http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/sto...uPq3h6Ud6Q.cspx
Update: Woman identified in avalanche death
Last Update: 7:12 pm
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(4 Points Media) An avalanche at Snowbird ski resort has killed one woman. She is identified as 27-year-old Heather Gross of Salt Lake City.
Two doctors were on hand when rescuers used probes to locate Gross. CPR was administered on scene. Gross was flown to University hospital in Salt Lake City. She was buried in snow for close to one hour.
The slide let loose from Snowbird's highest point, hours after the resort opened new terrain off 11,068-foot Mount Baldy. In that area, skiers have to hike for about 20 minutes before descending, according to Dave Fields, a spokesman for Snowbird resort.
Fields said ski patrollers dropped hand explosives earlier in the day off Mount Baldy as part of avalanche control work there.
The avalanche was reported around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Snowbird officials say a witness reported the avalanche by cell phone.
Rescue operations are now over. Searchers initially feared other skiers might have gotten buried by the same slide. Salt Lake county Sheriff Jim Winder says a thorough search of the debris field failed to turn up anybody else.
Winder says it was an uncommon event inside avalanche-controlled ski resort.
Another avalanche was reported around 3 p.m. in Summit County. The avalanche occurred in a back country ski area located near Red Pine lake.
One man had minor injuries from the slide. He was evacuated by medical helicopter due to the remote terrain. The man was not buried. He was injured when debris from the slide pinned him against a tree, according to a Summit County Sheriff's spokesman.
The man was skiing with a group. A skier that had been with that group earlier in the day said everyone was experienced and had probes and beacons with them. Members in the group freed the pinned man.
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Snowbird Avalanche claims the first life of the season
Started by tahoeistruckin, Dec 14 2008 06:26 PM
10 replies to this topic
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Posted 14 December 2008 - 06:41 PM
There was also an inbounds avalanche today at Vail. One person was partially buried and uninjured.
VAIL, Colorado — A skier was caught in a small in-bounds avalanche in Vail Mountain’s Blue Sky Basin on Sunday.
The skier was buried to his waist but was unhurt, said Scott Toepfer of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The slide occurred Sunday morning on the Lover’s Leap trail, which drops from a cornice below the Skyline Express Lift. The avalanche ran for 150 vertical feet, was 100 to 150 feet wide and was about 3 feet deep, Toepfer said.
Vail had reported 12 inches of new snow Sunday, and snow continued to fall on the mountain during the day.
Blue Sky Basin opened for the season Saturday, and patrollers had been conducting avalanche control with explosives there for the last four days, Toepfer said.
“At about 9 a.m., they shot that same slope that failed,” he said.
The slide was reported at 10:51 a.m. Vail Mountain closed Blue Sky Basin for the remainder of the day after the slide.
“Vail Ski Patrol will continue to conduct avalanche reduction in the area and throughout Vail Mountain and expects to reopen Blue Sky Basin on Monday, Dec. 15,” Vail Resorts said in a statement.
There’s always a risk of avalanche on steeper slopes, even if the snow has been compacted by skiers and ski patrol has thrown explosives at it, Toepfer said. Colorado’s snowpack also has several weak layers in it now that make it prone to avalanches, he said.
“When I look at this particular incident, what I see is that anything over 30 degrees has the potential to slide, no matter what’s been going on in the past,” Toepfer said.
The black-diamond Lover’s Leap is 35 degrees at its steepest.
In-bounds avalanches are extremely uncommon at Vail. Toepfer, a longtime former Vail ski patroller who has skied Vail since its first season in 1962, said he can only recall one other time when a skier was caught in an avalanche in-bounds on Vail Mountain. A skier was caught on Rasputin’s Revenge in Siberia Bowl two or three years after the terrain opened in 1988, Toepfer said.
In Utah on Sunday, one person was hospitalized after getting caught in an avalache at Snowbird ski resort, and searchers continued to look for other skiers who may have been buried.
VAIL, Colorado — A skier was caught in a small in-bounds avalanche in Vail Mountain’s Blue Sky Basin on Sunday.
