Looking for discounted lift tickets while supporting the Utah Avalanche Center? Ski Utah in partnership with Alta, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Solitude, Sundance, Wolf Mountain and Backcountry.com have you covered with an offer Utah locals won’t be able to refuse. This special partnership – from December 16th until they sell out – offers discounted lift tickets – ranging from $20 – $75 available only on the Utah Avalanche Center’s website at utahavalanchecenter.org –100% of the proceeds go directly to the non-profit organization, Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. When the backcountry avalanche danger is high, you can still get freshies at the resorts and support the Utah Avalanche Center at the same time

With more skiers and riders heading out-of-bounds, the UAC provides critical avalanche and mountain weather information to help educate skiers make life-or-death decisions in the backcountry. UAC forecasters issue avalanche warnings and advisories daily, highlighting when conditions are especially hazardous or unusual. This information is crucial not only for skiers and snowboarders, but for snowshoers, cross-country skiers, snowmobilers, hunters, hikers, Boy Scout troops and anyone else who gets after it in Utah’s mountains.

Because of rising costs and increased demand on services, the UAC is working to raise $36,000 to offset budget shortfalls for 2009/2010. By purchasing these special discounted lift tickets at your favorite resort skiers and riders greatly impact the Center’s ability to continue its education, outreach and avalanche forecasting programs. This discounted ski pass program is the Utah’s ski industry’s way to bolster the UAC and its outstanding resources.

Buy Now: Visit Backcountry.com to Purchase Discount Lift Tickets

We have ended our avalanche advisories for the season

This does not mean that there will be no more avalanches. It just means that we have run out of money and our forecasters are heading off to their summer jobs, with a short vacation in between.

Thank you:
We want to thank everyone for a number of things: First, thanks for staying safe. We had a difficult season with an especially dangerous, early-season snowpack. Although the avalanche cycle claimed four lives, the vast majority recreated safely, by getting avalanche educated and by regularly consulting the advisory. Second, we would like to thank everyone for sending in observations. We are an under funded and overworked organization, so we certainly can’t be everywhere at once. The quality of the advisory depends directly on the amount of feedback from the community. Each day, 10-20 of you would send us observations and photos. This kind of community support is what motivates to wake up at 3:00 am and work lots of unpaid overtime.

Thanks for Funding Support:

Thanks to everyone who financially contributed this season. We had an unexpected budget cut this season and several valued partners stepped up to the plate to keep us from cutting back services. Namely, the non-profit group, Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, raises private funds for avalanche forecasting and education in Utah. For the first time, private funding represented our largest funding source. Because of your financial support the FUAC contributed around $118,000 to avalanche forecasting and education in Utah. A big thanks to the Unified Fire Authority, who filled in a big chunk of our funding gap. Finally, the Forest Service Recreation Fees program filled in the last of our funding gap. Of course, we could not do this without our regular, longtime, funding partners, which include: Utah State Parks, Utah Public Safety, Salt Lake County and the city of Sandy. Of course, this is a Forest Service program and about a fifth of our funding comes from a yearly, regional earmark and we thank Doug Abromeit, Liz Close and our boss, Larry Lucas for their unfailing support. We are co-located with the National Weather Service, who provide office space and unsurpassed, weather forecasting skill, infrastructure and the regular company of dozens of very smart people, who are essential in making our forecasts better and more accurate. Last, but not least, thanks to all the businesses and individuals who donated, especially Black Diamond, Backcountry.com and the generous ski resorts who donated hundreds of lift passes, the sales of which directly benefited the FUAC. We will have a more complete list in our upcoming Annual Report (sometime in May). 

We are trying to raise funds for continued web site development over the summer. If you wish to contribute to the cause, you can donate to the Friends of the UAC.

