Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Big Steve
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06 Apr 2011 14:56 #199373 by Big Steve

Phantom avy info? 04/06/11 was created by Big Steve

Just heard that a party of 5 triggered a slab avy on The Phantom this morning. Preliminary report is that 3 skiers slid a considerable distance and they were injured. Rescue may be underway now.

Hoping for good news. I would appreciate more info. Thanks

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bfree32
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06 Apr 2011 15:04 #199461 by bfree32

Replied by bfree32 on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

from NWAC:

"The preliminary information is that a skier triggered slab caught 3 people in a party of five. Of the three caught, two were injured after being carried some 400 vertical feet with a rescue ongoing. Apparently the slab was about 1.5-2 ft and released at about the 5500 ft elevation."

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Charlie Hagedorn
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06 Apr 2011 15:27 #199462 by Charlie Hagedorn

Replied by Charlie Hagedorn on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

KOMO might have the most information:
www.komonews.com/news/local/119359894.html

King 5 picked it up too:
www.king5.com/news/Two-hurt-in-Mount-Sno...-area-119353314.html

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alpentalcorey
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06 Apr 2011 15:44 - 06 Apr 2011 19:05 #199463 by alpentalcorey

Replied by alpentalcorey on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

The news report made it seem like 2 were injured enough to be brought down on litters (broken leg & hurt knee) but no fatalities? Thankful for that if so and hope for a quick recovery for the injured.

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Pete A
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06 Apr 2011 15:47 #199464 by Pete A

Replied by Pete A on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Some of the folks up there are TAY'ers....

fortunately no fatalities...i heard that the rescue team has met up with the party...keep your fingers crossed they all get down this afternoon.

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skibum
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06 Apr 2011 15:49 #199465 by skibum

Replied by skibum on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

After touring on summit west in the deepest powder i have ever skiied at snoqualmie i went to see what the Avi damage was because we heard bombs going off all day over there. When we almost got to the first lot we were turned around by Search and Rescue personnel that told us that there was a search and rescue mission going on and that they were closing the area.

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haggis
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06 Apr 2011 18:52 #199470 by haggis

Replied by haggis on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

From the local news sources I've read this happened at:

A place called "Phantom Pass"
On a picture that looked like Guye Peak

King5 did actually get their video correct showing the Phantom from the air.

I try to take all these news stories with a pinch of salt when they 1st come out.

Glad folk are OK up there, could have been me on one of my midweek dawn patrols but given the suspect forecast I didn't head out. Actually not all true as had work today preventing me.

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Pete_H
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06 Apr 2011 19:31 #199472 by Pete_H

Replied by Pete_H on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Sounds like the injured skiers are getting down. Bellevue medics have treated first patient who has a broken femur. Second patient is not quite down yet.

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hyak_erik
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06 Apr 2011 20:36 #199475 by hyak_erik

Replied by hyak_erik on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Just got an email from the site, they should be all down by now. Nice work SAR folks!

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blitz
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06 Apr 2011 21:23 #199476 by blitz

Replied by blitz on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

whew, thank you SPART too!

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lernr
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06 Apr 2011 21:40 #199477 by lernr

Replied by lernr on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Glad to hear!
Ivo

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ron j
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06 Apr 2011 21:41 #199478 by ron j

Replied by ron j on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Glad they're down;
Glad there were no fatalities.

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Marcus
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06 Apr 2011 22:53 #199479 by Marcus

Replied by Marcus on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Five in the party, three caught, including me. Reports so far here are fairly accurate. Lucky.

Much more detail to follow.

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Amar Andalkar
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06 Apr 2011 23:21 #199480 by Amar Andalkar

Replied by Amar Andalkar on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Five in the party, three caught, including me. Reports so far here are fairly accurate. Lucky.

Much more detail to follow.

Very glad that you're all alive and not too badly injured, Marcus. Looking forward to a detailed analysis / report. There's probably much to learn from it.

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Plinko
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06 Apr 2011 23:25 #199481 by Plinko

Replied by Plinko on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

I blame this all on Alpental's ridiculously early midweek closure. They should have been open to providing a reasonable inbounds option. :

Glad you made it down and it wasn't more serious!!

***Speedy recoveries!***

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skykilo
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07 Apr 2011 00:36 #199482 by skykilo

Replied by skykilo on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

My closest calls/biggest rides (plural!) have been on sunny aspects in April. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured parties.

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JMor
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07 Apr 2011 07:08 #199483 by JMor

Replied by JMor on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Whew, what a relief to know that everyone is out and safe, including the rescue party. I wish you all a speedy recovery.

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tele.skier
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07 Apr 2011 07:59 #199487 by tele.skier

Replied by tele.skier on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

I was up there skiing inbounds at silver fir. The snow was amazing in the morning, but changed very fast as the cloud cover thinned.

As skykilo said,.... April sun can change the snow very fast and it did that yesterday.

I'm glad everyone made it out. I also would like to hear the analysis at some point too

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filbo
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07 Apr 2011 08:13 #199489 by filbo

Replied by filbo on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

A mountain's wrath and a mountain's mercy all rolled into one.
Good to hear all are well and a penny for your thoughts Marcus.

