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Just got word that one of my boyfriend's buddies died while guiding in Haines yesterday. Don't know much about it, possibly a cornice collapse. I only met the guy once, but he seemed really cool, and my boyfriend looked up to him a lot. What a shitty deal.

Most of the stories so far report that three people were caught, but there were four. Why the discrepancy? The fourth was wearing an airbag pack and nobody even realized at first that he was involved in the incident. Walked away without a scratch. I know they're not a magic talisman, but they sure seem to be the best thing going, and the issue of cost just became much less significant.


http://www.adn.com/2013/03/04/2811621/h ... anche.html

theres always a disconnect somewhere between the incident and the time it reaches the general public. i know that my account of the slide i was in (granted I was in the hospital hopped up on fentanyl) somehow did not match the newspaper article they wrote. be prepared for a lot of misinformation when hearing about it

Bummer. Sounds like a great dude.

"KHNS-FM in Haines, citing company President Scott Sundberg as a source, reported that Cabanilla was skiing recreationally on a tour with five people total and was not acting as lead guide.

Sundberg told the radio station the group was skiing near Kicking Horse Valley, west of Haines, and that the death and injuries were not caused by an avalanche."

Read it was a cornice collapse on TGR



RIP Christian

http://seaba-heli.com/staff/

Yeah, I don't know much in the way of details. Sounds like they were traversing a ridge and a cornice went, but we heard from another friend that the slope ripped out as well. Don't really know for sure.

For those who read the title of this thread should also read this:
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/0 ... -survival/

The writer is a very well respected industry leader in snow science/safety

“Avalanche air bags would save only 3 out of 100 who would have otherwise have died”........I'll take 3% every time

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/blog-ava ... oser-truth

"Bottom Line:
Ignore the 97% number and the 3% number. My best guess is that avalanche airbag packs will probably save a little more than half of those who would have otherwise have died in an avalanche. They will never save all of them because 1 out of 4 will likely die from trauma of hitting trees and rocks on the way down and an additional 1 out of 4 will probably end up in a terrain trap (deep burial), buried by a secondary avalanche or caught in an avalanche that does not travel far enough for the inverse segregation process to work (larger objects rise to the surface).

In addition, people will increase their exposure to risk because of the perception of increased safety, which will cancel out some, but not all, of the effectiveness of avalanche airbags.

As usual, our choice of terrain is far more important than rescue gear. Un-survivable terrain will always be un-survivable. In terrain with few obstacles, terrain traps, sharp transitions and smaller paths, avalanche airbags have the potential to save significantly more than half of those who would have otherwise died. And that sounds pretty good to me."

Had a group of friends in Haines when this incident happened. Thankfully for them they were not part of the same group. Although many of them knew Christian. Tragic for sure.