The skier was buried to his waist but was unhurt, said Scott Toepfer of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The slide occurred Sunday morning on the Lover’s Leap trail, which drops from a cornice below the Skyline Express Lift. The avalanche ran for 150 vertical feet, was 100 to 150 feet wide and was about 3 feet deep, Toepfer said.
Vail had reported 12 inches of new snow Sunday, and snow continued to fall on the mountain during the day.
Blue Sky Basin opened for the season Saturday, and patrollers had been conducting avalanche control with explosives there for the last four days, Toepfer said.
“At about 9 a.m., they shot that same slope that failed,” he said.
The slide was reported at 10:51 a.m. Vail Mountain closed Blue Sky Basin for the remainder of the day after the slide.
“Vail Ski Patrol will continue to conduct avalanche reduction in the area and throughout Vail Mountain and expects to reopen Blue Sky Basin on Monday, Dec. 15,” Vail Resorts said in a statement.
There’s always a risk of avalanche on steeper slopes, even if the snow has been compacted by skiers and ski patrol has thrown explosives at it, Toepfer said. Colorado’s snowpack also has several weak layers in it now that make it prone to avalanches, he said.
“When I look at this particular incident, what I see is that anything over 30 degrees has the potential to slide, no matter what’s been going on in the past,” Toepfer said.
The black-diamond Lover’s Leap is 35 degrees at its steepest.
In-bounds avalanches are extremely uncommon at Vail. Toepfer, a longtime former Vail ski patroller who has skied Vail since its first season in 1962, said he can only recall one other time when a skier was caught in an avalanche in-bounds on Vail Mountain. A skier was caught on Rasputin’s Revenge in Siberia Bowl two or three years after the terrain opened in 1988, Toepfer said.
In Utah on Sunday, one person was hospitalized after getting caught in an avalache at Snowbird ski resort, and searchers continued to look for other skiers who may have been buried.
- Peter<br />
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Posted 14 December 2008 - 07:07 PM
tahoeistruckin, on Dec 14 2008, 06:26 PM, said:
http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/sto...uPq3h6Ud6Q.cspx
Update: Woman identified in avalanche death
Last Update: 7:12 pm
Print Story | Email Story
(4 Points Media) An avalanche at Snowbird ski resort has killed one woman. She is identified as 27-year-old Heather Gross of Salt Lake City.
Two doctors were on hand when rescuers used probes to locate Gross. CPR was administered on scene. Gross was flown to University hospital in Salt Lake City. She was buried in snow for close to one hour.
The slide let loose from Snowbird's highest point, hours after the resort opened new terrain off 11,068-foot Mount Baldy. In that area, skiers have to hike for about 20 minutes before descending, according to Dave Fields, a spokesman for Snowbird resort.
Fields said ski patrollers dropped hand explosives earlier in the day off Mount Baldy as part of avalanche control work there.
The avalanche was reported around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Snowbird officials say a witness reported the avalanche by cell phone.
Rescue operations are now over. Searchers initially feared other skiers might have gotten buried by the same slide. Salt Lake county Sheriff Jim Winder says a thorough search of the debris field failed to turn up anybody else.
Winder says it was an uncommon event inside avalanche-controlled ski resort.
Another avalanche was reported around 3 p.m. in Summit County. The avalanche occurred in a back country ski area located near Red Pine lake.
One man had minor injuries from the slide. He was evacuated by medical helicopter due to the remote terrain. The man was not buried. He was injured when debris from the slide pinned him against a tree, according to a Summit County Sheriff's spokesman.
The man was skiing with a group. A skier that had been with that group earlier in the day said everyone was experienced and had probes and beacons with them. Members in the group freed the pinned man.
Update: Woman identified in avalanche death
Last Update: 7:12 pm
Print Story | Email Story
(4 Points Media) An avalanche at Snowbird ski resort has killed one woman. She is identified as 27-year-old Heather Gross of Salt Lake City.
Two doctors were on hand when rescuers used probes to locate Gross. CPR was administered on scene. Gross was flown to University hospital in Salt Lake City. She was buried in snow for close to one hour.
