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Be careful out there! its Avi season

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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490

 i was just up at monashee powder cats, would have been an amazing trip if not for the class 3.5 avi that ripped through and took out our guide and a photographer who worked for monashee.
the avi took them both about 500-600 meters downhill and one was buried a good 1 1/2 to 2 meters below the snow. luckily we were able to dig her out, i was the 2nd person to her with beacons out searching and we were able to probe her on the 3rd or 4th try. she was purple when we got down to her but shortly after we got her some room to breath, she started blinking her eyes but was not communicating at all. luckily the other guide wasnt as deep and was dug out by a few other people in our group.

 needless to say, if you are in the backcountry, make sure you are prepared! beacon, probe and shovel WILL save your life!

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/73195/Monashee-Mountain-avalanche

http://www.globaltvbc.com/group+of+skiers+survives+after+being+caught+in+avalanche+in+monashee+mountains/6442611949/story.html

Apr 3 2012 5:56PM
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Simmo
Posts: 512 - Karma: 28
Holy crap. Good work on the rescue!
Apr 3 2012 5:57PM
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pointandshoot
Posts: 51 - Karma: 13
Outta curiosity... what kinda of avy control work do interior BC cat operations do? Do they bomb/control any of their terrain
Apr 3 2012 6:06PM
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@skiinmitch
Posts: 2781 - Karma: 78
Just stay out of the back country right now only stay in the areas where the patrollers do avalanche control
Apr 3 2012 6:19PM
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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490

also forgot to mention that both who were caught are fine, the girl we dug up and originally though was dead ended up being fine other than tearing her MCL. pretty darn good considering when we first got to her she was lifeless

As far as bombing and stuff at cat resorts goes, i dont believe they do any bombing but they do have quite the team of people who i am sure go out and test the snow. the head of the canadian avalanche association is the lead guide at monashee

Apr 3 2012 6:25PM
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forrest-cole
Posts: 1145 - Karma: 495
well seeing as i live in the dead middle of the back country that's kind of hard to do..

but things for that heads up man, super scary stuff glad everyone's all right..
Apr 3 2012 6:33PM
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shredstar
Posts: 232 - Karma: 16
i don't this is neccesary. just make good decisions, dont give up the backcountry because avy danger is where it is. ski mellow meadows or other low angle stuff, stay out of avalanche terrain. there is always lots of stuff to ski in the bc around (big sky, mt) here even if the avy danger is rated really high
Apr 3 2012 6:34PM
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forrest-cole
Posts: 1145 - Karma: 495
I was just at moonlight/big sky last week for a FWT comp, and whole cow what a sick area man! Just thought i'd let you know it's a fucking dope place, specially for some sick BC skiing!
Apr 3 2012 6:40PM
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SurfaceHoar
Posts: 311 - Karma: 240
What aspect? slope angle? elevation? what was the trigger? Which layers failed?
Apr 3 2012 11:21PM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591
word. we have similar conditions right now in WA and at my local hill in the lift line I overheard some people talking about going out into the backcountry and when I looked over at them they were not wearing any backpacks and I'm sure no beacons which even if they did have would do no good without a shovel and probe. people are just plain idiots. I would have said somerhing to them if I wasnt about to get on the lift. thank god no one was hurt.
Apr 3 2012 11:30PM
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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490
face that failed was SE facing so the sun had something to do with it, elevation was probably about 8000 feet. the slide came from high up above us in the alpine bowl but i think it was triggered by the cat moving back across to the other side.
Apr 4 2012 12:00AM
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m-ruta
Posts: 160 - Karma: 168
Now is definitely the time to be prepared and above all careful. We've had a few slides big enough to flatten old growth forest recently near my hill. (Kicking Horse BC)
Apr 4 2012 1:00AM
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snomaster
Posts: 3344 - Karma: 5,748
This is great advise for people not seasoned in the backcountry, or if you have any uneasy feelings.
Though as Forest and others have already suggested... there are those of us who are capable of skiing the right terrain for the conditions. Sure there has been an unusually high number of experienced skiers killed this year, but far more have had successful missions. I hope to get a few more myself.

Risk in the backcountry is unavoidable, but it's what we do. We try to mitigate this with knowledge and experience concerning snow stability/route decisions; having partners who have and know how to use safety gear (to the extend that lives depend on it); and knowing what days to take a break.
Apr 4 2012 1:47AM
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ShredMasterPlus
Posts: 1159 - Karma: 807
Click for larger image that was just outside the boundary at lake louise today. It slid 3 days ago as well not quite as big and then it went huge today. So many people go in there without gear its crazy look at all the tracks going into it to. Shows you that no matter how much its been skied it can still go.
Apr 4 2012 1:54AM
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250r
Posts: 2276 - Karma: 1,013
yea it was pretty slidey even below treeline in whistler today. Set off a decent slab at around 1400m on the whistler side p2p line
Apr 4 2012 3:24AM
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Ski_Alot
Posts: 5890 - Karma: 3,588
be careful out there, my rockies/westcoast brothers... never seen a avy on my mountain #eastcoast
Apr 4 2012 10:39AM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
remote triggers seams to be the name of the game in the Kootenays this winter. That and slides in some of the more common ski runs that we usually deem as "safe".

Seen Mt. Roberts (slack country at Red which "never" slides) go twice top to bottom this year.

Apr 4 2012 10:51AM
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SurfaceHoar
Posts: 311 - Karma: 240
Thanks for the details.

Cat ops do avalanche control. Not as extensively as resorts do with inbounds terrain. Usually risk is mitigated by avoidance. 


Apr 4 2012 10:56AM
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250r
Posts: 2276 - Karma: 1,013
haha i actually set off a slide once on the backside of sugarloaf
Apr 4 2012 4:38PM
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