General Spring Avalanche Advice:

My darling, little, 92-year-old mother-in-law from the Czech Republic lives with us and she said the other day, “Spring is always a fight between winter and summer.” Each spring, we see a series of cold, winter storms with cold powder and the requisite dry, slab avalanches. In between storms, warm temperature and strong sun instantly turns all the new snow into wet, mashed potatoes, which can come slurping down the steep mountainsides in a hurry as wet sluffs and sometimes wet slabs. Because of these rapidly alternating extremes, it can make avalanche stability assessment especially tricky. Even if we continued our avalanche advisories through May it wouldn’t help much because spring conditions vary dramatically not only from one place to another but from one minute to the next. So your only choice is to carefully evaluate snow stability as you travel. Here are some general tips:

Dry snow:

With each snowstorm, we need to worry about the usual round of storm-snow instabilities, namely wind slabs and instabilities within the new snow. Wind slabs are especially easy to recognize because they are smooth, rounded, hollow-sounding and often feel “slabby”, meaning that you can feel strong snow on top with weaker, softer snow underneath. You should always avoid these recent deposits of wind drifted snow on slopes approaching 35 degrees or steeper.

Even out of wind-affected areas, new snow can have buried weak layers deposited by rapidly-changing storm conditions. These weak layers most commonly include graupel, (looks like little Styrofoam balls) or a lower density layer in the new snow. Finally, high precipitation rates during the storm can cause instant soft slabs within the new snow because it is being loaded up with weight faster than it can adjust to its load. You can easily test for these instabilities by jumping on small, test slopes or quickly digging down with your hand and pull on small blocks that you isolate.

Wet snow:

We live in a desert, after all. So between storms we almost always get sun and this time of year, we also get very warm temperatures, which mean nearly instant damp or wet avalanches. Everyone knows that if you want powder snow in spring, you need to get it quick, because it has a very short shelf life. Once the sun and warm temperatures start to cook everything down, new snow can loose its internal strength very quickly and it starts to produce point-release, damp or wet sluffs, which can fan out to very large areas and pile concrete-like debris into very deep piles. Occasionally, wet slabs occur, which can produce very large and dangerous avalanches. Also, each spring we always see “glide” avalanches, which occur when the entire season’s snowpack slides slowly on steep rock slabs or grassy slopes like a glacier until they catastrophically release as a very large avalanche. These occur during especially warm weather and they can release any time, day or night. So you should always avoid traveling on or below steep rock slabs, especially in notorious glide avalanche areas such Stairs Gulch, Broad’s Fork and the steep slabs in Cardiff Fork.

Once we get a few days of warm weather with freezing each night, the snow turns into much more stable corn snow, which many backcountry skiers and boarders love because it’s flat and grippy, like a groomer at a ski area. The key with corn is to get on it just after the sun softens it up enough to get an edge into it and get off of it before it gets too mushy. If you’re punching through, leaving deep ruts or sinking in past your ankles when walking on foot, it’s time to change to a shadier aspect or head home. Besides, it’s considered to be bad form to leave deep ruts in the snow, which ruins it for others who will be there the next morning. The name of the game is to get out early and get home early.

Finally, with the exception of Snowbird, all the ski areas are closed for the season and no one is doing any avalanche control. Practice normal backcountry safe-travel protocol even within the closed ski resorts.

I will be around until around the end of May working on the annual report and trying to raise funds for further development on our web site for the summer. I still want to know about avalanche activity so we can keep track of it on our database.

Fill out the observation form on our home page at www.UtahAvalancheCenter.org

Responding to a “call-to-action” from the Friends of Utah Avalanche Center (FUAC) earlier this season, Backcountry.com created an online “storefront” for direct ticket purchase only accessible through UAC’s homepage. In addition, Backcountry.com provided funds, facilities and staff necessary to process and mail out all lift ticket orders.

The discounted ski pass program provides locals with a single day adult lift ticket to specified Utah resorts ranging in price from $20 to $73, depending on the venue. The participating resorts from Ski Utah donated these lift tickets in their entirety – 100% of the proceeds went to the UAC. This program wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without the generosity of the following resorts: Alta Ski Area, Beaver Mountain, Brighton Resort, The Canyons, Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Solitude Mountain Resort, Sundance Resort and Wolf Mountain.

