here is the statement from the party involved
I know that our party, the party involved in the December 29th
incident on Echo Peak, made numerous mistakes. I chose to make the
helmet cam video available to Sierra Avalanche Center so that others
could learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. As the leader of the
party, I take full credit for all of the mistakes and want to document
what I've learned from them.
The first mistake was taking an inexperienced, ill-equipped
group into the backcountry. Every member of the party should have been
carrying a beacon, probe, and shovel. Additionally every member of the
party should have been trained in avalanche safety. We only had two
complete kits among our party of five, carried by the female skier in
the video and by me, the skier who was caught in the slide. The other
three members of the party were complete novices in the backcountry,
able to ski black diamonds at a resort, but with no experience out of
bounds. As the party leader, I should never have taken the group up
Echo Peak, but I let the party's excitement about the day sway my
decision. I made a bad decision.
The second mistake I made was allowing the excitement in the
group to override sound decision making. Two of the inexperienced
members of the party had never summited Echo. Safety and snow pack
conditions dictated turning the group around at tree line and
descending the ridge crest. However, I let emotion make the decision
and allowed the party to continue above tree line to the summit. This
decision required descending the slope directly above the ridge
terminus. A slope that I knew was prone to sliding under the right
circumstances, and having kept abreast of conditions, I knew conditions
were conducive to an an avalanche. Again, I made a bad decision.
We skied one at a time from the crest to a safe zone in the
trees at the start of the ridge proper, but I made my third mistake by
choosing to ski a line slightly skier's left of the safest line to the
meeting point in the trees. The female skier in the group asked that I
not ski that line, but I let my emotions once again get the better of
me. The several turns in untracked snow on a 45 degree slope were just
too tempting. My intentions were to ski to skier's left of the large
rocks where the slide released from, then veer hard to skier's right
and meet the party on the ridge. I knew that the slope was convex. I
knew that there was a rock band below my intended route. My thoughts
were, "I've skied this line before. It's only a few turns." I made a
very bad decision. Fortunately I have been able to kick myself
repeatedly for it.
Once the slope let go, I was helpless. Everything I'd ever
heard, read, or talked about went through my mind. Stay on top. Get
your feet downhill. Backstroke. Remember to create an air pocket when
the slide slows. Punch a hand towards the sky. The truth is that I was
at the mercy of the snow. I went over the rock step head first on my
back. Fortunately, I didn't crater on impact and end up buried by the
rest of the snow as it came over the edge. Instead, I was rag dolled
out of my crater and ended up somehow close to the surface. I was able
to punch one fist upward as the slide slowed, but otherwise was
completely unable to move. Everything was black and the urge to panic
was overwhelming. After repeatedly telling myself to calm down, I was
able to clear an airway with my free hand. Then all I could do was
wait. I was very lucky.
Much has been made on various forums about the way that the
skier with the helmet cam handled the rescue. He has been flamed for
taking his gloves off, for telling the female skier with the beacon to
take her time in transitioning the gear to him, for not putting the
handle in the shovel, ad infinitum. The truth is, I am proud of the way
he, a novice at avalanche rescue, handled the situation. He knew that
the female skier was panicking and had to keep her calm. He knew that
the whole party shouldn't descend to the burial site. He left two
people on the ridge to watch the hangfire. Then he descended to the
burial site with a partner, one at a time, in a controlled manner. In
debriefing after the incident, we discussed what he could have done
differently. It goes without saying that he should have left his gloves
on. Other than that, there are two possible scenarios. First
scenario:Once the skier in the black jacket had located my glove above
the debris, the one unburied probe and beacon should have been left on
the ridge. That way a beacon/probe search could have been initiated in
the case of a secondary avalanche burying the rescue party. Second
scenario: My glove was located above the debris, but what if my hand
wasn't in it? Seen from 100 meters away, it was impossible to tell. If
the beacon and probe were left on the ridge, that would have led to
additional delays in getting the rescue gear to the burial and would
have put one more skier in the path of a secondary release. As for the
unassembled shovel, I have to take credit for that mistake. I should
have made sure that the entire party knew where the rescue gear was
located and how to assemble it before ever leaving the trailhead.
Finally, my rescuer didn't relinquish shoveling duties to his partner
once his hands started to freeze. He could have either taken the time
to get gloves on his wet hands, or asked the skier in the black jacket
to continue digging while he warmed his hands.
I'm sure that there are many more lessons to learn from this
incident. That is the reason that I chose to let Sierra Avalanche
Center make the video public. My hope was that I would receive
constructive criticism and maybe force other people to review their
decisions and the process by which they make those decisions. I knew
that we would be flamed for our mistakes, but I'll take the flames if
my mistakes will help keep others safe. My hope also is that all of the
flaming does not discourage others from making public their mistakes,
so that we, the backcountry community, can learn from each other. We
all make mistakes, some of us more than others, I am sure, but we all
make mistakes. I've watched countless avalanche videos and thought,
"What an idiot!" "Why'd the dude do that?" or "That guy is completely
clueless." Guess this time I'm the idiot and the clueless one.
Hopefully, because I chose to share this video, you won't be the
clueless one if or when things go wrong."
how much harder could you make digging a guy out of the sow. this dude doesn't know jack. sorry if it a repost i couldn't find anything on echo mountain. but thought this should be shared. 
