Here is little look at a very close call by a couple guys skiing the Northwest Passage in Granite Canyon and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort backcountry during last year’s epic snow season. It looks like on this day there was some considerable avalanche danger and one skier came one turn away from getting munched. […]
Avalanche Safety
Today on Mount Saint John. Click all photos for larger image. Well, I think I need to have my head examined for not heeding my own advice to pull in the reigns this weekend due to a current questionable snowpack at the higher elevations here in the Tetons. Sometimes though, the lure to try and […]
Good news Teton skiers! It looks like spring might finally be moving in to the Jackson Hole region next week. (Maybe?) I know it has been a snowy winter and most folks are chomping at the bit to get into the high peaks and hit that line they have been thinking about all season. And […]
I like to wear my transceiver on the front of my torso and away from my arms, backpack straps and jacket pockets. Like many of you (I think), I wear an avalanche transceiver when skiing in the backcountry. (My personal favorite is an Ortovox S1.) Most transceivers come with a decent carrying case and harness […]
So, last week I went on a ski tour to ski Son of Apocalypse Couloir on Prospector’s Mountain. Someone had skied it the day before (meaning we had sloppy seconds – something I hate), but they dropped in not quite from the top, so my partner and I were still able to get some untracked […]
I was able to get by a few of the booths of the players in the avalanche safety game while at the Outdoor Retailer trade show yesterday. I’m keen to Ortovox products, but it’s always fun to see what other products are out there as well. The Ortovox S1+. My first stop was at Ortovox, […]
It’s pretty hard to avoid there being high avalanche danger in New Zealand when it snows 13 feet in 10 days. Like with most trips, local or abroad, I’ve started to eyeball the conditions and weather forecasts for New Zealand. (Launch day is tomorrow!) MetService.com seems to be the best website for weather and Avalanche.net.nz […]
Need a wake-up call? Sometimes I do. Holding back from skiing steep exposed runs in epic, bluebird powder conditions isn’t always easy and this video shows that no matter how much you train, avalanche rescue can take a really long time. Especially when you’re not using the proper equipment. Time to play it safe! Support […]
Major avalanche activity on the Alright/Wimpys massif. It was pretty crazy driving up to the park this morning and checking out all of the avalanche activity…especially on runs like Wimpys and Albright that get regular traffic. My guess is that most of these slides occurred yesterday, before noon. It didn’t look like anyone had been […]
Update: Unfortunately, Mark Wolling was unable to recover from his injuries. Peace be with you Big Wally…I hope the snow is soft and the winds are light in heaven. At approximately 8:26am today, Mark “Big Wally” Wolling was swept down Cheyenne Bowl while in the process of conducting avalanche reduction work on Route 7 prior […]
I’ve seen a lot of avalanche footage over the years and I sometimes wonder if watching makes one more comfortable and less afraid OR more fearful of avalanches over time. I think to some extent, video footage tends to make you more scared of them, but outrunning and/or surviving an avalanche in real life, might […]
Some of you locals might remember reading about this avalanche in the BTNF avalanche forecast on Lava Mountain on Togwotee Pass last week (Friday?). From the words the forecasters used, it sounded big and I really wanted to see it. Sure enough, yesterday…I received an email from a TetonAT visitor with some pictures of the […]
I heard about this video from some friends, but just watched it a couple days ago. It is from Jan 19th in the Gravelly Range in southwestern Montana, The avalanche had a crown of 4-6′ and a deposition pile 10-15′ deep. Pretty wild POV footage if you haven’t seen it yet.
Like many of you, I have been starting to feel a lot better about the Teton snowpack. But after today, I am again…sick to my stomach. Fearing wind more than avalanches today, I got out with a friend to attempt a line I have been looking at and wanting to ski for a long time. […]
Bridger Gondola webcam image of the avalanche before it was shut down. If you aren’t afraid of the snowpack yet…maybe now you will be. And if you haven’t hugged your neighborhood ski patroller recently, you should…because it’s unbelievable that no one was seriously injured in this recent event. This morning, a large avalanche released from […]
I’ve been holding my breath all day today in fear of an avalanche incident on the Pass or at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Unfortunately my thoughts have come true. The details are still very sketchy, but the word is that at least two substantial in-bounds avalanches occurred today at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. One […]
Well, we’ve finally caught up to Utah with the avalanche danger, and our local forecasters are stating that “large destructive avalanches are certain”. So today…Christmas, is a great day to start slow opening presents, drinking Cafe Rando’s and skiing at Snow King. Really, I can’t really complain too much about the elevated avy danger because […]
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 […]
It seems the more videos I watch these days, the more people I see getting caught in avalanches…and the more it gets me scared to ski in the backcountry. Not so much because of the other riders (well…maybe a little), but more because it is so crazy how powerful the mountains can be when not […]