Analysis of Ranger Peak Avalanche, Tetons, Mar2012

A lengthy analysis by Grand Teton National Park rangers of the decision-making which led to the fatal avalanche on Ranger Peak (March 7, 2012) which claimed the lives of Steve Romeo (www.tetonat.com/) and Chris Onufer was posted online a few days ago.

Article from Jackson Hole News&Guide: jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=8373

Park: Skiers chose their fateful path
Rangers say Romeo, Onufer selected a route that took them into an avalanche starting zone.

By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole, Wyo.
March 21, 2012

The route two skiers chose during an excursion near Ranger Peak on March 7 was a key factor in them getting caught and killed in an avalanche, park rangers said Tuesday.

Steve Romeo and Chris Onufer died after being swept nearly 3,000 vertical feet. The two likely were headed to an unskied south-facing couloir above Waterfalls Canyon in Grand Teton National Park that Romeo had eyed over the years, rangers and a friend of Romeo's said.

Romeo and Onufer's ascending ski tracks led to that goal, rangers who investigated the avalanche deaths said. The route they chose took them from the edge of an avalanche path into its starting zone, which was the ideal steepness for slides, rangers said.

"They chose to go up a known avalanche path ascending into an avalanche starting zone," Jenny Lake Ranger Rich Baerwald said.

The incident should spur backcountry skiers to learn about avalanches and reassess the way they make decisions about taking risks, he said. Skilled skiers and moderate danger can be a deadly combination, rangers said.

.
.
.

Rangers discounted other skiers' sentiments about the pair being in "the wrong place at the wrong time." Such phrases are best reserved for victims of meteorite strikes, they said.

"This [event] had factors in it that [include] decision-making," Harder said of the avalanche. Rangers are uncertain to what extent the pair took into account the snow and winds.

.
.
.

Here is the official report: avalanche.org/pdfs/accidents/Ranger_Peak...e_Report_mar2012.pdf


Photos from Jackson Hole News&Guide and Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center :

Thanks for the heads-up, Amar.