6 replies to this topic

[coskibum]

From 9news.com

FRISCO - One person died in an avalanche at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Friday.

There is concern that one other person may be trapped, but search and rescue crews were ordered off the slope due to danger from additional slides.

Summit County authorities say workers tried to revive the 40-year-old victim for about a half-hour before pronouncing him dead on the mountain.

Undersheriff Derek Woodman says the slide was about 1,000-feet wide, and roughly 800-feet down.

The avalanche was contained to the top of A-Basin's Pallavicini run, which was reportedly open at the time of the slide.

Rescue workers hope to continue their search early Saturday morning.

[liftmech]

I saw it when I got the the area yesterday morning. It was on the main face of Palavicini, at the far left edge of the run. It actually ran through some trees for a distance, and smashed quite a few. Pali was closed the rest of the day and patrol also closed the East Wall and North Pole for unstable snowpack. I was going to go help with rescue efforts but they apparently had enough people. Reminded me of 14 February 1999 at Baker.
What got me about the news coverage is the talking heads kept saying 'you don't expect avalanches this late in the season'. So maybe they don't live up here, but every spring I see dozens of small-to-medium slides on every peak, every aspect. It's an annual part of the spring snowpack. It's a bit surprising to have one inside a ski area, where skier traffic usually compacts the snow enough to keep it stable, but it's been so warm lately that there are pockets forming under even the most stable packs.

[caroth]

Could A-Basin be at fault for this? What time of the day did the slide actually occur?

It sure seems they are on a shoe-string budget this year. Announcing a closing date early in the season, closing early, and slow and crappy website are just a few examples, now a late season avalanche...Yikes! Makes me glad I purchased a Loveland pass.

[liftmech]

A-Basin is not on a shoestring budget. A 'slow and crappy website' is no indicator of this. As for them being at fault, I would say no. Given the weather conditions we've had lately, it's hard to tell what will slide and what won't. Conventional wisdom has it that skier traffic for six months should pack snow down to the point where the layers that cause slides are compressed and stabilised. It would seem that in this case that either didn't happen or the extended warm temps created new and different layers that contributed to the slide. Follow-up work by the patrol used 50-pound bags of ampho to break the rest of the slide area loose. Normally they use 3" x 12" sticks of dynamite, so I'd say this was a tragic random occurrence. Should they have bombed the slope in the morning? Perhaps, but there's no way of knowing if the blasts would have brought it down then. The slide happened at 1030, after the sun had been on it for a while.

[NoPainNoJane]

Here's the link to CAIC's analysis of the slide:

http://geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche/Def...d=44#AB05202005

Also from what I understand, during March there was a brief warming trend followed by a return of winter. With the 3+ feet of snow sitting on top of hard pack, the snow did not bond well and caused the slide.

[zapada]

caroth, on May 23 2005, 03:10 PM, said:

Announcing a closing date early in the season,  closing early
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Setting a relatively early closing date this year has nothing to do with being on a shoestring budget. A staff member I rode the lift with in mid-April told me they are closing in early June to build a new rental shop in the base area. A-Basin's normal off-season of less than 4 months (July-Oct) just isn't enough time for them to do this project, and they actually make a fair amount of their late-season revenue from equipment rentals.

[caroth]

Interesting reading. Also wierd that the slide was so early in the day. I wondered if all of their new snowmaking equipment and EIS stuff for the new bowl on the backside had any effect on the late season funds.

They still have a slow crappy website.