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4 avalanche deaths today in Washington State in two separate accidents Three were in one party skiing sidecountry at Stevens Pass with information found here:

http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/st ... ills-three

The other was a snowboarder who triggered an avalanche inbounds at Alpental and was swept over a cliff.

Seems like more bad news every week. My condolonces go out to the victim's friends and families. What a shitty year....

Another instance of people (extremely experienced people, who should have known better) ignoring common sense and all the warnings out there.


With 40" of fresh in the last 48 hours, how could there not be unconsolidated snow? I feel sympathy for their families, but these skiers misjudged the situation.

Arch

Archie, you should shut the fuck up.

The Alpy incident was out of bounds. So sad. He had a young daughter. Condolences.

Very sad news.

Still trying to digest it all.

Lots of virgin pow is seductive, but these were very unnecessary deaths. Please, people, be smart out there.

Arch

This is a real tragedy. All of the people involved in the Stevens slide were very experienced skiers, and it sounds like they were doing at least some things right. I do remember seeing the forecast roses for today early this morning and thinking that they were the scariest we've seen in WA in the last month or two, but to hear of four losses of life in one day is pretty heartbreaking. My condolences to the families of all those who were lost. Be careful out there. We've been blessed in the PNW with a better and more stable season than a lot of other places (in the US), but this is a chilling reminder that it only takes one storm to completely change the game

Armchair quarterbacking on the first post, when you have no idea what the fuck happened, makes you look like the thousands of other tools who comment on avalanche incidents on the internet this year. This is reaching epidemic proportions. Let the dead rest in peace and at least give their loved ones a chance to catch their breaths before you go calling the victims "downright stupid". There is a more constructive way to analyze avy incidents than pointing fingers and calling names before you even know the whole story.

YO Archie! obviously you have never made a bad decision in your life! and you should not say bad things about people you dont know!!! I know someone who was right there , and lost his friends and comrades!
lets send positive vibes to the families and friends who have lost love ones! lets do a shot and burn one down for the fallen warriors! lets live , love ,laugh, and ride for the fallen ones! no hate! just love yo!!!
Ta hui!

Let's knock off the blame game here. What price do you want these guys to pay for their mistakes? Is death enough?

Mistakes were made, no doubt. I know I try to read just about every avalanche report to learn about what went wrong. Hopefully to help steer myself away from that sort of tragedy.

My condolences go out to all of their friends and family.

Sad and scary.

Someone died on Wolf Creek pass this past Thursday.

http://pagosasun.com/archives/2012/02Fe ... lance.html

Heard about that, but I didn't realize the snowboarder was inbounds.. that is truly tragic.

I stuck to the waves and the resort this weekend, but I heard of two slides here on Vancouver Island, one involving some friends and a carry/partial burial. Apparently there were 4+ incidents ( no injuries ) on the mainland B.C. this past weekend as well...

A drought followed by a dump of pow is often hard to resist, I hope everyone hearing about this things can take something away from it and be reminded to not let the powder lust overcome smart decision making

Condolences to friends and families of those involved, especially the inbounds rider... when we go into the backcountry we take on the responsibility and risk, and we understand the consequences... somebody riding inbounds shouldn't have to be taking on those same risks.

i agree arch your posts are doing no good just pissing people off. everyone knows its dangerous out there.