Glen Plake survives killer Avalanche

O, please...

foose the ball!

Noah John wrote

Kinda with you there Scotty.  I used to love to armchair mountaineer; my bookshelves are loaded with various accounts of expeditions gone awry.  I dunno - that stuff doesn't hold the same fascination for me anymore.  One story just sort of blends into the other.  Yeah, there's a lot of heroics and I don't take anything away from what these guys did and are doing at altitude but their stories don't captivate me in the same way.

Kinda like ski porn; if I never see another "Big Mountain Skier" ripping an exposed, gnarly line on some remote Alaskan peak it'll be too many.  Plus, I'm beginning to wonder whether that industry isn't pushing too many young kids, with more skills than brains, into ever more dangerous situations.  Too many cameras and not enough thinking about the consequences.  

Just shut up and ski.

Funny thing. I have heard Glen Plake criticize ski porn for the same reason. It's a fantasy world that 99% of us will never experience, and, incites dangerous activity.

Benny Profane wrote

Noah John wrote

Plus, I'm beginning to wonder whether that industry isn't pushing too many young kids, with more skills than brains, into ever more dangerous situations.  Too many cameras and not enough thinking about the consequences.  

Just shut up and ski.

Funny thing. I have heard Glen Plake criticize ski porn for the same reason. It's a fantasy world that 99% of us will never experience, and, incites dangerous activity.

To really says that these guys were kids (I loved to be considered as a kid), but 48 for Plake and Remy Lécluse who had a ton of mileage in high mountain and difficult terrain. The place where the camp was setup had been used for years and was considered as a somewhat safe spot for years, I know there isn't anything totally safe. A Quebec cardiologist (also 48 I believe) is also among the missing. He wasn't at his first trip; he was raising funds for a Laurentian Hospital. Were they careless? They did act foolish?

Like Canadian Greg Hill, the people that were on this exhibition were going it for the camera, but for themselves. Not for the industry or the camera. Mountaineering, Skiing, Skygiving...as taking some amount of risk. A fellow skiing I know died of a heart-attack this summer riding his mountain bike, the guy was a 100 times in better shape than myself. Where do you draw the line as being safe? And do you live if you stopping yourself from taking any risks?

MadPatSki wrote

Benny Profane wrote

Noah John wrote

Plus, I'm beginning to wonder whether that industry isn't pushing too many young kids, with more skills than brains, into ever more dangerous situations.  Too many cameras and not enough thinking about the consequences.  

Just shut up and ski.

Funny thing. I have heard Glen Plake criticize ski porn for the same reason. It's a fantasy world that 99% of us will never experience, and, incites dangerous activity.

To really says that these guys were kids (I loved to be considered as a kid), but 48 for Plake and Remy Lécluse who had a ton of mileage in high mountain and difficult terrain. The place where the camp was setup had been used for years and was considered as a somewhat safe spot for years, I know there isn't anything totally safe. A Quebec cardiologist (also 48 I believe) is also among the missing. He wasn't at his first trip; he was raising funds for a Laurentian Hospital. Were they careless? They did act foolish?

Like Canadian Greg Hill, the people that were on this exhibition were going it for the camera, but for themselves. Not for the industry or the camera. Mountaineering, Skiing, Skygiving...as taking some amount of risk. A fellow skiing I know died of a heart-attack this summer riding his mountain bike, the guy was a 100 times in better shape than myself. Where do you draw the line as being safe? And do you live if you stopping yourself from taking any risks?

That's some serious word salad right there.  Translation???

Noah John wrote

That's some serious word salad right there.  Translation???

Hes a canuckistan..give him a break.  I blame red bull, but i will still drink red bull and vodka cause they get you waaaaasted!

Oh.  If English is his second language then I apologize.  It's far better than my French.

Greg's write up was incredible to read... how survivors were literally wrapped up with partners that didn't make it... one of them above the surface, the other buried. This isn't like an avalanche that took out an individual or a small group. That thing took out an entire camp and many survivors had horrible injuries, far preferable to the number that died.

But what does it mean? Just because someone is safe 99 times doesn't mean it will be safe for the 100th. And just because everyone else has determined acceptable risk doesn't mean they made the correct assessment.

Many people will talk about acceptable risk and what not but you really can't say this was unacceptable without saying all mountaineering is unacceptable risk. And that is too limiting. Our species thrives on people pushing the limit. And why shouldn't they.

