Stevens Pass Avalanche Fatality

www.kirotv.com/news/27339604/detail.html

I was driving by Stevens at about that time and saw some activity at a trailhead about 1 mile east and emergency vehicals running up Rt 2. Sad.

easyloungin.com/forum/topic.php?id=7392

1st hand account.

Uhghh...
Really sorry to hear that loss to his friends and family.
From reading the story it's impressive the effort of those guys who were right on top of the matter. Nothing to hang your head about in your efforts to revive him. You did the best you could with the circumstance.

Twenty year-old victim (Riley McCarthy, UW student) is identified in this story:

www.king5.com/news/local/Snowboarder-kil...omore-118775679.html

Very sad news. Condolences to his family and friends.

As a student attending UW and having the same passions, I wish his friends and family the best. Wow...

Set off a few 6" or so slabbies at Alpy on accident as well... This wet snow wasn't pretty, not deep but apparently still very dangerous. I'll definately be even more aware now. It's just sad this had to happen...

Sad news.

I get a bit obsessed with accidents like this and am curious as to where Tunnel Creek is? Never been good with names and have toured out there a few times and am curious.

Access via the backside right, but is it skiers left up the ridge line or skiers right (closer to Tye) up and over back to the right (which takes you down to the hair pin west of the resort)?

US 2 crosses Tunnel Creek at the hairpin a few miles W of Stevens Pass summit.   You've seen the big powerline swath.  A FS road leaves US2 at Tunnel Creek and forks.  One fork road leads to the TH to Hope and Mig Lake, popular day hiking destinations.  (I think the road to the TH and the trail actually go up a tributary of Tunnel Creek.)  The S side of Cowboy Mtn is a relatively popular ski, sometimes combined with a hitch hike back to the pass.  Skiers usually get to the top of Cowboy Mountain via a hike or skin from the top of the 7th Heaven lift.  The S side of Cowboy has some big open areas down low that sometimes get sun-baked.

RIP to the victim.  Sympathies to his family and friends.  Too young.  Very sad.

Although I've not met the young man, it turns out that he is the nephew of a climbing friend.

Condolences to family and friends.

For the record, I got this information from NWAC:

The slide ocurred at 4:30 pm @3800' on a SW aspect. The skier started a small sluff which either triggered a 12 to 16" soft slab or entrained that amount of snow.

I didn't ask, but just assumed that this would have been very wet spring mush based on what I found yesterday at Stevens.

Having shared BMX sessions with Riley for the last year at the Greenlake skatepark, this comes as quite the shock.
Only last week we were sharing stoke on our winter in the hills. RIP Riley
"Be careful out there because it's better to live, doing what you love."