Fatality in Cooke

[rilesman5]

I hate to say this........but you can tell people til your blue in the face that it's dangerous to climb some days, but they will never care. It's the same logic with someone who smokes. They know some day that will be the death of them but they just keep doing it.

On another note, thoughts and prayers from my family, to both families of the deceased. Sorry for all you have and will go through.

 

[Jeff C]

One of my closest friends is a relative of the victim. It is his cousins son (2nd cousin).

The victims dad was going to go on the trip, but was not feeling good, and decided to stay back.

When I heard of the tragedy, I was coming back from the Big Horns, heard this kids last name mentioned, and called my friend to see if this kid was a relative.

Sadly, he was. My buddy told me that the victims father was driving out there as we were talking.

As the drive progressed I got to thinking about my own situation with my 14 year old son who lives for mountain snowmobiling. I got to thinking about when I was much younger and just did not know what I know today in terms of avalanche safety.

I cannot imagine what this father and family is going through right now. It has to be true hell on earth for them.

If this happened to me, where my son was killed in an avalanche, I sincerely dont think I could recover from it. I dont think I would be would be strong enough.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of this young man.

 

[cyoung]

It been a bad year & decade

So many lost again this year. My thoughts and prayers are with the families.

I find myself wondering if what people really need is a snowmobile safety course that teaches avi avoidance, proper group riding approaches, over-night survival, basic first-aid tricks and sled towing and extraction techniques.

We live and ride in McCall, ID and every year witness the best and worst practices - virtually on a daily basis. To be very clear, these are not skills taught to everyone even in the mountain regions. On one of our worst avi days this season we witnessed 3 very experienced (youngish) Idaho mountain riders sidehilling a 35 degree slop where they were all lined up one above the other (with 300' of loaded slope above them). My son and I watched from a safe distance in amazement and fortunately nothing happened (this time).

In climbing and whitewater kayaking we know our lives are in danger and we train and educate ourselves constantly on best practices. I almost never see the ignorance of risk like I see in mountain riding. There are also many river and climbing skills camps focused on educating people about risks and risk avoidance. I think many people riding sleds in the back country don't really believe their lives are at risk.

If we set up a McCall-based mountain-riding safety camp to educate people, do you think people would pay money and spend three to five days to get smart about this sport?

My current belief is that people think "they got it" and no one will attend...

 

[mtnryder]

Well said First Place Parts!! Great advice. Funny how age truly makes a guy wiser.

 

[thumbie]

Used to ride Cooke city but age has caught up with me, however when we rode, you could rent beacons. Is that still the case?

 

[Chapman]

Im in cooke now. Got a good look at the carnage. Now I hate to speculate, but judging by the tracks out here, some people are playin with fate.

My best wishes and prayers go out to all involved. But, I cannot imagine that this kid was the first one up the hill. My guess is that these guys got out there an there was already a bunch of people climbin it so they figured it may be safe. Just cause there is one or two or a hundred tracks on a hill doesnt mean its safe. Which is unfortunate, whats popular isnt always right, and whats right isnt always popular. There are fresh tracks out here on 40 degree south facing slopes. A good demonstration of how far we have to go in the avy awareness department.

And not to undermine how far we have come. A lot of ppl have put in a LOT of effort and deserve a standing ovation!!! Avy awareness IS higher than its ever been, but we need to keep working at it.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

I couldn't agree with you more. I saw some things today that made me shake my head. Not just the natural slides, but the individuals who chose to ride where they did. Sometimes common sense is not so common I guess.

 

[skidoorulz]

Just read the obituary. Sounds like the world has lost a very good young man!

 

[smokef7]

Your are right papa this will be my first time out to cooke in April,last year was my first time out west,we went to Island and really never made it much past black canyon .After reading so of the posts I DEFIANTLY be doing so research and renting the equipment needed to have a safe and enjoyable trip this mountain and daisy are two of the ones I was looking forward to going to,Now not so much I would love to hook up with a local as the three guys I was planning on going with bailed out of the trip and I will not know any one when I get their .
Any info is great

 

[BoonDockinSummit]

Used to ride Cooke city but age has caught up with me, however when we rode, you could rent beacons. Is that still the case?

In Cooke, Bear Claw Bob has everything a person would need to rent (shovel, probe, beacon and float bags) and the Exxon has beacons. There may be more but I know at least these two places are renting gear.

 

[GettnUnstuck]

I couldn't agree with you more. I saw some things today that made me shake my head. Not just the natural slides, but the individuals who chose to ride where they did. Sometimes common sense is not so common I guess.

Today was even worse.... Words cannot explain . Each of these "incidents" could play a roll in keeping riding areas open. How do they say it, 10% can ruin it for the other 90%. Thoughts and prayers to all involved in each situation. Please be safe out there, terrible week for the residents of Cooke, we appreciate all that you do for us visitors!!!