But there is a line you walk over once you accept the risk of an avalanche possibility. It certainly ups the risk considerably and penalties are much more severe than many other accidents. I find it interesting in the CNN video that Plake specifically points out that they wore their beacons to bed. That blows my mind that acceptable risk is going to bed thinking there is at least a possibility the worst could happen while you are sleeping.

My risk tolerances are well below that but more power to those that embrace the risk to do things, see things, and experience things that they other wise could not. Only those that have experienced and lived through the worst can honestly say if it was worth it.

riverc0il wrote

...more power to those that embrace the risk to do things, see things, and experience things that they other wise could not. Only those that have experienced and lived through the worst can honestly say if it was worth it.

Well said, rivercOil. I will only add what I quoted earlier in Matt's excellent post on this topic:

“Strange enlightenments are vouchsafed to those who seek the higher places.”

― Flann O'Brien, The Third Policeman


This is one of my favorite quotes related to "why" we partake in adventure. People who don't go there will never understand.

Coach Z wrote

here is a much more in depth account of what happened and why

http://www.greghill.ca/pages/disaster-strikes-on-manaslu/

That was an incredible account.

Great summary River. Something that unsuccessful to say earlier today.

riverc0il wrote

 I find it interesting in the CNN video that Plake specifically points out that they wore their beacons to bed. That blows my mind that acceptable risk is going to bed thinking there is at least a possibility the worst could happen while you are sleeping.

He had his beacon, but his partners didn't. I say a different interview where he mentions it. Not that I'm going to compare myself to Plake, but I've grown increasingly paranoid over the last season. People that know me will understand.

Noah John, it is true that I wasn't really focus when I typed what I did. Even if my mother was French-Canadian and had all in education in French, it isn't an good excuse (for my case) for my text earlier. Blame it on work and trying to put down in words many different feelings. If you didn't have the context, then it would definitely not make any sense.

Without retyping it, here are the main point I tried to touch.

1) It was mentioned that skier today takes too many risks, the focus was put on young skiers (kids):
Glen Plake and skiing partner Rémy Lécluse (missing) are 48 yrs old. Not the daredevils, go bigger risks takers. A Canadian cardiologist who is also a experience mountaineering that was raising funds for a Laurentians Hospital was also 48 and missing. I'm sure that they didn't think that they thought that they would be a serious risk that they wouldn't return from this trip. All had great background on their activities.

2) These guys are very slightly older than myself. I'm not a kid anymore, definitely don't feel it physically. Back locked up on Wednesday and had to do see a chiropractor.

3) Canadian Greg Hill was also present. He also doesn't ski for the ski movie industry or fame (related to the kid nowadays comment). They do it for themselves.

4) Risk taking. Riverc0il nails what I was trying to say. I was sadden by the sudden passing last month of a fellow Beer League that was a bit older, but 10 times more fit than I am. Died of a heart attack mountain biking. Where is the limit in risk taking? If you listen to some coworker, I would should never ski in the woods, ski without a helmet, jaywalk, etc.

My grandpa was French Canadian!  

this really hits it, from the the greg hill blog:

"The line was so thin today, many survived by pure luck,while their friends passed away. With adventure comes risk. But I wonder how many people who died yesterday fully understood the personal risk they were taking. Obsessed with the possibility of climbing one of the world’s highest mountains, our vision becomes clouded and we perceive the risk we want instead of the reality of what is around us."

Here's a good article summarizing the events, some decisions that were made, the level of avalanche risk and a nice profile of Remy LeCluse:

http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/story/_/id/8453895/aftermath-avalanche-nepal-mount-manaslu

Sick Bird
that is a really good recap of what happened.  Plake is in Chamonix to honor his fallen skiers.

Just saw this on Elan's Facebook post

Plake got back on the horse in Chamonix.  He is a bad a$$ alpinist

check this out



You can follow Plakes adventures by liking Elan Skis on Facebook

PS - thanks to Harv for finally teaching me how to successfully embed a video

Redemption, closure and a tale of amazing endurance. After being first on the scene, some members of the Dynafit team carry on. In Plake's words “Those guys are flat out the heroes of all this. The rescue took place because of them.”

http://daily.epictv.com/blog/2012/10/06/benedikt-bohm-climbsskis-manaslu-without-oxygen-in-under-24-hours/