EXTREME AVALANCHE DANGER: RUBY MOUNTAINS!

[PowderCrew]

GET THE WORD OUT!!!! EXTREME AVALANCHE DANGER IN LAMOILLE CANYON/RUBY MOUNTAINS: Close to 4' of new snow over last few days. Multiple avalanches collected multiple sleds/riders today. VERY LUCKY no one was lost! The entire hill from "launchpad" down past the bathroom/turnaround to to corner where the road crosses the creek broke loose. The debris field on the road is huge! Sledders and Skiers: HIGHLY RECOMMEND stay off the slopes until this storm passes and the snow gets a chance to settle. The Rubies are a ticking- time bomb!

 

[tatorsalad]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[kevinm7]

HUGE slide yesterday in the Rubies. For those of you that know the area, the slide was from launch pad all the way down to where the creek goes under the road before the beaver ponds. Absolutely unbelievable. No one was injured 9that I have heard of) although I have heard of a few sleds being caught in it. Please, please, please give the snow a chance to set up. Yes it's deep and we all want to go play in it, but let's all be smart and safe!!

 

[Tonysnoo]

Definitely thanks for the news. We'll see you in a few weeks. Hoping its calmed down by then!

 

[PowderCrew]

Be sure and let me know when you guys come Tony! Can't get out on the weekends much, but would be fun to ride with you guys again.

 

[Tonysnoo]

Might be there weekend after this. On call this weekend coming up. Doug moved up to Oregonia, see wont see much of him for a while.

 

[Zrider]

Antone:

Glad to see you're still breathing. A few folks have been wondering where you've been hiding. I just tell them you're busy making $$ for retirement.

See ya one of these days. And say hi to the bride.

z

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

That was one freaky huge slide Joe, I was sitting at the outhouse putting my scratchers down when a couple sleds hit waterfall chute just above the outhouse. Had I not been paying attention to my surroundings I wouldn't be here today, I flipped her up to about 80 MPH down the road and noticed it was paralleling me. One very fast finger of the slide crossed the road in front of me and forced me to take a hard fast right and head for the creek, when I crash landed on the other side the whole valley went white with swirling winds. It was like a nightmare had come to life, it was a miracle nobody was killed, five riders were directly involved in the avy with two burials. Strange things go through your head when place in this kind of situation like the following song that started playing in my head.
http://www.songlyrics.com/old-dogs/still-gonna-die-1998-lyrics/

 

[tatorsalad]

How is it up there now i am thinking about going up next monday

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

All slopes and chutes above 9,000' are very full and just waiting for a trigger. You can ride the trees and have a fun safe run, but if you even think about doing any highmarking "You're going to die".

 

[rubymountainrider]

Scott, you didn't happen to see my track? I went back up looking for it, but no sign of it. thanks for tow out. Sounds like the next day wasn't a good day to be up there. I'm glad no one was hurt. Still waiting on my track and drivers got a new three inch coming.

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

I thought I saw a black paddle sticking up out of the snow, I think I know about where it is. I'll keep looking as springtime progresses, when it melts out I'll make a point to drag it out. I think it is laying just left of the main trail right before the first trees as you are going uphill.

 

[rubymountainrider]

ok just didn't wont to leave it up there thanks.

 

[PowderCrew]

Wow Scott... I didnt know you were up there also. I knew EVERY one of the guys involved in that. Im really wanting to take some action to get Elko country up to speed on Avy Awareness! Were WAAAAAY behind the curve in our little pocket of the world and this is as close as weve ever come to a MAJOR TRAGEDY! My biggest issue is my job schedule and my responsibilities down in Cali on my days off.... leaves precious little time to organize something like this for us. been thinking all week how I can do it.... would need help for sure. But even coordinating something like this seems like a huge undertaking....

 

[kevinm7]

Wow Scott... I didnt know you were up there also. I knew EVERY one of the guys involved in that. Im really wanting to take some action to get Elko country up to speed on Avy Awareness! Were WAAAAAY behind the curve in our little pocket of the world and this is as close as weve ever come to a MAJOR TRAGEDY! My biggest issue is my job schedule and my responsibilities down in Cali on my days off.... leaves precious little time to organize something like this for us. been thinking all week how I can do it.... would need help for sure. But even coordinating something like this seems like a huge undertaking....

Hey Joe. I have been thinking the same thing. I really feel that we need to put on an avy class here locally for everyone that rides. I know of a lot of people that ride up there, and other places, that have NO avalanche training. It's a scary thought. I really think this slide opened a lot of people's eyes to the huge potential we have here. I contacted Christopher about setting up a class a few months ago and he gave me a little direction on how to get the ball rolling. I guess what I am saying is, I'm on board with it and will do whatever I can to help out with getting people educated. Feel free to PM me and we can discuss it further if you like.

 

[kidwoo]

You guys could benefit from some forecasters out there. The heli ski guys are already digging holes (they certainly used to), do they put that info anywhere? I know when we would see them out there loading in the morning we'd always talk to them but you know more than I do.

Maybe do something through the forest service like other areas do?

We've got an incredible program in Tahoe that just gets better every year but you guys typically have a way more complex snowpack and more and more users every year.

Either way the class is a great idea. Some long term reporting program would be awesome too though.

 

[PowderCrew]

The working relationships between sledders and USFS and heli-ski isn't the best. . Kinda in the situation where were gonna have to do this as a sledding community. Have thought about heli-ski, just not planning on anything on that front....