“The skiers and riders of the Wasatch Range truly take ownership in the Utah Avalanche Center when they support this initiative,” says Craig Gordon, the UAC’s sole avalanche forecaster for the western Uinta Mountains. “It is their generosity and community-mindedness which allow us to enjoy and explore the Wasatch Range in a much more informed way.”

With the end of ski season approaching, the lift ticket initiative has exceeded all of the organizers expectations generating approximately $38,000 in revenues. These funds will enable the UAC to continue its avalanche forecasting through the end of April, educational programs, local outreach and the Salt Lake based “Are You Beeping” interpretive sign program.

More Info: Visit UtahAvalancheCenter.org

When he came out with the first edition of his book “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain” most of the mainstream media and general population had little concern or care for avalanches. It wasn’t until January 14, 2005 that a shift in that interest and desire for information.

In fact, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Backcountry.com athlete Andrew McClain was a guest on the Good Morning America Now show (if you click the link you’ll see the video on the right) talking about avalanches and related gear like the Avalung and the Pieps DPS Beacon, both of which I also happen to use.

I remember back on that date in January of 2005 when a huge avalanche in the adjacent sidecountry of The Canyons Resort resulted in a frenzy of news stories, internet speculation and misinformation that up to 15 people had been caught in the slide. Sadly and ultimately it claimed the life of just one man. A popular sidecountry destination, Dutch Draw has been the site of many close calls, including one that I Jason and I were witness to.

Despite the media and general populous gaining more interest and knowledge of avalanches, albeit superficial and often time incorrect, that was not the reason for Bruce to come out with a Second Edition of Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain. The fact is that Avalanche Safety is a science, one that is continually evolving and the skills and knowledge necessary to keep you safe in the backcountry are being refined each day by pros like Bruce.

Review of Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper

When comparing this the second edition to the first, there are more than a few changes. Content, layout, some of the figures and charts have been updated (although some are still old, which is one of my only criticisms) and some personal notes and suggestions from Bruce are added.

New techniques like the Shovel Tilt Test which Bruce and other UAC forecasters developed are covered in this new addition. That and other new information accounts for the page number increase from 284 pages to 310.  Also of note is the expansion in Chapter 10, The Human Factor.

The Human Factor

Avalanche accidents and safety in the backcountry more often than not involves the human factor more than was previously attributed.  People often cite an avalanche for where it broke, on what layer, and how.  Tremper dives into a number of personal experiences as well as the Dutch Draw slide and others to cite how the human factors play an even bigger role in an avalanche and should be more widely considered when in the backcountry.

I suppose it’s sort of psychology 101 or better 310 when it comes to decision making and group dynamics.  For example, below are the contributing factors cited from the book  along with the number of times they were directly attributed as the main factor in an avalanche fatatily from 1990-2000:

• Overconfidence – 15
• Attitude – 12
• Group Management – 8
• Complacency – 6
• Poor Communication – 6
• No Error

The book then dives into how to identify when these things are present within a group.  I for one almost became a victim of complacency when late in a day I and a partner decided to ski a slope that we both had suspect feelings about but dismissed it since other slopes had been solid all day.  My partner was swept over a small cliff and lost a pole in the ensuing slide.

I like how the book presents a large number of images, charts, illustrations and graphs that add to the learning. Like I said above, if I had a criticism it would be that a number of the charts could use some additional updated information.

Hot Tips

One of the highlights for me throughout the book are the “Hot Tips”, generally found in each chapter, where Tremper often opens up with personal insights. It’s almost like you’re taking a class from him and he gives you the “by the way…”.   This is exactly how Bruce teaches in the field – without ego and with a lot of personal experiences.

The Bottom Line on Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain

Of course, reading this book won’t make you an avalanche expert overnight like real life field experience over years and years can and will. But a good text (I consider this more text book than casual reading) it’s definately worth picking up and reading and rereading and nothing I’ve read or seen can top Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper.