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Marcus
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07 Apr 2011 08:17 #199490 by Marcus

Replied by Marcus on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Thanks everyone -- yes, absolutely, I'll have a full write-up in the next couple of days. It wouldn't be responsible to hide our mistakes if others can learn from them.

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GerryH
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07 Apr 2011 09:34 #199491 by GerryH

Replied by GerryH on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Yes, very glad you and your party survived Marcus, and were successfully rescued - albeit at considerable risk and expense. I'll abandon Amar's 'northwest nice' for a minute. Dan Otter too had similar thoughts, and spent significant time and effort this past season sharing his experience with the entire backcountry ski community so they might learn from his mistake - for which I very much appreciated. It is extremely frustrating for avalanche instructors, and sharing victims like Dan, to hear once again of an entirely avoidable accident occurring. What part of avalanche terrain + considerable to high danger, combined with 2-3' of new, less than 48 hr old snow, on a weak layer, probably wind affected, + warming, equals a high likehood or certainty of getting caught, is so difficult for us to grasp! Let alone exercising, or not, safe travel practices? A question every TAYer needs to ask themselves, everytime they consider going out, and are out. We have alternatives. We just need to see them.

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trees4me
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07 Apr 2011 09:54 #199492 by trees4me

Replied by trees4me on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Glad everyone is ok. And Thanks to all the rescuers.

Marcus, we will all appreciate learning from this, as the community did with Dan Otter's experience.

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davidG
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07 Apr 2011 10:09 #199493 by davidG

Replied by davidG on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

I don't know if those thoughts are premature, yet, Gerry - I guess we'll find out, but I do appreciate Skykilos' suggestion about the dangers of late season pre-corn dumps under April skies.

Think I'll reign in my near term aspirations, though

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haggis
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07 Apr 2011 10:18 #199494 by haggis

Replied by haggis on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Dan Otter was 09 April last year so a very similar timeframe and that also was with substantial new snow but at different time of day. I'm sure it will all come out in the wash and I look forward to hearing the details since I frequent that area.

My TR from 09 April 2010 led to a bunch of similar Monday morning QB statements.
www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ex.php?topic=16323.0

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powscraper
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07 Apr 2011 10:19 - 08 Apr 2011 19:03 #199495 by powscraper

Replied by powscraper on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Scary. Hooray for survival.

Is everybody here already well-versed in where to go when it's sketchy? Or can/does/should the bc ski community play a role in improving the collective knowledge of 'safer' options and choices on days like this?

[Post amended. Reason: not really relevant to the party in question, and not really sensible to use this particular thread to call out the 'secret stash' idea.]

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Micah
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07 Apr 2011 10:28 #199497 by Micah

Replied by Micah on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Best wishes for all involved. Glad there was not a worse outcome.

... because they consider these alternatives to be their 'secret stash.'

This may have no bearing on this incident.

I don't think the phantom qualifies as a secret stash by any reasonable definition. I do think bc skiers need to be self reliant. This means being able to evaluate conditions to the extent that you can judge for your own party if the risk of skiing is acceptable to you.

Stay safe.

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ron j
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07 Apr 2011 10:29 #199498 by ron j

Replied by ron j on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

I don't know if those thoughts are premature, yet, Gerry...

I would suspect they are...
If I know Marcus he'll probably do a fine job at pointing out the mistakes that they made without any help from the rest of us.
He's already promised to help us learn from their mistakes.
I think it frustrates us all to see knowledgable and professional friends caught in these situations but I believe it is only fair to be patient enough to let them have their say before castigating them.

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chmnyboy
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07 Apr 2011 10:33 #199499 by chmnyboy

Replied by chmnyboy on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

We all make our own decisions and risk tolerance varies. The rest of us shouldn't be bothered by that nor should we judge others' choices. Fun often times comes at the expense of a little bit of personal safety.

Marcus, sorry there were injuries in your group, but it's great news that everyone got back alive. I bet that was one hell of a rush!

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Pete A
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07 Apr 2011 10:35 #199500 by Pete A

Replied by Pete A on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

Or maybe it's just as simple as skiing Kendall Stump instead (is that 'always' safe)?

funny you mention the Stump....a few weeks ago on a considerable/high day, I actually saw a crown from a skier triggered slab release earlier in the day at the top of the Stump near the steepest most sparsely treed portion of the hill on the south side...so i'm not sure there are ever destinations that can always been considered safe...even something as tame as the Stump... so many variables (subtle changes in aspect and angle) can make for unsafe pockets within a larger zone generally known to be a safe place to play.

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Charlie Hagedorn
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07 Apr 2011 10:45 #199501 by Charlie Hagedorn

Replied by Charlie Hagedorn on topic Re: Phantom avy info? 04/06/11

No need to rush the story out, Marcus et al., though it might be handy to write your thoughts down now while they're fresh, then sit on them for a month or more. Your perspective on the accident may change with time in a way that's also educational. Waiting may help make any constructive criticism more objective (and less apt to appear in the Seattle Times).

Very glad everyone's home - best wishes for the imminent medical work and recovery. A huge thank-you to the SAR community.

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