The slide let loose from Snowbird's highest point, hours after the resort opened new terrain off 11,068-foot Mount Baldy. In that area, skiers have to hike for about 20 minutes before descending, according to Dave Fields, a spokesman for Snowbird resort.
Fields said ski patrollers dropped hand explosives earlier in the day off Mount Baldy as part of avalanche control work there.
The avalanche was reported around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Snowbird officials say a witness reported the avalanche by cell phone.
Rescue operations are now over. Searchers initially feared other skiers might have gotten buried by the same slide. Salt Lake county Sheriff Jim Winder says a thorough search of the debris field failed to turn up anybody else.
Winder says it was an uncommon event inside avalanche-controlled ski resort.
Another avalanche was reported around 3 p.m. in Summit County. The avalanche occurred in a back country ski area located near Red Pine lake.
One man had minor injuries from the slide. He was evacuated by medical helicopter due to the remote terrain. The man was not buried. He was injured when debris from the slide pinned him against a tree, according to a Summit County Sheriff's spokesman.
The man was skiing with a group. A skier that had been with that group earlier in the day said everyone was experienced and had probes and beacons with them. Members in the group freed the pinned man.
Has anybody heard of a type of I guess non-avalanche called "post-control release?" Where I work the owner's wife's son got caught in one along with a friend on kt-22 at squaw and his legs got broken. They didn't call it an avalanche though and I was wondering if that was for liability since the run was open.
This sounds like a "post control release"(AKA avalanche) . The only for sure thing after Professional Ski Patrol(Practicing Snow Scientists) has done their "control work " is that there is a less likely chance that there will be an avalanche. Remember that gravity never takes a day off. There will likely be litigation from this incident. I never take for granted that a slope is safe because some one else says so . If it is steep and there is "good powder" on it, be a skeptic,choose a safe line.
"Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur (it speaks for it self). Let the good times roll." HT
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Posted 14 December 2008 - 08:11 PM
aug, on Dec 14 2008, 07:07 PM, said:
QUOTE (skisox34 @ Jan 10 2008, 09:58 AM)
Has anybody heard of a type of I guess non-avalanche called "post-control release?" Where I work the owner's wife's son got caught in one along with a friend on kt-22 at squaw and his legs got broken. They didn't call it an avalanche though and I was wondering if that was for liability since the run was open.[/color]
This sounds like a "post control release"(AKA avalanche) . The only for sure thing after Professional Ski Patrol(Practicing Snow Scientists) has done their "control work " is that there is a less likely chance that there will be an avalanche. Remember that gravity never takes a day off. There will likely be litigation from this incident. I never take for granted that a slope is safe because some one else says so . If it is steep and there is "good powder" on it, be a skeptic,choose a safe line.
Has anybody heard of a type of I guess non-avalanche called "post-control release?" Where I work the owner's wife's son got caught in one along with a friend on kt-22 at squaw and his legs got broken. They didn't call it an avalanche though and I was wondering if that was for liability since the run was open.[/color]
This sounds like a "post control release"(AKA avalanche) . The only for sure thing after Professional Ski Patrol(Practicing Snow Scientists) has done their "control work " is that there is a less likely chance that there will be an avalanche. Remember that gravity never takes a day off. There will likely be litigation from this incident. I never take for granted that a slope is safe because some one else says so . If it is steep and there is "good powder" on it, be a skeptic,choose a safe line.
Aug, while that is true and avalanches do happen where control has taken place, I don't think people should be worried about skiing on inbounds, open runs. Regardless of pitch and snow conditions, skiing inbounds is extremely safe. 60 million people went skiing last season and I think there was one inbounds avalanche death? It just isn't something worth worrying about in my opinion. That said, if you have a beacon, it doesn't hurt to wear it inbounds.