Buy Now: Pick up Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper and get yourself educated.

With that in mind, I’m hoping to at least head out for a walk in American Fork Canyon to investigate the snowpack. Apparently there’s a killer rain layer from Thanksgiving and a few other tricky layers of junk, graupel or faceted snow that are essentially making backcountry travel downright treacherous.

Check out Drew Hardesty’s thoughts from Wednesday’s avalanche report:

The danger is CONSIDERABLE. Let’s be clear: the backcountry is exceedingly dangerous right now. You will trigger an avalanche if you decide to ski a steep slope at the mid and upper elevations. You will also be able to trigger avalanches at a distance, with some of them pulling back to lower angled slopes.

Thursday’s report from Evelyn Lees isn’t much better:

The avalanche danger is HIGH on and below mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those facing west through north through east and southeast. Human triggered avalanche are likely on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, and slides can be triggered remotely from a distance, so avoid travel adjacent to and below steep avalanche paths. As the winds pick up this afternoon and this evening, a natural avalanche cycle could occur again. Only those people with excellent avalanche skills and experience should travel in the backcountry, and travel should be on gentle slopes and ridge lines well away from avalanche paths.

Today’s avalanche report is from Bruce Tremper, who puts everything into it’s proper perspective with his video of field work from yesterday:

Looks like it might be a tough year in the Wasatch for backcountry skiing and a dangerous one for those who choose to throw all caution to the wind. If you’re curious about the current snow profiles or want to check out the latest reported avalanche activity, head over to the Utah Avalanche Center. As far as I’m concerned, I’d like to live and am choosing my backcountry adventures wisely.

More Info: Visit UtahAvalancheCenter.com

Ski Utah, Backcountry.com have teamed up with the Utah Avalanche Center to offer lift tickets from 8 of the 13 Utah resorts.  100% of the proceeds go to the Utah Avalanche Center.  Yes, I said 100%!

An obvious omission from the list of resorts offering tickets into the mix are Alta, Snowbird and Solitude. Unless they sold out before I could get to the deal page, which could very well be the case.

But be sure to get them fast as the cause the deals are HOT and quantity is limited.
In fact, The Canyons, Powder Mountain and Snowbasin lift tickets are gone, already! I’m not sure just how many there were, but given the fact that the deal was announced this morning on the Utah Avalanche Center’s daily update these were hot deals:

• $43 (normal price is $63) for Snowbasin
• $40 (normal price is $56) for Powder Mountain
• $50 (normally $75) for The Canyons.

I’m not sure if begging, pleading and sniveling will help but you could always chime in over on the Ski Utah blog and see what they say. Perhaps if enough people beg and plead Powder Mountain, The Canyons and Snowbasin will offer up a few more lift tickets so those like me can pick up some for stocking stuffers.

After all, it’s for a fantastic organization – the Utah Avalanche Center.

Over the past 15 years, we have seen many resorts become “Disneyfied.” In order to compete with the cruise and travel industry, many ski resorts have attempted to add diversity to the ski experience. At Big Mountain, MT, guests can now take “thrill sleds” down the mountain. Vail offers “Adventure Ridge” activities, which include tubing and snowmobiling. Meanwhile at Snowbird, the mountain school advertises a ‘guided backcountry’ tour. Many resorts, including Ski Cooper, Monarch and Grand Targhee offer skiers the option of snowcat skiing.

Management within today’s large conglomerate ski companies admit more attention is being paid to grooming these days because it is what their customer base is asking for. A great example of the change in grooming style can be seen at Steamboat, CO. Runs that used to be filled with VW-sized moguls (such as ‘Rolex’) are now being groomed weekly into high-speed boulevards. Locals there have even started a “Stop the brutal grooming” campaign.

According to Denver Business Journal, in 2001-2002 Vail Resorts spent $55.8 million on-mountain upgrades that would include, “work to increase grooming of ski terrain across all its ski resorts.” In 2001, ABC news interviewed Roger McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer of Breckenridge Resort. McCarthy stated that ski crews were “going to go for some of the steeper stuff” that season.

