Got Lucky last week

[camocat1000]

Take an avy 1 course from CB mountain guides as a start. They know their sh*t. A seminar with 50-70 people attending is not an avy course it is an introduction.

For a poor mans slope meter, buy a line level (basically the bubble tube out of a level, designed to be attached to a string line, about 2.5" long, available at CB hardware store) and a 50 cent protractor. less then $5 total. Simply place the protractor on the slope and line up the 2.5" level. You dont need to measure the slope that slid on you, just measure a bunch of safe spots so you can develop accurate reference.

Being from the midwest a 5 hours of training is better than none. We don't have the Mountains here to do field training but Mike does Field training in CO.The main point is to get educated

 

[BOHICA]

7 Guys I know from GJ took Duffy's 3 day snowmobile specific class in Silverton this past January. All of them said it was well worth the $300 price tag. I'll be there next year for sure.

 

[joeoim]

Jones,

Very good post.
Thank you for stepping forward and posting.
Good video.
You never know, when you have the guts to step forward and post your experience, it just might help someone make a decision that saves their life

Joe

 

[JonezyBones]

I won't bag on you for anything that happened, but I am going to contest where you say "The forcast that morning had dropped the persistent weak layer avalanche condition to almost non existant"

The CAIC report was listed as moderate for the day and this is the text for the day;


Snow & Avalanche Discussion




Cooler temperatures, light winds and only a skiff of new snow are helping the avalanche danger to ease slowly across the Gunnison zone. Mild temperatures and abundant sunshine during the first few days of the week provided the first taste of spring weather. The recent warm up formed crusts at the snow surface on many slopes, but it had little effect on old weak layers buried deeper in the snowpack. Persistent weak layers buried deep in the snowpack remain the primary avalanche concern. The upper snowpack is gaining strength, but the weak foundation of facets can still fail resulting in an avalanche. A snowmobile-triggered slide on Wednesday ran on a steep east aspect near treeline in the Irwin area.

Deep slab instabilities linger on many slopes. The probability of triggering a deep slab avalanche is easing, but the consequences of doing so can be severe. The snowpack is shallower in the eastern portion of the zone, which means it is weaker and easier to trigger the deep weak layers. If you are riding around Taylor Park or the western Sawatch, then read the Sawatch zone forecast.

For snowpack conditions in and around Crested Butte, please check the Crested Butte Avalanche Center forecast.

I don't know where you got non existant from if you read any report from tha CAIC.

I never said I read the caic report. Living in the crested butte area Iv always trusted the cb avalanche center.

And by non existant I meant very low. Poor choice of words to sway the crowd of my wrong doings... If you read the cb avalanche center on todays forcast the deep slab warning is somewhat close to what it was on the 8th. But all that aside if the report you just gave was from the caic on the 8th then Id say it was a whole lot more accurate.

So really I need to start checking the caic report and the cb avalanche report to get a better idea at what the conditions really are.

But in the end its easy for everybody to be a critic when they arent in the spotlight. With the little information I gathered that morning before the ride I assumed everything had settled out. Im not lying about the forcast I saw. But hey I learned yet another piece of advice that would help me make the right decision down the road. If any one of you that had helpful tips about my experience happen to be in the Gunnison area then hit me up and ill treat you to a beer Thanks

 

[AKM208]

There is a free app for Iphone called Theodolite that has a fantastic slope meter.