- Peter<br />
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Posted 14 December 2008 - 09:20 PM
May have been the first of the season in Utah but the first deathsof the season in Colorado took place yesterday at Keystone
http://www.thedenver...479/detail.html
http://www.thedenver...479/detail.html
Ryan
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Posted 14 December 2008 - 10:55 PM
Skier, on Dec 14 2008, 08:11 PM, said:
Aug, while that is true and avalanches do happen where control has taken place, I don't think people should be worried about skiing on inbounds, open runs. Regardless of pitch and snow conditions, skiing inbounds is extremely safe. 60 million people went skiing last season and I think there was one inbounds avalanche death? It just isn't something worth worrying about in my opinion. That said, if you have a beacon, it doesn't hurt to wear it inbounds.
This post has been edited by aug: 14 December 2008 - 11:09 PM
"Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur (it speaks for it self). Let the good times roll." HT
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Posted 15 December 2008 - 08:35 AM
It doesn't look like Snowbird is trying to avoid calling it an avalanche, this message is displayed prominently on the Snowbird homepage...
"On Sunday, December 14, an avalanche at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort claimed the life of one of our guests.
On behalf of the entire Snowbird staff we extend our deepest sympathies to the victim’s family and friends. This tragic accident is under thorough investigation.
The search involved Snowbird Ski Patrol, Salt Lake County Search and Rescue, Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, Unified Fire Authority and teams from many of Utah’s other resorts. I want to thank all of the emergency personnel involved in the search but also the many guests and season passholders who volunteered to help in the rescue effort."
Bob Bonar, Snowbird President/COO
"On Sunday, December 14, an avalanche at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort claimed the life of one of our guests.
On behalf of the entire Snowbird staff we extend our deepest sympathies to the victim’s family and friends. This tragic accident is under thorough investigation.
The search involved Snowbird Ski Patrol, Salt Lake County Search and Rescue, Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, Unified Fire Authority and teams from many of Utah’s other resorts. I want to thank all of the emergency personnel involved in the search but also the many guests and season passholders who volunteered to help in the rescue effort."
Bob Bonar, Snowbird President/COO
- Peter<br />
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Posted 16 December 2008 - 06:34 AM
I’ll give my .02
Definition – Mitigation: The act of reducing
Further definition – the act of reducing does not mean complete and total elimination.
Please don’t consider me the voice of total authority but I have at one time or another worked, lived and built lifts at least five class A ski areas.
Let’s remember not to take “resort spokesmen” press releases or “wiki” searches too literally when we hear the phrase “skiing in bounds is perfectly safe”.
Avalanche control is not avalanche elimination –
Avalanche control is an inexact process – it is not an exact science that can be repeated over and over with the same result.
Avalanche control is a process of mitigation - due to changing weather, complexity of snow layers, complexity of different control routes, and many other human factors complete elimination will never occur.
Beacons are for location only; they do not prevent that snow that would normally just fill your shirt tail from just as easily entering your throat and suffocating you.
When skiing in risk prone areas, as some members have posted - commonsense and knowledge are the best things to carry with you.
Definition – Mitigation: The act of reducing
Further definition – the act of reducing does not mean complete and total elimination.
Please don’t consider me the voice of total authority but I have at one time or another worked, lived and built lifts at least five class A ski areas.
Let’s remember not to take “resort spokesmen” press releases or “wiki” searches too literally when we hear the phrase “skiing in bounds is perfectly safe”.
Avalanche control is not avalanche elimination –
Avalanche control is an inexact process – it is not an exact science that can be repeated over and over with the same result.
Avalanche control is a process of mitigation - due to changing weather, complexity of snow layers, complexity of different control routes, and many other human factors complete elimination will never occur.
Beacons are for location only; they do not prevent that snow that would normally just fill your shirt tail from just as easily entering your throat and suffocating you.
When skiing in risk prone areas, as some members have posted - commonsense and knowledge are the best things to carry with you.
www.ropetech.org
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Posted 16 December 2008 - 05:34 PM
Kelly, on Dec 16 2008, 06:34 AM, said:
I’ll give my .02
Definition – Mitigation: The act of reducing
Further definition – the act of reducing does not mean complete and total elimination.
