Whistler Tree Well Death 3/15

A 32 year old experienced skier died in a tree well on 7th Heaven.

Not at all surprising this week with so much fresh snow and all of the trees fully loaded.

I skied by some today near Symphony that had no snow for ten feet down. Frightening...

Don't just tell your partner - show them what a dangerous tree well looks like. Most people don't really know!

Brian

Thanks for the report. I stuck ONE LEG in a well on a deep-snow tour at Yodelin once, and I was glad I had my cousin to help me out. Must be big snow up north.

Sorry to hear this Brian ...

A very experienced friend / fellow BC skier had a near-tragic experience similar to this just 200 yards or so from the main lodge at Crystal just a few years ago.

All in a bit of panic, 'where the heck is he?' ... type 30 minutes... All within ear-shot / eyes / but SE of the base. Just near where we had relaxed due to the fact we were so close to everything.

Could happen to any of us... Condolences so to his family to say the least.

Recent tree well incidents have prompted me to ski with a whistle around my neck and several meters of 6mm cord in my pack. The whistle is in case I go in. The cord is in case a friend goes in. My friends and I still probably get too far separated when skiing in the trees. Need to work on that.

I ski the trees a lot and really don't spend the whole winter worrying about tree wells. But I tell you what - when it is storm after storm and every tree is full I Stay CLOSE to the point of it not being as fun just because it is so dangerous. My wife has bought me a whistle and I've been too stupid to put it on yet. Next year for sure.

With all of the pictures and education I still don't think that most riders really understand. You have to ski by a 5' Christmas tree and look down at the right time and see a fifteen foot hole...or...you have to be on a steep slope and get one ski too
close to a well and have it start to drop in. When this happened to me a few years ago I was lucky enough to have another trees
Branch nearby to grab.

On my resent trips to
Colorado, Utah, and California, I didn't see the danger as often. More Pines, Aspens, and some of the Spruce have much shorter branches and don't look so dangerous. Im sure everything is forest/elevation dependent. We've got it bad up here and in Canada.

My wife has bought me a whistle and I've been too stupid to put it on yet. Next year for sure.

I've found that the best way to remember the whistle is to wrap the lanyard around the shoulder strap on my avalanche beacon when I store it away. So when the beacon comes out, the whistle is right there and I put it around my neck.

Some backpacks have whistles built into the sternum strap, but not all. The whistle I carry is like the ones that sports referees use (with a little ball that trills). It seems like a sound that would carry well.