We had a near miss today in the Black Pines when I set off an avalanche.
Be careful out there!

http://www.splattski.com/2011/black_pine/index.html

Ludd and Jim,

Sorry I removed your great responses, but that thread you were responding to was negative and attacking a friend... I removed it (and I can't keep the sub-threads). I am fine if you re-post your information, as I thought it was very useful.

I'll let Jim repost since his was better than mine. BUT... I still wonder if the "we" Old Friend was referring to is his gerbil...

I am baffled by the remarks made. The more I think about it though, the less is matters. Completely uneducated response to John's post. More of a nana-nana-boo-boo, stick your head in doo-doo than a concerned friend.

I will continue to ski with John for many more years. I have NEVER. Let me say that again, NEVER, felt unsafe with him. I would feel sad if I had to sit around waiting for the snow to melt to go "bag-a-peak" or whatever that is.

I agree it was an unproductive post. However, based on the insider knowledge (I can see details on each post and match them to prior posts), I can say that it really was a post from a friend of John.

Sad that they couldn't do it in a fashion other than a public "scolding" or "I told you so". Which may have been slightly more tolerable were they not anonymous.

I hope Jim re-posts his earlier post. He made some really good points. Sharring near-misses is an excellent tool to help others in a similar scenario. I think John did many more things right than he did wrong on that day. Screw this negativity. I'm going skiing!

''A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.'' -- Aesop

Below is my response to the post that Dan removed. The context of my response is lost, but it that doesn't matter much. It could really be to anyone who criticizes another's decision in the mountains without having the facts straight while not providing any insight into how one should have acted differently. I'm all for criticism as long as it's truthful and constructive.


This post by "An Old Friend" is non-productive for the following reasons.

(1) It does not have the facts straight regarding avalanche warnings. There have not been any avalanche warnings for the mountain range where Splattski triggered an avalanche. In fact, there has never been an avalanche warning for that range because there never has been avalanche advisory provided for that range. The avalanche warnings for other mountain ranges over the past week are related to loading of a deep instability that formed during the dry period in January and February. The avalanche triggered by Splattski appears to have been a windslab that formed in the few hours prior, and is not related to the deep instability.

(2) It does not have the facts straight regarding the "posts on this board talking or warning of the current danger". The only posts that I am aware of spoke of this deep instability, and not newly formed windslabs.

(3) It doesn't provide any insight into how Splattski could have done things differently (other than apparently not being in the mountains at all yesterday) or ask any questions of the incident to further the learning process.

(4) Because it is critical of Splattski's decisions, both yesterday and over the past 2 years, without providing any information that could further the discussion, it discourages him and others from talking about their avalanche incidents in a public forum. That would be a shame because people learn from other's mistakes.

(5) It's done anomalously. I believe a name should be provided when someone is critical of another's decisions.

Here is my take. This is Splattski's first avalanche incident despite having traveled extensively in snow-covered mountains over the past several decades. That's better than most. He admitted his mistake in a public forum so that others can learn from it. I'm giving him a "pass" on this one, and saying I'm glad nobody was injured and wishing him well on his travels for the remainder of this snow season.

And I'll add my own snowpack observations, albeit from a completely different part of Idaho. The wind hammered the Boise Mountains yesterday. Strong winds were from many points of the compass, mainly NE, E, SE, and SW. After approaching our intended touring area for over an hour, the winds caused us to change our plans. We spent the day skiing protected slopes out of the wind and away from any windslabs, mostly in the trees on N- and NW-facing slopes. The turning was quite good and the trail-breaking was easy.

Jim

Well said Jim and I am with all those who are glad that Voo Doo and the Doc are safe!

Glad you are safe John.

As many of you know, I had a similar experience. 3 of us were coming down from a ridge in the Lost Rivers. It was late May of a very wet and snowy spring. I had seen numerous slide remnants on peaks nearby during this trip and trips within a few weeks of this one. However, we weren't pushing the danger at all, just sticking with ridges and low angled slopes.

At some point, we started heading down a forested slope facing north. Directly below us and to our left was forested. There was a gully to our right and more of an open slope above it. The person in the lead set off a large crack, which was about 2 or 3 feet deep and seemed to break right at the base of the trees below the ridge. This was wet snow. The crack ran about 100 feet across the mountain. Luckily the lead of our group held onto a tree and wasn't pulled into the slide, which gained momentum and went slamming down the gully.

The reason I share this, is that there were several reasons we weren't expecting this. First off, there were trees. I now know that trees aren't a definate indicator that an avalanche can't occur around them (in fact, the trees seemed to be what the slide released from). The other thing is slope angle. We were only on a 20 degree slope, but I think the gully below us to our right was steeper. So what was just a sluff of sliding snow quickly turned into a real avalanche. We got lucky just like John... hopefully these reports will help someone.

Glad to see/read that you all are fine. Be careful out there Splattski, we enjoy your trip reports too much for you to get hurt. :P

Glad your safe John and Michael!

I don't know of anyone I'd rather have with me on a winter mountain climb than John. I have always felt safe with him and I always will.