At some resorts, black diamonds don’t cause second thoughts like they used to. I can remember when getting down a run like “Rolex,” meant something. Now, adventurous intermediates are going well beyond their limits when they see once foreboding expert trails appear nothing more than a steeper plane of corduroy carpet for them to exploit. Today’s destination skiers and, surprisingly many local weekend passholders, are shrugging off the warning signs posted and in the process putting the ski industry in a tight squeeze. These ‘weekend warriors’ assume that they are boarding a ride at the local Six Flags theme park. Although “Superman: The Escape” looks downright scary, they know that they will arrive back at the station in relatively one piece. Destination skiers are taking the same attitude with many expert trails.

In 1999, Solitude Mountain Resort was found “65% guilty” of allowing a group of intermediate level skiers’ access into an expert-only area known as Milk Run. During the day, a number of skiers had descended that particular area in difficult snow conditions without problem, but the 3 intermediates found themselves overmatched with the terrain and attempted to hike out. During the hike out, one of the skiers slipped and fell over a 30-foot cliff to his death on the icy slopes below. Freeskier reported on this incident in Oct. 1999 and Jill Adler commented that, “Maybe these skiers were overcome with a case of Disneyland Syndrome – mistaking a ski resort for a controlled environment where all the threats are imaginary.” The frightening part is that recreational skiers are taking this non-chalant attitude one step further into the backcountry.

Last winter, after a week of downright puking powder storms and a late nightcap on Park City’s Main Street, I awoke to an excited phone call from a fellow ski bum. “Hey, check out the bluebird today. Want to go hit ‘The Driveway?’” The thought evoked a rabid curiosity in me. I had already chewed up most of the in-bounds powder at the ‘Bird and the backcountry seemed to have stabilized over the past few days. “Sounds great,” I volunteered.

Kendall and I met up a few hours later at the base of the Tombstone chairlift. We had recently contacted the Utah Avalanche Center for the daily Wasatch backcountry avalanche advisory and found that conditions were expected to have ‘moderate’ risk on Eastern slopes above 8,000 feet. Besides having the information we needed, we also carried the typical backcountry rescue gear. The Canyons has one centrally located access gate and to reach it requires taking both the Tombstone and 9990 lifts. Scattered amongst each lift tower in plain sight are warnings related to backcountry skiing. Additionally, there is a ski patrol station adjacent to the top terminal of 9990. The access gate has a sign across it stating that you are leaving the controlled ski area boundary and that by exiting you have a possibility of death (in 2000 and 2001 skiers lost their lives in the Square Top avalanche zone just North of the 9990 peak).

Each day I have hiked up to the access gate, I have noticed a large number of ‘day tickets’ exiting the boundary with no apparent avalanche rescue equipment and undoubtedly little knowledge of the dangers that exist. On one instance, I had counted more than 40 of these people. Fortunately for us, “The Driveway” was located an additional 15 minute hike North of the main off-piste areas. On our way to “The Driveway,” we needed to cross the ridge above the infamous “Square Top.” “Square Top” had seen unusual stability this past season (only releasing big twice). It looked very inviting with only 3 tracks gracing the virgin headwall.

After a little debate, we decided to “test out” the snow conditions. There were no ‘gomers’ in sight so we felt pretty comfortable roping up and descending 50 feet or so to dig a pit and conduct some ski-cutting. Both of us were educated on the dangers of skiing “Square Top” and knew that it had to be absolutely ideal conditions to even consider. While we were doing our careful analysis on the upper edge of the slope- two snowboarders and a skier appeared. As they approached us, we could tell that they had no backcountry rescue gear, but were teetering on top of one of Utah’s most infamous slide paths.