Please don’t consider me the voice of total authority but I have at one time or another worked, lived and built lifts at least five class A ski areas.
Let’s remember not to take “resort spokesmen” press releases or “wiki” searches too literally when we hear the phrase “skiing in bounds is perfectly safe”.
Avalanche control is not avalanche elimination –
Avalanche control is an inexact process – it is not an exact science that can be repeated over and over with the same result.
Avalanche control is a process of mitigation - due to changing weather, complexity of snow layers, complexity of different control routes, and many other human factors complete elimination will never occur.
Beacons are for location only; they do not prevent that snow that would normally just fill your shirt tail from just as easily entering your throat and suffocating you.
When skiing in risk prone areas, as some members have posted - commonsense and knowledge are the best things to carry with you.
Definition – Mitigation: The act of reducing
Further definition – the act of reducing does not mean complete and total elimination.
Please don’t consider me the voice of total authority but I have at one time or another worked, lived and built lifts at least five class A ski areas.
Let’s remember not to take “resort spokesmen” press releases or “wiki” searches too literally when we hear the phrase “skiing in bounds is perfectly safe”.
Avalanche control is not avalanche elimination –
Avalanche control is an inexact process – it is not an exact science that can be repeated over and over with the same result.
Avalanche control is a process of mitigation - due to changing weather, complexity of snow layers, complexity of different control routes, and many other human factors complete elimination will never occur.
Beacons are for location only; they do not prevent that snow that would normally just fill your shirt tail from just as easily entering your throat and suffocating you.
When skiing in risk prone areas, as some members have posted - commonsense and knowledge are the best things to carry with you.
Thanks for the clarification Kelly.
"Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur (it speaks for it self). Let the good times roll." HT
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Posted 20 December 2008 - 10:39 AM
Part of her obituary from the Salt Lake Tribune. Heather Aron Gross 6/28/81 ~ 12/14/08 Heather was never meant to die of old age; instead she died causing international news. The inbounds avalanche at Snowbird, on December, 14th, ended her life at age 27. She was an avid Snowbird skier and would never want her death to stifle anyone's love for skiing or for the resort.
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Posted 21 December 2008 - 08:29 AM
New update in Salt Lake Tribune today. A male snowboarder set up dead avalanche:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11281302
Report: Snowboarder set off deadly avalanche
Report » U. graduate student, 27, was buried in three feet of snow at in-bounds area at Snowbird.
By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/20/2008 10:58:42 PM MST
Click photo to enlargeHeather Gross, taken from her Facebook profile. «123»A snowboarder initiated the in-resort avalanche at Snowbird that killed a 27-year-old skier last week, according to a recently released report on the incident.
New details about the avalanche that claimed the life of University of Utah graduate student Heather Gross state a male snowboarder was on the High Traverse of Snowbird's Mount Baldy at 12:24 p.m. when the avalanche started.
The rush of snow occurred as the unidentified boarder crossed a slope, but he was not caught in the avalanche, according to a report posted by Jim Collinson of Snowbird's Snow Safety Department on the Utah Avalanche Center's Web site, utahavalanchecenter.org.
It describes the frantic response of probe teams who desperately tried to dig Gross out of a 3-foot pile of snow. She died Dec. 14 after being buried for nearly an hour by the slide in the Eye of the Needle area below Mount Baldy.
"As the slide was in motion (witnesses) spotted a person in the middle of the track who was hiking up a slope to retrieve a ski," Collinson wrote.
"Warnings were yelled, but when visibility returned, the slope was empty, the alarm was sounded to the ski patrol and many public skiers and snowboarders began a search for missing people."
A search team was quickly assembled with dogs, beacons and a RECCO rescue system, which is reflector and detector equipment designed to assist in finding avalanche victims. About 150 people on the mountain formed probe teams to
search for Gross, who was not equipped with a beacon or RECCO gear, according to the report.
Collinson wrote that search dogs involved in the rescue had difficulty locating the victim and may have been distracted because of "scattered equipment" and the quantity of people in the area.
