Tumbler Ridge avalanche

[YamaDoo PolCat]

Tumbler Ridge avalanche

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone know more about this, or can confirm it?

Sunday, January 18, 2009 09:35 AM


Tumbler Ridge, B.C. - An avalanche has claimed another snowmobiler. A man was buried in a snow slide yesterday afternoon in the Tumbler Ridge area.
The man was riding with a group of other riders and had been high marking by himself while his group sat at the bottom of a ridge when the avalanche took place.
The members of the group were able to get to the area where he was buried and attempted a rescue however he was recovered too late.
This brings to fifteen the number of avalanche deaths this winter in the province.

 

[gp2pk]

i was riding babcock area yesterday wit three others.. we broke trail into a alot of places and incountered really well pack and set up snow. do u kno which mt it happened on and thats unreal man that another life had to be claimed by the mountian. im sorry for those who lost a loved one and friend out there

 

[TumblerSummit]

Very scary out there

I have not heard a lot of details or location but there is one dead from somewhere in Alberta. A large group of us were riding along the Bullmoose/Sukunka pipeline and when we looped into the back side of Chamberlain 2 of us triggered a small avalanche on a shallow slope that seemed harmless. It probably wouldn't have buried anyone but the sensitivity of the slopes is scary. I think it is time for some long distance trail rides.

 

[Smokeshow]

Been hearing it on the radio all day in Grande Prairie, apparently they were on Mt. Babcock, just South of Tumbler and the entire hill let go, very sad.

 

[storch]

Just wondering if any of the people caught in these avalanches had
ABS packs? Just wondering if they work.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of the 15.

 

[YamaDoo PolCat]

Several people have died while wearing the avy packs. Once the avalanche hits it is very tough to think clearly enough to pull the handle. Difficult to think properly when your face is full of snow and you are rolled up with the sled. Once things quiet down it is too late.

 

[Big Twin]

Yesterday morning at 6am a group of four of us left Wembley heading to one of our favorite area's "Core lodge". Once on the mine road heading in we were swarmed by pickups just past the new haul road Y. I pulled over to speak with the driver of the crew truck. He was one A$$hole of a dude. He made note of the sign at the road entrance then tells me I am endangering peoples lives. The four of us assumed something serious has happened to spur such activity. The guy sped off spewing gravel at my truck. We continued down the road to the next Y and pulled over to talk to a coal truck operator. He said all access to sledders was blocked off. At that point I told the fellah to secure the road so we could turn around the 28' v-nose and follow him out. Once back at the Heritage we took picks of the sign that has been there for many years. See it every time we go riding there. I would suspect they were blasting and triggered the slide?
We were in ther last weekend and there was 3+ feet of fresh.
We head off to Tumbler Tags Gas. Girls inside told us of the Avy and the S&R were going in to do a recovery.
Another loss for many people!!

 

[moto.racerx]

if the sign wasnt being enforced it certainly will be now.

 

[Powderhound101]

Is the 'X' marked ridge riders core lodge where we usually unload? If so, its not completely closed to sledders. Last year, they put up a sign further in on the trail, , (past the little shack) that denied access to the other side of the creek across that culvert. This is the area shown on the map that is closed off, isn't it? We should still be able to go out further into the back where there is no mining operations.

Those truckers will tell you anything just to stop people from coming. If you give them their space, pull over and wait for them,and have a road radio, they are way nicer to you.

 

[Big Twin]

The Core lodge area was closed off yesterday(Sunday for search and rescue people only). We've riden there alot and have never had such hostility from anyone. Usually there is someone at the parking area taking names of sledders for safety, you don't check out they come and find you. They also advise of the area and activity on their part. We were in there the previous weekend with 3+ new powder, the mine had a loader in the parking lot doing snow removal. Nice guy too!
The guy I spoke to in the pickup had a burrrr in his a$$ thats all. I would imagine chit hit the fan and they were trying to keep things quiet.
The truck driver was an awesome guy!

 

[Shelfrost]

That sign is waaaayy old!! Quintette mine hasn't been in existense for 4 years or more. They will not keep you out of the riding areas, just bad timing is all. The NEMI mine is the one operating there now.

 

[Big Twin]

Yes sir Shelfrost, It's been there a long time.
When we were in there the last few weekends our group went into the bowl to have a look. Go in from the side, not the watershed rout. The hill didn't look good so we kept our distance. Just as we left the center of the bowl slid from top to the bottom past the little bump in the middle. This was 3 weekends ago. Then we had the big snow, sunny saturday we break trail in, first stop Super bowl/Terminator. Kept our distance again and went out down the shed. Took a look at the hillclimb hill and went to the warm up shed, played in the trees all day across the creek.
Here's a pic from that day 2 weekends ago.

 

[SLEDIOT]

Can anybody confirm if this is the hill for sure that the fella lost his life on? Spooks the piss outta me knowing I knocked it down 3 yrs ago. I gotta post the pic again for the sake of this issue. We took the pic from the road that runs across the middle.

 

[SLEDIOT]

Man I got the shivers..........

 

[xpoguy]

F-N Nutz man this is a bad year for aveys, ride safe boys.

 

[DLUX]

Can anybody confirm if this is the hill for sure that the fella lost his life on? Spooks the piss outta me knowing I knocked it down 3 yrs ago. I gotta post the pic again for the sake of this issue. We took the pic from the road that runs across the middle.

Thats the old hilclimb hill and it slides just about every year just stay off it and youll be safe that wha i've always done, seen it slide one year right down into the bottom gully!

 

[TumblerSummit]

Historical Avy's

The area to the right of that slide was completely cleaned off by a big avalanche in about 1988. Before that, no one climbed there much because of the trees at the bottom. We only moved the hillclimb to that spot because it was clean and tall at the time

 

[Big Twin]

The way I understand the data is the Incident was in SuperBowl/Terminator behind the Hillclimb Hill. Right side facing the bowl.

 

[moto.racerx]

DATE, TIME AND LOCATION
Date/Time: 2009-01-17 13:00
Description: Babcock Mountain, near Tumbler Ridge
Coordinates: N54.51379 W121.01869 (Geographic (long-lat))
Mtn Range: Northern Rockies Province: BC


GROUP INFORMATION
Type: Activity: Snowmobiling
Size: 6

AVALANCHE INFORMATION
Number: 1 Size: Size class 3 Type: Slab avalanche
Trigger: Ma (The victim was high-marking a slope in a bowl on the N side of Babcock Mountain)
Failure Pl.: Ground -
Starting Zone: Location: Alpine at approx. 1800m.
Character: N; 43 degrees; Steep Slope.
Open bowl with 5 prominent chutes. The avalanche ran in 2 of the chutes.
Comment: Group of 6 snowmobilers went up and over into the north side of Babcock Mountain. There is a bowl with approximately 5 chutes in that immediate area. The victim was high marking when he triggered the avalanche. The slide was concentrated in 2 of the chutes. Witnesses saw the victim tumbling but lost track of him half way down the slope. The victim was the only person using/wearing a beacon. It is not clear how long it took to locate him. The victim was not wearing an air bag. There is an area beside the scene called the "Terminator" that was previously used for high marking competitions, but locals said it is considered too dangerous and has not been used for 10 years.

http://avalanche.ca/Forums/forums/t/3736.aspx

"The victim was the only person using/wearing a beacon."