Rather than cause an incident, we decided to play it cool. Kendall suggested, “You guys know about this peak, right?” They just nodded and kept walking. Not a moment later, they jumped in above us to our right and started bombing straight down the nasty Avalanche-prone terrain with no knowledge of the snow conditions. Kendall and I just about flipped out that these idiots could have started a slide and taken us down with them. It was a furious, but frightful moment. But, they were lucky. Only a small amount of snow spattered out from their boards. This time around, they had beaten “The House.” Next time, they or others around them might not be so lucky.

With the temporary rage that we had felt now behind us, we continued our safety checks. Then after much careful debate, we allowed ourselves into the Beast’s lair. Rewarded with 1500 vertical feet of untracked Utah powder, we reached the bottom in exuberance- “Square Top” had been conquered. “Square Top” has this mystique about it. Some seasons, it just doesn’t get skied because of the immense danger. During those seasons, mostly the ignorant ones leave tracks while the more cautious take other lines that are less dangerous, like “The Driveway” or “Dutch’s Draw.” There is no escaping the danger, though.

The Canyons has some of the most accessible backcountry terrain amongst major North American resorts and the management has done more than enough to warn of the apparent dangers. “Everything that is hip right now is extreme,” said Katie Eldridge, Director of Communications for The Canyons Resort. “We’ve done everything we can to really (make) an effort to put up extensive signage. Our responsibility is to inform our guests of the risks, but people are going to do what they are going to do.”

These incidents seem to be spiking across North America and are not only isolated to The Canyons Resort. They happen at every hill. In March of 2002, 1 skier and 2 snowboarders were caught in an avalanche out-of-bounds at Sugar Bowl, CA. According to Sugar Bowl patrol, the party was not carrying avalanche safety equipment. One person died in the accident. Another skier died alone in avalanche country on the backside of Aspen, CO the same month. In 2001, 5 unequipped snowboarders were caught in a slide just outside the boundary of Big White near Kelowna, BC. They were lucky and survived.

Year in and year out, skiers and snowboarders regularly get caught in fatal avalanches while searching for untracked powder outside Arapahoe Basin, CO. Areas including “Marjorie’s Bowl” and “The Beavers” claimed lives during the 1999-2000 season. It is a common concern among educated backcountry travelers that the increasing number of avalanche deaths by uneducated skiers and riders exiting resort boundaries could force future closure of such gates, especially in such a litigious country as the U.S. There are few resorts that require all backcountry parties to check in with Ski Patrol before exiting the resort boundaries. Aggressive resorts such as Snowbird and Whistler attempt to advertise Avalanche safety classes that are available to the general public.

It is a shame that mainstream baby-boomers and recreational skiers try to make ski resorts account for the individual skier’s ability and mistakes. Those mistakes will possibly cost the freedom of more accomplished skiers in future years. And while those ignorant ‘Disneylanders’ blatantly ignore danger signs, a certain responsibility rests upon us as accomplished skiers to help educate and warn them of the dangers. Those people may not see the risk of betting their life in a game against Mother Nature (similar to folks who take a hit at the Blackjack table when the dealer has a bust-card), but their actions may take the other nearby players down with them. When the playing gets rough or people start taking stupid risks, there’s always another table to look for- but the odds still favor the House.

On New Year’s Day, Kendall Card and I ventured into the South Backcountry just outside of The Canyons Resort. What was a routine trip into the backcountry ended up being a lesson in how dangerous the backcountry can be.

9:00 AM: Saddleback and Toombstone Lifts

Kendall and I hooked up with The Canyons photographer, Erik Seo to shoot some pics while the 9990 Lift was closed for avie work. We ducked into The Pines off of Saddleback for two laps of freshies, then onto Toombstone.

We ducked into the trees just to the skier’s left of Another World for two more laps of untracked, knee-deep pow. We could hardly believe that nobody followed us after our first run, but midway through the second run, a group of snowboarders caught our scent and quickly devoured our stash.

After those runs on Toombstone, we hunkered down in the line for 9990. We ended up waiting for over an hour before we got a chance to ride on the swings.

