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Guy Sticks Big Line to Save Skier Buried in an Avalanche
I think this is the most important thing he wrote:
"Stay safe out there, it was a very unexpected slide, but proof that anything can go anytime. I feel very lucky to be alive and will be taking a serious look and my backcountry skills and judgements."
Glad he made it out alive, too bad his knees got mangled in the slide, and that it took them awhile to get out of there because of the injury. Hopefully he heals up fast.
After further review, there is actually no need to armchair this one at all. Besides little details (nobody is perfect) they played their hand about as good as they could have with the cards they were dealt.
So, with that, I take the slight sarcasm in my "nice stomp I guess?" comment back and genuinely say that dropping a sweet pillow line to rescue your bother from an avalanche is pretty bad ass. Gnar points worthy even? Awesome to hear they made it out safe!
It was about a foot and a half of new snow above a weak layer, and the East Vail chutes are extremely avalanche prone. I assume the forecast would have been at least considerable.
Big ups on the rescue. Glad everyone made it out ok.
And whoever was talking about Chutes and stability... yea I agree, can be a tricky area. There's a lot of risk taking that can happen out there. I'm just glad they were able to get there quickly, looks sorta late in the day too.
That video is going around like wild fire in Vail. Props to the guy getting down there quickly but...If you know the area and the amount of snow that has fallen their line selection was not a very good one. 2ft of snow in the last 36hrs and we are going to ski this right down the gut! that is not very good decision making skills.
I live with the kid who got caught in the avi in boulder and know his brother who saved him. Both really experienced skiers, just got some bad luck. Even in a place like east vail you have to be super safe in the backcountry. Just getting your certification means nothing, the experience and proper guidance is so necessary.