 

[aebsledder]

If you look at the avy report today it looks like there were a few really close calls this weekend. One sledder suffered a couple of broken legs in a slide, and another triggered a slide and barely made it. This is less than a week after someone was killed. I would love to interview some of these people and see exactly what their mindset is when they are highmarking some of these slopes. Cooke isn't that big of a place, I have a hard time believing last weeks incident isn't a well known occurrence. Most likely, there will still be a couple of big spring storms that dump large amounts of snow in a short period of time on a wildly unstable snowpack. I really hope no one else gets hurt or worse.

 

[line8]

I have several opinions on the issues that seem to come up everytime there's a loss or near loss. First myself. I grew up in Montana and being active in the mountains. Growing up was fishing, hiking, hunting, skiing and generally just living in the environment that is Mt. Never did I have to or was I urged take an Avy class to understand the dangers of "being" in the mountains. I was taught, though, that you better be prepared for what you are doing. Later on I grew older, my skiing got more extreme. I still didn't NEED an Avy class to know the dangers. Even further in my age, I started snowmobiling and said goodby to skiing. I have not, but have said I should get an Avy bag or vest. I do, however, continually watch mountain conditions daily even if I'm not riding. I do not go in areas I shouldn't be in on days I shouldn't be there. These are choices I deliberately make. If an Avy class were to become a mandate, I would probably enjoy it but ultimately it would be just another requirement in the list of other requirements in between breaths these days. The requirement, in my opinion , is not going to change these headlines. It will just make some feel better because they now think they have some knowledge. The cold part in me says these same people will still push the envelope regardless. The families are left to pick up pieces but that is a possibility before anyone leaves the house every day. Basic understanding and being prepared for whatever condition can go a long way. Ignoring that is asking for trouble and then when it happens, who's to blame. With the warm side of me, the families are left there hurting and blaming and thinking of ways this could have been avoided and live the rest of there lives wishing. It's fun to be in the mountains but.....really, It's not for everyone.

 

[Blk88GT]

If you look at the avy report today it looks like there were a few really close calls this weekend. One sledder suffered a couple of broken legs in a slide, and another triggered a slide and barely made it. This is less than a week after someone was killed. I would love to interview some of these people and see exactly what their mindset is when they are highmarking some of these slopes. Cooke isn't that big of a place, I have a hard time believing last weeks incident isn't a well known occurrence. Most likely, there will still be a couple of big spring storms that dump large amounts of snow in a short period of time on a wildly unstable snowpack. I really hope no one else gets hurt or worse.

I noticed the same thing over the weekend. What were these people thinking? The hills they were poking at are within a 1/2 mile of the fatality!

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

I noticed the same thing over the weekend. What were these people thinking? The hills they were poking at are within a 1/2 mile of the fatality!

I was imaging something like putting up the white crosses like on the side of the highway for fatalities. Maybe if guys had to weave through fatality markers to climb a hill they might at least think a little about it.... maybe.


as for line8,

really well said, Honestly, you do exactly what most basic avy classes teach you, listen to what the weather and the conditions tell you, the avalanche report isnt issued by some sort of snow wizards, just people who actively monitor and pay attention to what the weather is doing, and how it affects the snow. I read the report every day as i can only see the conditions in the bridgers and northern gallatins from my house. The mountains tell us all we need to know, we just have to be smart enough to listen. And even if we don't have the ability to do that, you can get a nice little email every morning that tells you spark notes version of what the hills are up to while you work all week.

 

[stum1967]

We were there Saturday and watched people climbing on Crown and Miller. I don't think anyone could ride past that spot and not realize that area had slid, but they rode past and started climbing anyway. I'm not sure if it was lack of education, or just old fashion stupidity.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

better places to ride

avalanches cannot be predicted , when you see avy's like today knocking down 300 year old trees ?

snowmobiling is not about climbing hills, was...........not any more, will take time for bad old habits to evaporate

if you come to the mtns to ride, why go to a place with avalanche fatality reputation ? hard to figure, come to Cooke in the summer and hike, winter.........not so good.

just came back from a riding vacation in Idaho/Wy..........millions of acres, never saw more that a couple of sleds any day and no avy's. At the killing zones, trails bashed and trashed, hills that could have all the white crosses tracked packed and ready for the weak, and the lambs with avy gear and lots of graphics bouncing up there in droves. As mentioned...........like smoking, you know it will kill you........but hey, not today.

 

[skidoo_guy]

Slide on the right where the kid died. Slide on the left where the person just barely rode out of the slide. In between the 2 daisy pass. Slide on the left was like 3-4 days after one on the right.

 

[TRS]

That was Jim on his propane turbo.

 

[skidoo_guy]

Super bad choice climbing the one on the left after the one on the right had slid just a few days prior. They are the same aspect and within 100 yards of each other.

At least the on that slid on Abundance was south facing so a completely different aspect.

Basically stay away from hills where snow looks thin.