Observation Rock avalanche

My thigh is still a little numb...

<br><br>I'll add that note to the TR <br><br>I kept quiet for a while, and didn't post about it or write a TR right away, since I didn't feel like immediately dealing with all the "armchair dissection" that it might generate. <br><br>I think the biggest (technical) error we made was in the route-finding. No reason to climb that slope directly and endanger everyone, when you can easily walk around to the top on gentle slopes. I try to enforce this point often with my ski partners, but sometimes it's hard.

Thanks for the insights, Phil. Maybe this fits into the "armchair dissection" category, but do you have a memory of what led to accepting the risk of going right up the slope? Did the "it's still summer" headset factor in (I think I got that from your post on your site, as well as from Paul, but I'm wondering if I'm reading you guys right)? After all, most of us head right up big steep slopes when the summer snow is consolidated and doesn't seem likely to sluff/slide, so there is likely a circumstance under which you'd see the theoretical risk and reasonably ignore it. Or do you think there was another reason you either didn't see the risk or didn't act on it? <br><br>I'm asking due to an assumption (based on what I've read as well as common sense) that state of mind can be a big factor in avalanche incidents. Sure, we can all look at photos and suggest possible safe and unsafe routes, but I'm just looking to learn whether your experience might tell me something about how to watch my own mind, if you know what I mean.

I think Sky sums this up best in poetic fashion...<br><br>

<br>Dangerous windslab,<br>Little snow becomes a lot.<br>Watch terrain features!<br>

<br><br><br>The Mowich Lake road is opening soon and we have recently experienced a large sum of precip at low snow levels. Therefore, one may ponder the avalanche that occured last fall by Observation Rock.<br><br>BTW-I wonder how the victim is recovering(ed)?<br>Joe