Slide in the Eye of the Needle area on Mount Baldy.
Photo: Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune.
A skier died on Sunday after being buried in an avalanche for about an hour in the Eye of the Needle area of Mount Baldy at Snowbird. Skier Heather Gross was still alive but unconscious when she was uncovered. Over 250 skiers responded to the avalanche site to help probe and search other potential victims. The area on Mount Baldy had just been opened to the public on Sunday after avalanche control work. Condolences to all those involved. More on the story here.
I was here the day before. Its spooky to think of this. I was in a small slide at Snow Basin some years ago. In-bounds slides shouldn’t keep us off the slopes, I think it would make Heather sad if that happened. I know thats how I would feel.
Hans
For sure Hans. Gotta keep skiing!
Scary day though. I’m just waiting for things to get creepier around here in JH…and for my SAR pager to start going off.
As a ski patroller in Southern Colorado I am saddened but not surprised to hear of todays inbound slide at your ski area. We have been “carpet bombing” our avalanche terrain with moderate results. Huge bombs(25-50 lbs) that we are hoping have huge results are not having the desired effect and then skiing these areas is deceptively stable despite the 3 to 9 inches of faceted snow at the ground interface. Only a matter of time before the stress overcomes strength and hopefully that comes in the form of snow weight an not skier trigger. If as expected these faceted layers persist throughout the season we need to be more careful than ever and protect one another with great decision making and prudent backcountry/inbound ski travel. Condolences from your friends in Colorado.
sorry this post was in response to the Dec 27 JH slide