Similar risk led to first tragedy, troopers say
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com | jhalpin@adn.com
Published: February 21st, 2008 12:06 AM
Last Modified: February 21st, 2008 12:25 AM
A group of snowmachiners took the search for their dead friends' bodies into their own hands Wednesday when they trekked through vicious weather to the Turnagain Pass scene, dug out one of the avalanche victims, and hauled him home on a sled, according to Alaska State Troopers.
The recovered body, identified by troopers as Jeremy Stark, 27, was pulled out late in the afternoon by a group of friends who wanted to help searchers unable to reach the bodies for nearly a week because of persisting foul weather and avalanche dangers.
But what friends are calling help, troopers say was an unsanctioned and risky venture.
"This group -- they like to push the limit," said troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen. "That's how we got to this point in the first place."
Christoph von Alvensleben, 25, remains buried in the Seattle Creek drainage's Stock Bowl about 70 miles southeast of Anchorage, where he and five friends were snowmachining late last week when they triggered the deadly slide that killed the pair.
The experienced snowmachiners went out to the area Friday, the day after a warning from the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center that the area was dangerous.
The area, which has gotten several more feet of snow since the fatal avalanche, continues to pose a significant risk to people in the backcountry, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center. Both natural and human-triggered slides are likely, and backcountry travel is not recommended by the center.
"I think anyone can understand we don't want to compound a tragedy like this by sending more people back in there to get hurt," said Rebecca Talbott, spokeswoman for the Chugach National Forest.
In the course of just over a week, up to 8 feet of snow and 9 inches of water have accumulated on top of light-density snow, creating widespread avalanches in Girdwood Valley, Portage, Turnagain Pass and the Summit Lake areas, the avalanche center reported Wednesday.
Despite that, the friends of the dead men have been out braving the dangerous conditions for the past three days to break trail and assess the safety of the area so they could reach the scene and retrieve the bodies, said Joshua Smith, one of the 11 members on the recovery mission.
"Safety is always our first concern," he said. "We did everything as safely as could possibly be done."
The group knows the area and its dangers, he said, and members brought along appropriate gear in case of an unexpected slide or other hazard. They also took their time to methodically reach the area, he said.
After a slight break in the weather Wednesday, the group was able to get to one of the bodies, which had been marked the day of the slide by an avalanche probe -- only about six inches of which still protruded -- and get out before conditions worsened, according to Johannes von Alvensleben, who said he was not among the group searching for his brother.
Also not involved was Andrew Baugh, who got caught in the slide last week but survived. His wife, Abbie Baugh, said her husband has not participated in the recovery because "his wife won't let him leave the house."
In general, troopers try to recover victims' bodies as quickly as they can so that families can have closure, Ipsen said, though they are not going to risk more lives to make that come a few days sooner. With conditions the way they are, troopers would not have been able to help in time if something had gone wrong, she said.
The group of friends, which reported upon their return that conditions were "as bad as they can get," plans to recover von Alvensleben's body -- as do troopers -- when conditions improve, Smith said.
"Certainly, we'd love to have him down, but there's no way we'd want to risk loss of life," von Alvensleben said of his brother. "I can imagine that it was pretty harrowing and pretty risky on their part."
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com | jhalpin@adn.com
Published: February 21st, 2008 12:06 AM
Last Modified: February 21st, 2008 12:25 AM
A group of snowmachiners took the search for their dead friends' bodies into their own hands Wednesday when they trekked through vicious weather to the Turnagain Pass scene, dug out one of the avalanche victims, and hauled him home on a sled, according to Alaska State Troopers.
The recovered body, identified by troopers as Jeremy Stark, 27, was pulled out late in the afternoon by a group of friends who wanted to help searchers unable to reach the bodies for nearly a week because of persisting foul weather and avalanche dangers.
But what friends are calling help, troopers say was an unsanctioned and risky venture.
"This group -- they like to push the limit," said troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen. "That's how we got to this point in the first place."
Christoph von Alvensleben, 25, remains buried in the Seattle Creek drainage's Stock Bowl about 70 miles southeast of Anchorage, where he and five friends were snowmachining late last week when they triggered the deadly slide that killed the pair.
The experienced snowmachiners went out to the area Friday, the day after a warning from the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center that the area was dangerous.
The area, which has gotten several more feet of snow since the fatal avalanche, continues to pose a significant risk to people in the backcountry, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center. Both natural and human-triggered slides are likely, and backcountry travel is not recommended by the center.
"I think anyone can understand we don't want to compound a tragedy like this by sending more people back in there to get hurt," said Rebecca Talbott, spokeswoman for the Chugach National Forest.
In the course of just over a week, up to 8 feet of snow and 9 inches of water have accumulated on top of light-density snow, creating widespread avalanches in Girdwood Valley, Portage, Turnagain Pass and the Summit Lake areas, the avalanche center reported Wednesday.
Despite that, the friends of the dead men have been out braving the dangerous conditions for the past three days to break trail and assess the safety of the area so they could reach the scene and retrieve the bodies, said Joshua Smith, one of the 11 members on the recovery mission.
"Safety is always our first concern," he said. "We did everything as safely as could possibly be done."
The group knows the area and its dangers, he said, and members brought along appropriate gear in case of an unexpected slide or other hazard. They also took their time to methodically reach the area, he said.
After a slight break in the weather Wednesday, the group was able to get to one of the bodies, which had been marked the day of the slide by an avalanche probe -- only about six inches of which still protruded -- and get out before conditions worsened, according to Johannes von Alvensleben, who said he was not among the group searching for his brother.
Also not involved was Andrew Baugh, who got caught in the slide last week but survived. His wife, Abbie Baugh, said her husband has not participated in the recovery because "his wife won't let him leave the house."
In general, troopers try to recover victims' bodies as quickly as they can so that families can have closure, Ipsen said, though they are not going to risk more lives to make that come a few days sooner. With conditions the way they are, troopers would not have been able to help in time if something had gone wrong, she said.
The group of friends, which reported upon their return that conditions were "as bad as they can get," plans to recover von Alvensleben's body -- as do troopers -- when conditions improve, Smith said.
"Certainly, we'd love to have him down, but there's no way we'd want to risk loss of life," von Alvensleben said of his brother. "I can imagine that it was pretty harrowing and pretty risky on their part."
