Professional Skier dies in Avy at Snowbird

Here's the record breaking jump.  Thx to Funky for pointing it out.



Have to agree that the skis are somewhat superfluous.

Question from an Avy dork:  Why are a significant number of posters in (other) forums surprised to hear about early season avalanches?  Not sure of the proper terminology but wouldn't early season lend itself to having very different kinds of layers?

Harv, it can. This season it definitely did. Our snow Oct. 7-9 sat there for several weeks through sunshine and variable temperatures and thus developed the facets upon which this new snow is failing. Some people just don't realize that you don't need a lot of snow to avalanche - all you need is a weak layer with enough weight on top of it for gravity to do its thing.

Harvey44 wrote

Here's the record breaking jump.  Thx to Funky for pointing it out.

Have to agree that the skis are somewhat superfluous.

Question from an Avy dork:  Why are a significant number of posters in (other) forums surprised to hear about early season avalanches?  Not sure of the proper terminology but wouldn't early season lend itself to having very different kinds of layers?

he did that cliff jump without a helmet - this guy clearly had a death wish

yea i noticed that right away - since the producer and go pro thought it was important to point out his "festive beanie". pretty irresponsible. it didn't look like he landed that huck too cleanly either...

like a helmet would have helped if something went wrong

skimore wrote

like a helmet would have helped if something went wrong

Oh, it would have helped a lot, if he hit his head. Seriously.
 The lower body can withstand a lot of trauma. The skull is quite thin.

I beleive there was a segment in last year's Ski Channel movie "The Story" in which Jamie Pierre was profiled.  That segment included footage of the big jump.  I don't recall all the details, but it was a pretty interesting interview.  Maybe somebody can dig that up and link it, or I'll try to find it later and post.

Sunday was apparently the Lord's day off: article

Benny Profane wrote

skimore wrote

like a helmet would have helped if something went wrong

Oh, it would have helped a lot, if he hit his head. Seriously.
 The lower body can withstand a lot of trauma. The skull is quite thin.

What's someone doing on a 200ft fall?100mph? How much help is a helmet going to be

skimore wrote

Benny Profane wrote

skimore wrote

like a helmet would have helped if something went wrong

Oh, it would have helped a lot, if he hit his head. Seriously.
 The lower body can withstand a lot of trauma. The skull is quite thin.

What's someone doing on a 200ft fall?100mph? How much help is a helmet going to be

 
even if the helmet wouldn't make a difference think about the 14 year old kid that sees that and thinks its ok to huck without one

skimore wrote

Benny Profane wrote

skimore wrote

like a helmet would have helped if something went wrong

Oh, it would have helped a lot, if he hit his head. Seriously.
 The lower body can withstand a lot of trauma. The skull is quite thin.

What's someone doing on a 200ft fall?100mph? How much help is a helmet going to be

Well, in this case, not much, because he has a whole crew of people watching and ready to help quickly if things don't turn out so well, and he's lying unconscious in the snow.

Maybe it would be for the better if he was alone or with just one buddy and both broke some major bones and got knocked out. Wouldn't want to be lying in the snow in major pain with no way home, watching the sun go down.
I'd like to see the coroner's report, btw. Head trauma? Maybe. He could be alive today.

I've never looked at the Utah Avalanche Center website.  Thanks to MadPat for sharing this link.

Fascinating report, great pictures, and very sad implications:

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/accident_gad_valley_11132011

From the General Comments at the end:

"This incident is difficult for many reasons.  We heard of over 10 human triggered avalanches on the day of the fatality, primarily in the upper elevation terrain in the unopened Alta ski area.  Many of those touring these slopes know the terrain well and are used to riding the terrain when the area is open and the ski patrol has already conducted avalanche control work.  There is always a reinforced feeling of safety. This terrain MUST be treated as if it were the backcountry, proper backcountry protocol must be adhered to (riding one at a time, not skiing on top of others, etc), and personal responsibility is critical (ie - be prepared with avalanche rescue gear, 1st aid equipment, and a repair kit.)

Another word on the incidents (Gunsight at Alta and this Gad Valley one).  The rescue teams from the ski areas and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue often put their necks out on the line to access and evacuate an injured party.  It was reported that other parties at Alta continued to ski and knock down avalanches into Greeley Bowl while the rescue was in progress.  Creating another incident during this situation is unacceptable."

EDIT: to credit the original source of the link.

someone doing a 200' free fall is traveling approx 77 mph or34.5 m/s
obviously wind resistance needs to be figured in too..

my god look at the photos in the report - why the heck didn't they turn back after causing the first slide?  Then they decided to ski a funnel filled with not completely filled in rocks and cliffs?  WTF were they thinking?

Based on similar lines with similar aspects at similar elevations nearby I'm somewhat certain that South Chute was much more filled in before the slide. Don't forget that the facet layer was very close to the ground, hence anything failing on that layer would take out most of the snowpack.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/pierre-avalanche-death_2011-11-15

Another article covering it..apparently he wasn't the only one taking a chance that day..

jimvdak wrote

Another article covering it..

Quote from that article related to my earlier question:

"Early season is our most dangerous time of year -- just the opposite of what most people think," Bruce Tremper, director of the Utah Avalanche Center, said Monday. "It's not anything you want to mess with."

Harvey44 wrote

I've never looked at the Utah Avalanche Center website.  Thanks to Marc C for posting this link on FTO.

Not to be critical, but I had a link to that UAC report on the post I did on Ski Mad World which you linked on. Just saying.