Be carefull this weekend
- Thread starter idareyou
- Start date
Were heading to SLO next week. Is there anyplace in town to get the daily Avy report or will they have it at SLO? Thanks.
details from caic:
A party of 3 snowmobilers was coming down Little Box Canyon, in the southwestern Flat Tops north of the town of Rifle. The groomed snowmobile trail runs near a very steep slope. The first two riders noticed that the third was no longer behind them. The pair turned around and headed up canyon. They found a fresh avalanche on the steep slope. The last snowmobiler may have triggered the avalanche while trying to highmark the slope. None of the party had avalanche rescue gear. One rider stayed to search while the other rode to the trailhead and called 911. Garfield County Search and Rescue responded, including an avalanche dog and handler. The dog alerted on the body, which was recovered Friday afternoon.
The avalanche occurred on an east aspect below treeline. The slope was very steep, around 40 degrees at the crown. The avalanche was a soft slab that started shallow and stepped down to deeper layers. The crown was 1.5 to 3 feet deep. The slide was about 600 feet wide and ran 300 feet. Debris piled up as deep as 10 feet. There was an adjacent, sympathetic avalanche.
Logan, 20080201
A party of 3 snowmobilers was coming down Little Box Canyon, in the southwestern Flat Tops north of the town of Rifle. The groomed snowmobile trail runs near a very steep slope. The first two riders noticed that the third was no longer behind them. The pair turned around and headed up canyon. They found a fresh avalanche on the steep slope. The last snowmobiler may have triggered the avalanche while trying to highmark the slope. None of the party had avalanche rescue gear. One rider stayed to search while the other rode to the trailhead and called 911. Garfield County Search and Rescue responded, including an avalanche dog and handler. The dog alerted on the body, which was recovered Friday afternoon.
The avalanche occurred on an east aspect below treeline. The slope was very steep, around 40 degrees at the crown. The avalanche was a soft slab that started shallow and stepped down to deeper layers. The crown was 1.5 to 3 feet deep. The slide was about 600 feet wide and ran 300 feet. Debris piled up as deep as 10 feet. There was an adjacent, sympathetic avalanche.
Logan, 20080201
Thanks for the info. We'll be up the whole week 11-16th. You more than welcome to join if you can make it.
Sad to hear. Goes to show (again) that even the trails are now immune to avy danger. Why do people leave the scene to get help? I'll never understand that. The guy probably didn't stand a chance w/o a beacon anyway, but 2 guys looking is alot better than 1.
2 better than one?
to answer the question of why did the one go for help, depending on things he may have done as younger person in life, in scouting have been told was, use the buddy system, if three people one stays while one goes for help, can't discount that persons thought to get more help in situation left at hand, yes two looking may have been better than one but when left with which chose to make you can only go with what you may have been taught, how do you ever know what the right thing to do is in a situation such as what they were in, may god be with all of us no matter what we may do
to answer the question of why did the one go for help, depending on things he may have done as younger person in life, in scouting have been told was, use the buddy system, if three people one stays while one goes for help, can't discount that persons thought to get more help in situation left at hand, yes two looking may have been better than one but when left with which chose to make you can only go with what you may have been taught, how do you ever know what the right thing to do is in a situation such as what they were in, may god be with all of us no matter what we may do
When someone is buried, they have very, very limited time to be recovered. Leaving the scene is just plain stupid, unless you can get an army of searchers in less than 5-10 minutes. Assuming that will probably not happen, you had better get to searching while your buddy still has a chance.
BTW I can't believe all the snow that we have been getting! If my cast doesn't come off on Monday, I'm going to fuggin lose it!!
BTW I can't believe all the snow that we have been getting! If my cast doesn't come off on Monday, I'm going to fuggin lose it!!
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Really sucks we lost another one
We all need to be aware and not think that it won't happen to us,it can and will happen to another of us.Be prepared,beacon,shovel ,probe and the knowledge to use them.Don't be afraid to say that you are not comfortable riring an area in sketchy snow conditions.Live to ride again. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased
We all need to be aware and not think that it won't happen to us,it can and will happen to another of us.Be prepared,beacon,shovel ,probe and the knowledge to use them.Don't be afraid to say that you are not comfortable riring an area in sketchy snow conditions.Live to ride again. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased
Beergut and his brothers were riding in that area wed-fri
Lets hope we here from him soon! I think they were not riding out of rifle thou so fingers crossed.
Staying and searching for the first 30min at least would have been the thing to do. But when tragedy occurs not everyone thinks clearly.
Lets hope we here from him soon! I think they were not riding out of rifle thou so fingers crossed.
Staying and searching for the first 30min at least would have been the thing to do. But when tragedy occurs not everyone thinks clearly.
B
BackCountryBob
Well-known member
Beargut came in from Coffee Pot Road out of Dotsero--this well travelled road goes to the Rifle Falls parking lot--the third rider should have stayed to search as other riders travel the road very frequently.
It is wrong to sit in judgement on the actions of others when you don't have all the info. We have no idea how long both riders searched before they sent one for help. And we don't know how long he was missing before they went back to find him. After ten minutes the chances of a good outcome are very very slim. They had no avy gear so after an initial search it is best to get more help. As it turns out, he was 11 feet down. Even an "army" of searchers with avy gear would not have saved him.
What is truely stupid is riding off alone in areas of extreme avy danger.
I feel sadder for his riding buddies that have to live with the fact that they were unable to save a friend.
What is truely stupid is riding off alone in areas of extreme avy danger.
I feel sadder for his riding buddies that have to live with the fact that they were unable to save a friend.
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BackCountryBob
Well-known member
Little Box Canyon is the main jeep road/trail up to the top of the Flat Topps. It is a heavily used groomed trail. As such, you would not expect it to slide.
There are three issues here:
1) Stay and attempt the rescue---it would take at least an hour to get anyone from S & R to help--not good odds at success. With the traffic on Little Box, someone was bound to show up and lend assistance before anyone from S & R arrived.
2) For those that think they don't need avy gear 'cause they ride on groomed trails (like this one), think again. There have been avys on groomed trails in Grand Lake and Cotton Wood Pass this year. So grooming is no guarantee of safe riding.
3) S & R is primarily a volunteer orginazation. As soon as they get a call they are at risk just getting to the site--then the risk of being in an avy debris field.
Bob
There are three issues here:
1) Stay and attempt the rescue---it would take at least an hour to get anyone from S & R to help--not good odds at success. With the traffic on Little Box, someone was bound to show up and lend assistance before anyone from S & R arrived.
2) For those that think they don't need avy gear 'cause they ride on groomed trails (like this one), think again. There have been avys on groomed trails in Grand Lake and Cotton Wood Pass this year. So grooming is no guarantee of safe riding.
3) S & R is primarily a volunteer orginazation. As soon as they get a call they are at risk just getting to the site--then the risk of being in an avy debris field.
Bob
B
beer gut
Well-known member
Just saw this thread -- we are actually riding today thru Thursday. Snowing like heck, I hope it clears up a little so we can see something...
Good to hear.................be safe out there!
Avys across the groomed trail at Wolf Creek also. Who knows how many more that weren't reported just because nobody was involved.
Lime Creek.. usually dont ride back there until the spring as sprung! and the snow has broken or settled... Virtually no escaping anything that comes down... No run-outs!
Ran into guy camping there last winter break with is dog... right below a perfect slab that could break at any time.... i couldn't explain to him the danger.... poor guy was freezing his *** off and so was his dog. He just wanted out of there ASAP...
It is fun though!
Coming in from the VP side... how far down have you ridin'?
