the trees, not a bowl, where avalanches are more likely to occur.
If we don't keep plugging away at TRYING to help educate, then we get nowhere. Part of the education process is learning to use our heads. A figure of 80% is given above, why not try to reduce that (no matter what the number is)? How can one succeed if they don't try? If you don't try, it's an automatic failure. I agree with Rush that we MUST keep pushing.
There is a third choice besides rolling the dice or riding mellow terrain....and that choice is one the hubby and I made this past week-end, to stay home. A lot of our riding here one is forced to pass by hillsides to get to the more mellow stuff. There was a conscious choice made by considering all of the factors, and deciding that the risk wasn't worth it to us. It was education that brought us to the conclusion we came to.
One also can't be afraid to speak up. If it doesn't feel/look right, use your voice. Maybe someone else is thinking the same thing, maybe not. If your riding partners give you heck, then you need new riding partners.
I happen to feel that using these as learning experiences means a push on education (which includes as I said above, using your head). There are new people on this site all the time. There are folks new to riding, or new to riding in the mountains, those whose parents didn't teach them, etc. I simply refuse to give up.
Rest in peace Bruce! 
There is a third choice besides rolling the dice or riding mellow terrain....and that choice is one the hubby and I made this past week-end, to stay home. A lot of our riding here one is forced to pass by hillsides to get to the more mellow stuff. There was a conscious choice made by considering all of the factors, and deciding that the risk wasn't worth it to us. It was education that brought us to the conclusion we came to.
One also can't be afraid to speak up. If it doesn't feel/look right, use your voice. Maybe someone else is thinking the same thing, maybe not. If your riding partners give you heck, then you need new riding partners.
I happen to feel that using these as learning experiences means a push on education (which includes as I said above, using your head). There are new people on this site all the time. There are folks new to riding, or new to riding in the mountains, those whose parents didn't teach them, etc. I simply refuse to give up.
Rest in peace Bruce!
M
MTdream
Well-known member
I completely get what Griz is saying, and he is right...I for one, know that the dialog has made a difference...
The continual harping on it, has made an impact on the friends I ride with, and the people I have become friends with viz this site and others...they are attending classes, asking the right questions, learning etc. etc.
The hard part which is to Griz's point (proud to call him a friend) is we all owe it to our families and friends to leave the ego aside because "the hill" or "mark" is not as important as your family...The minute you dont think it will happen to you? Sorry, your wrong...I know Griz takes time out of his day and life to look out for a friend of his that was taken by an avy...That friend (of both of us) will not get the joy of scaring boys who come to pick up his daughter as she grows up...sad, but a fact...
RIP Wayne!!!
The continual harping on it, has made an impact on the friends I ride with, and the people I have become friends with viz this site and others...they are attending classes, asking the right questions, learning etc. etc.
The hard part which is to Griz's point (proud to call him a friend) is we all owe it to our families and friends to leave the ego aside because "the hill" or "mark" is not as important as your family...The minute you dont think it will happen to you? Sorry, your wrong...I know Griz takes time out of his day and life to look out for a friend of his that was taken by an avy...That friend (of both of us) will not get the joy of scaring boys who come to pick up his daughter as she grows up...sad, but a fact...
RIP Wayne!!!
Thoughts and prayers......
Been involved myself with a burial/rescue. Thank the lord that the previous weekend we had conducted a group training session with our beacons. Multiple burials are very stressful, especially when everyone running around is still transmitting.
Rush44, glad you are still able to ride another day.
Been involved myself with a burial/rescue. Thank the lord that the previous weekend we had conducted a group training session with our beacons. Multiple burials are very stressful, especially when everyone running around is still transmitting.
Rush44, glad you are still able to ride another day.
Griz..Ski..Jay..I do agree with you on we all need to be responsible for our own actions! What we decide to do while sitting at the bottom is not only worthy of thought but needs to be held higher than the mark that is put up on that hill. You can talk all you want to the peeps that have the training and equipment...but getting them to realize that there testosterone is what kills...I also know that not all situations are like that though. There are a wide range of scenarios that happen and not all avys or deaths are the same. The average peep that is not skilled in risk management NEEDS a riding partner that kicks them in the balls when they pull an azzhat move and endanger themselves or the group! We all need to stand up to the MACHO man mentality and when that happens we might decrease that 80% to 79%...but that is a start!
I will never stop pushing training or equipment. Newbies and some old timers need an avy course to help him navigate the mountains and make those right decisions you speak of! I for one have got to the trail head and took off to come across a huge slide...with my avy training putting up a red flag we turned around and road 1 mile back to the truck and voiced our opinion all day that it was not safe to ride..it was a long day..did I care what they thought of me..heck no..if I saved one person or made someone think, that is good enough for me...we got some to not go and we got some not wanting to hear what we had to say...point blank if you ride in the mountains you need avy training, you need a shovel and probe, and you dam well better know how to use them and practice practice practice. But..the most important piece of equipment WE ride with is our HEAD.
LOL...look at CW's sig line...
Only 7% of Avy fatalities are women.
"If you want to stay alive in the mountains, take a good woman with you, and listen to her." ~Doug Fesler
Is this due to the fact they have no testosterone or also due to the fact they speak up when something don't feel right and there riding partners respect them enough to listen???
The signs are all there! Lets help the masses realize that! Lets listen to our riding partners...they are our life lines and deserve respect!
Every post in this thread has a valid point!
Glenn
I will never stop pushing training or equipment. Newbies and some old timers need an avy course to help him navigate the mountains and make those right decisions you speak of! I for one have got to the trail head and took off to come across a huge slide...with my avy training putting up a red flag we turned around and road 1 mile back to the truck and voiced our opinion all day that it was not safe to ride..it was a long day..did I care what they thought of me..heck no..if I saved one person or made someone think, that is good enough for me...we got some to not go and we got some not wanting to hear what we had to say...point blank if you ride in the mountains you need avy training, you need a shovel and probe, and you dam well better know how to use them and practice practice practice. But..the most important piece of equipment WE ride with is our HEAD.
LOL...look at CW's sig line...
Only 7% of Avy fatalities are women.
"If you want to stay alive in the mountains, take a good woman with you, and listen to her." ~Doug Fesler
Is this due to the fact they have no testosterone or also due to the fact they speak up when something don't feel right and there riding partners respect them enough to listen???
The signs are all there! Lets help the masses realize that! Lets listen to our riding partners...they are our life lines and deserve respect!
Every post in this thread has a valid point!
Glenn
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