10:30 AM: 9990 Express Lift

Once the lift opened, it was sheer pandemonium as everyone pushed and shoved their way in line and everyone just packed onto the lift with whoever was next to them. There are no friends on powder days and my lift ride up was quiet since nobody seemed to know each other.

We made one nonstop lap before returning to the Fantasy Ridge area for a round of photos. Once the pow was all tracked out, it was time for Kendall and I to hit the BC towards Duches Draw.

1:00 PM: Dutches Draw

This area consists of the south facing bowl off of 9990 Peak and continuing south to the top of Duches Draw. To access this area, there’s a 300 ft. bootpack from the top of the 9990 Express Lift which accesses the actual summit of 9990 Peak. The backcountry gate allows you to either head north towards Squaretop or south towards Duches Draw.

In recent years, more and more people have been venturing into the backcountry — most of them unprepared for backcountry travel. Sadly, beacons, shovels, probes and common sense are rareities.

After skiing down to the saddle between 9990 and Duches, we load the skis into our packs and begin up the bootpack to the summit. While climbing, we noticed how many people were making that trek and mostly that we were the only ones with proper backcountry gear.

On top of that, everyone seemed to be oblivious to the fact that they were venturing into a very unstable snowpack with many typically dangerous slopes.

I noticed a particular couple who caught my attention as being obviously unprepared. She was a telemarker and he was on alpine equipment straight ouf of 1985. They oozed of stupidity.

Kendall and I reached the summit and began pulling out packs off. I immediately noticed that the bootpack went right over a 10 foot cornice, so I diverted the bootpack away from that. “What knuckleheads…” I thought. On top of that, there were two snowboarders parked atop the cornice just hanging out. I said they should not be just sitting on top of the cornice and mentioned they should sit elsewhere… They basically told me to f*** off.

Right after that, Kendall’s cell phone rings, it’s Rich Lambert, a good friend of ours.

He asked if we were ok because the entire southeast face of Duches just released. Kendall looked down and saw the aforementioned man hiking back up to the ridge and his telemarking girlfriend narrowly escaping the wrath of the slide.

This guy (I’ll call him Dimwit), gets to the top and starts freaking out.

“Holy s***, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I almost got taken out by that avalanche!”

He then approached us and said, “where should I ski?”

Kendall responded, “you shouldn’t… you should turn right back around and hike out of here. This is no place for you to be risking your life or the lives of others.”

Dimwit then scoffs and says, “I think I’ll ski here (pointing to the line just to skier’s right of the slidepath), what do you think?”

I then tell him, “I wouldn’t if I were you. Don’t tempt fate twice in one day.”

He pretty much gets all huffy, then asks us where we were skiing and Kendall responds, “As far away from you as possible, you’re a danger to everyone around you.”

He then gets pretty upset as I try to explain to him that the last thing we want to do is pull him off this mountain in a bodybag. He didn’t listen to either of us and dropped right in just to the right of the slide path.

Kendall and I continued on the ridge towards Easter Bowl and the safety of trees. We performed two ski cuts, then dug a hasty pit. We found about 18 inches of pow on top of about a foot of granular — perfect little ball-bearing sized pellets. SKETCHY!!!

We skied down near the trees one at a time, spotting each other as we skied. Honestly, I was pretty scared and so was Kendall. We were careful to stop only in safe zones and get the heck out of there.

When we got to the bottom of Duches Draw, I snapped some shots of the slide. It ripped HUGE! I was spooked big time. I’ve skied that line only once and it sloughed enough to keep me from wanting to ski it ever again. Now, that was sealed… I won’t be skiing that line ever again.

The rub with this whole experience is that so many of us are entering the backcountry with varying levels of experience. While others are going out there without a clue of the danger ahead. They think it’s Disneyland and all they want to do is ride the Matterhorn.

We all need to work on our backcountry skills: attend seminars, practice searching, reading books and mostly, using our brains. Avalanches are serious stuff and with increasing backcountry travel, more people are putting themselves in danger. Don’t become a victim.

More Info: UtahAvalancheCenter.com