Avy death in Sequoia

Kanone · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 502

4th victim for CA this season.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/358974.html

skisyphus · Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 30 Location: Point Fermin, CA

They may have been on the summer trail?
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I did not see the earlier discussion on the Sequoia topic. I've skied to the hut many times and have day skied the area as well.

The white-outs that occur in that area can be frighteningly dense and the terrain is tricky with many small drainages in heavy forest. It's not too difficult to get confused.

If not for high avalanche conditions they would have made it out with a new misadventure story to tell.

My condolences to all involved, Jim

carl · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 4074 Location: 1608 folio

RIP

Interesting given the observations on this thread.
http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=42411&highlight=pear+lake

fogey · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:27 pm Post subject:

Sounds like they were on their way out (hence the scheduled Monday phone call). Hopefully for those of us who use Pear Lake Hut there will be more details about where and how this happened.

millhouse · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 14

Unfortunately I was involved in both the search and recovery operations on this incident. The Park Service has released a narrative of the event and I am sure that there will be others shortly.
The two had bivied at Heather Lake on sunday night when conditions deteriorated. I was at the Trailhead on sunday to go skiing but quickly decided not to as there was an ice crust over the previous snowfall. During sunday night the storm intensified and there was intermittent rain and snow up to about 9500 feet. We received about 3-4 feet ontop of the already dangerous ice crust and that crust only thickened during the night. Pits dug on tuesday during rescue efforts showed that layer to be about one half to an inch thick and not as solid as I would have beleived. The pits were dug at 9500 and then approximately at about 9000'. There are pics of these pits somewhere but I have not got my hands on them yet and will post them here when I do.
The two individuals got slightly off route coming off of the Hump going towards wolverton and ended up in a very dangerous area that upon arrival and inspection reveals that it often slides. Small diameter trees with no branches on the uphill side and others at a severely compromised angle.
It is extremely dangerous here in the southern sierra right now and the Park Service will be posting signs advising people NOT to travel in the backcountry. SNHA is also advising NOT traveling into the backcountry on their website. We are expecting more snow this weekend and this will only worsen the conditions that exist.
I hope this sheds a little more light on the situation and I will try to up date information here as I can. BE safe all, Please.
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wu_fred · Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 29

Millhouse,

How were you involved in the SAR. Are you with the Park Service or Tulare County SAR (or just happened to be there)? I was skiing over in Grant Grove when this happened.

patroller420 · Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 915 Location: San Diego CA

Milhouse, do you know how thick the crown was and how long it was? And can you estimate the slope angle? Im looking at the Topo trying to compare our route out to theirs and where they went wrong.
I spoke to the other 4 skiers who were out with us also. seems they were spooked as we were leaving

millhouse · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 14

Morning all.
I am employed in the park and am a resource that they use on occasion because of my ski experience. The slide was really a small to moderate size. Because conditions were so sketchy we couldn't actually go right to the crown but we did get to within 20 yds or so. From what I saw i belive the crown was anywhere from 1 1/2 ft to 2ft deep and about 30 yds, if that wide,on a 35 degree slope. There is a possibility that the slope could have been steeper. I have been in that area before and know that there are steeper sections. The crown was also on the downhill edge of a slight convexity that is exposed to the wind ,hence the small crown size compared to the fact that three feet or more of snow had fallen on top of the ice layer I described yesterday. In my opinion if the slide had occured on a slope with alonger runout it may have been survivable. However, the slope quickly funnels into a narrow tree lined chute. From the Crown to the end of the debris I am estimating that the total length is somewhere around 500yds. Its really hard to estimate the distance without actually getting into the thing which at this point in time Ihave no desire to do.
The hardest thing to fathom is that this happened in my backyard. I have patrolled in Colorado in the backcountry and have lived and skied in utah in the backcountry. It is one thing to ski in those places with the snowpack the way it is and another to ski in the southern sierra where our snowpack is often bombproof. This is a big eye opener for many of us around here who work and live in the park.
Depending on protocol and the like I will try to get pictures at least of the pits that I dug on tuesday to post here.
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SanFrantastico · Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 360 Location: Land of Oak, CA

Thanks, millhouse. Do you know the slope aspect as well? Was this a slope draining back into the Heather Lake basin, to the west toward Wolverton, or more North? Also do you know if they were skinning or trying to ride out when it happend? I hope the snowboarder, Jason, was doing okay. It sounds like he went through a lot. I'm glad you guys were there to help him out.

drop'n'in · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject:

There is an updated story from the Fresno Bee here;

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/362247.html

Thanks for sharing your observations, millhouse, and for going out there on SAR missions. I share your thoughts about how accidents like this always seem to happen elsewhere. We ski this area quite frequently, and we have turned back from our intended destination on more than one occasion due to stability concerns. However, it is easy to get complacent when you see other people heading in, and nothing bad ever happens. It is indeed an eye opener.

My heartfelt condolences to Morgan's friends and family, and especially to his partner Jason, who did everything he could.

steeleman · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1029 Location: Paradise 94920

Millhouse, thanks for the firsthand information. So it sounds like they got disoriented in a whiteout (easy to do up there. it has happened to me -- thankfully in fog/cloud rather than in blowing snow conditions), then got into an unsafe area inadvertently on the way down from the hump. Is that right? I'm guessing they wandered a bit to skier's right when descending and got onto one of those treeless patches that has a bit of a downward funnel? Is this the general area (in red) or am I way off?

millhouse · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 14

aspect was NW and the area in red onthe first map is the area of the incident. I am not sure from the second photo but if you coordinated it with the first map then.....I have pictures of pits dug near the site and will post those when I figure out how to..
m
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steeleman · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1029 Location: Paradise 94920

millhouse · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 14

help! quick tutorial on how to get images in this message?
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Mitch · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:18 pm Post subject:

Check your Private Messages.