Collinson's report outlines avalanche control work Snowbird carried out prior to the opening of the ski season, including attempts to trigger avalanches Nov. 20, Dec. 9, and Dec. 14. The slope where the fatal avalanche occurred received two separate shots on Dec. 14th: One in what was later determined as the avalanche's starting zone and another in what turned into the lower flank of the avalanche. Neither shot brought on an avalanche, the report says.
The U.S. Forest Service and Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office are continuing to investigate the conditions that sparked the avalanche. Part of the investigation includes examining whether Snowbird's snow safety team conducted proper avalanche control work prior to the incident. Sheriff's spokesman Shane Manwaring said earlier this week the investigation will take weeks before authorities can draw any conclusions.
Collinson's report says the avalanche happened on the first day the Mount Baldy side of Snowbird had opened for the season. He wrote that all five of the resort's Baldy routers were run Dec. 14 -- routes that cover West Baldy, Northwest Baldy and western parts of the Peruvian Ridge. Fifty-five starting zones were tested with explosives or skis and produced "no significant results" that would predict an avalanche, according to the report.
mrogers@sltrib.com
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11281302
Report: Snowboarder set off deadly avalanche
Report » U. graduate student, 27, was buried in three feet of snow at in-bounds area at Snowbird.
By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/20/2008 10:58:42 PM MST
Click photo to enlargeHeather Gross, taken from her Facebook profile. «123»A snowboarder initiated the in-resort avalanche at Snowbird that killed a 27-year-old skier last week, according to a recently released report on the incident.
New details about the avalanche that claimed the life of University of Utah graduate student Heather Gross state a male snowboarder was on the High Traverse of Snowbird's Mount Baldy at 12:24 p.m. when the avalanche started.
The rush of snow occurred as the unidentified boarder crossed a slope, but he was not caught in the avalanche, according to a report posted by Jim Collinson of Snowbird's Snow Safety Department on the Utah Avalanche Center's Web site, utahavalanchecenter.org.
It describes the frantic response of probe teams who desperately tried to dig Gross out of a 3-foot pile of snow. She died Dec. 14 after being buried for nearly an hour by the slide in the Eye of the Needle area below Mount Baldy.
"As the slide was in motion (witnesses) spotted a person in the middle of the track who was hiking up a slope to retrieve a ski," Collinson wrote.
"Warnings were yelled, but when visibility returned, the slope was empty, the alarm was sounded to the ski patrol and many public skiers and snowboarders began a search for missing people."
A search team was quickly assembled with dogs, beacons and a RECCO rescue system, which is reflector and detector equipment designed to assist in finding avalanche victims. About 150 people on the mountain formed probe teams to
search for Gross, who was not equipped with a beacon or RECCO gear, according to the report.
Collinson wrote that search dogs involved in the rescue had difficulty locating the victim and may have been distracted because of "scattered equipment" and the quantity of people in the area.
Collinson's report outlines avalanche control work Snowbird carried out prior to the opening of the ski season, including attempts to trigger avalanches Nov. 20, Dec. 9, and Dec. 14. The slope where the fatal avalanche occurred received two separate shots on Dec. 14th: One in what was later determined as the avalanche's starting zone and another in what turned into the lower flank of the avalanche. Neither shot brought on an avalanche, the report says.
The U.S. Forest Service and Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office are continuing to investigate the conditions that sparked the avalanche. Part of the investigation includes examining whether Snowbird's snow safety team conducted proper avalanche control work prior to the incident. Sheriff's spokesman Shane Manwaring said earlier this week the investigation will take weeks before authorities can draw any conclusions.
Collinson's report says the avalanche happened on the first day the Mount Baldy side of Snowbird had opened for the season. He wrote that all five of the resort's Baldy routers were run Dec. 14 -- routes that cover West Baldy, Northwest Baldy and western parts of the Peruvian Ridge. Fifty-five starting zones were tested with explosives or skis and produced "no significant results" that would predict an avalanche, according to the report.
mrogers@sltrib.com
This post has been edited by Skiing#1: 21 December 2008 - 08:31 AM
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