V
Avalanche 3-19-12 In Alpine, WY
http://youtu.be/3N9Uq-2cYuo
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3N9Uq-2cYuo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The report was saying the greatest danger was on the South Facing slopes and later in the afternoon with the rising temperatures. This Slide occurred late morning on 3-9-12. I should have spent more time digging my sled out and riding back down the North facing chute I came up. I had a funny feeling about going down it but It wasn't as big as a lot of stuff I descend regularly and I've climbed it easily on other years. One good thing I did was call my group to come over and spot me descend before proceeding down the South side. When they were there and clearly not in range of runout I started down the mountain. I was not aware that right after I started to move that the hill broke to my right and further up the same ridge I was sitting on. There was quite a large amount of snow moving before I was fully aware of the slide. When I felt the slide sweeping my track downhill I was able to throttle it and blast out on top of the moving slide and it churned. Moral of the story is to pay better attention to the reports and go with your gut on whether the mountain is right to ride on. It ended well for me but it could have been ugly.
Be careful out there!
http://youtu.be/3N9Uq-2cYuo
http://youtu.be/3N9Uq-2cYuo
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3N9Uq-2cYuo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The report was saying the greatest danger was on the South Facing slopes and later in the afternoon with the rising temperatures. This Slide occurred late morning on 3-9-12. I should have spent more time digging my sled out and riding back down the North facing chute I came up. I had a funny feeling about going down it but It wasn't as big as a lot of stuff I descend regularly and I've climbed it easily on other years. One good thing I did was call my group to come over and spot me descend before proceeding down the South side. When they were there and clearly not in range of runout I started down the mountain. I was not aware that right after I started to move that the hill broke to my right and further up the same ridge I was sitting on. There was quite a large amount of snow moving before I was fully aware of the slide. When I felt the slide sweeping my track downhill I was able to throttle it and blast out on top of the moving slide and it churned. Moral of the story is to pay better attention to the reports and go with your gut on whether the mountain is right to ride on. It ended well for me but it could have been ugly.
Be careful out there!
http://youtu.be/3N9Uq-2cYuo
