One person killed in Utah avalanche

[accadacca]

BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON -- The death of one male in an avalanche has been confirmed by local officials.

Three men were skiing on Kessler Ridge, an area that drops into Mineral Fork Canyon in Big Cottonwood Canyon. As they reached the peak of the ridge around 11:30 a.m., the avalanche started, burying one 25-year-old male.

The other two skiers, whose condition was reported as "fine," had not been caught in the avalanche and began to search for their friend afterward. One male in the party immediately called dispatch to alert them of the situation. By the time rescuers arrived at the scene, the two skiers had already found the man deceased.

The three had reportedly started at Alta Ski Resort and had gotten off the trail and headed to Kessler Peak, prepared for back country skiing.

"They had beacons and were prepared for the back country, but the backcountry conditions right now are just extremely dangerous," said Lt. Justin Hoyal of the Unified Police.

The Utah Avalanche Center reminded people to check avalanche conditions before heading out to back country, and that when dangers are high, to never venture beyond professionally groomed slopes.

The cause of the avalanche at this point is still unknown.


Source: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=19040802&title=one-person-killed-in-avalanche

[bbennett]

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/accident_west_couloir_1282012

[Mtnseeker1]

Bingo- I have lived in the desert for a good spell but I can remember using ACC clear back to the late 70's if I remember right when I lived in the SLC area. Half the areas we cheated with our season passes are all open with lifts nowdays.
I remember one time the Ski Patrol wanted to cut our Solitude Season Passes as we came out of silver fork and I gave them the biggest line of Sh** and said the ski patrol had already taken our day passes from us and we were just hiking back to the parking lot to get our cars and go home. 9:45am LOL The good ol days.

[bbennett]

Interesting read from a friend of Alecs:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-hammond/my-insight-on-alecs-bartons-avalanche-accident/10150496531041213

My Insight on Alecs Barton's Avalanche Accident


by Mark Hammond (https://www.facebook.com/mark.hammond3) on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 6:08pm

I was one of the guys who toured with Alecs on Argenta just two days before his death. I will share parts of my conversation with him and my insight to his fatal decision.
When I met up with Alecs and his friends they had already decided to ski Argenta. He had hit it the previous day and said it felt stable. I didn't like the idea and suggested we do some tree lines elsewhere. But their minds were made up so I said I'd just go to the base of the headwall with them and dig a pit. I really was curious about how the weak layer was adjusting to the big slab. Alecs was very surprised that I was opposed to skiing the headwall. He kept saying that it felt really stable up there and that somehow it was an exception to the generally weak snowpack. I said I didnt care how it felt to him, the bottom line is there is a persistent weak layer in the snowpack. I began to feel a little disturbed by how he seemed to replace his snow science knowledge with his intuition. He had taken a very in-depth, full semester avy course at the U of U (essentially a level 2) and knew very well the unpredictable nature of persistent weak layers. As we got higher up he pointed at the west couloir of Argenta and acknowledged that would be too dangerous to ski. We also discussed the west face of Kessler and how a friend was caught in a hard slab there in similar conditions just two years ago (it turned out Alecs got caught very near where this friend was caught. Luckily this friend grabbed a tree in time or he would have likely been carried full track like Alecs). As we approached the headwall I noticed he began to skin right up the middle of one of the slide paths. This wasn't necessary because there were some safer trees to the side. I told him this but he didn't seem to really care. In his mind, the headwall was a green light. As we were digging a pit at the base of the headwall he asked me if I wanted to ski Tanners on Saturday (the day he got caught) I replied "Not a chance in hell!!! I can't believe I'm even here right now!" I then told him about some of the slides that had been happening on southerly terrain due to facets.
We did an ECT (extended column test to study the strength of the snowpack) and typical for deep slabs there was no significant result. This was just more confirmation for Alecs so he and his 3 friends began skinning the headwall. He asked "You coming Mark?". In that moment some weak excuses began running through my mind: "well the slab is pretty stiff and there's a lot of trees here for anchors and the skinner is already in and........" So I gave in and against all my best judgement began following them up the Argenta headwall with deep slab instability. Ridiculous. One of the guys who was new to touring said "well thankfully they already skied this yesterday so that means it's safe right?" I replied "No it doesn't mean anything".
As the group was transitioning on the ridge I skied down a few feet next to a tree and triggered a 20 ft crack. I mentioned this to Alecs but he didn't seem very interested. Then I dug down and found it to be much more hollow than at the base. I also mentioned this to the group but again it didn't generate much interest.
It was great skiing on the headwall but honestly I didn't really enjoy it cause all I could feel was fear and shame for being there. I knew I had failed myself and did not set a good example for Alecs. It didn't matter that we got away with it, we were still wrong. This helped set the stage for Saturday.
While at work on Saturday I got two messages from worried friends asking if I was ok cause there had been a death on Kessler. I remembered from the avy forecast that morning Drew stated it would be the exact type of day that was prime for an accident: a sunny Saturday with plenty of pow and concealed danger to catch somebody. I was then told Alecs wasn't answering his phone and that it was a young snowboarder who was caught and carried into Mineral. I burst into tears. I thought about what could lead Alecs to get caught in an area that just two days prior he acknowledged as being too dangerous. Late last season the snowpack was relatively stable and he was able to ski that line numerous times, right after big storms, without incident. Kessler was his favorite peak and he knew all those lines very well. When he stood on that peak, perhaps all the good memories came back and clouded his judgement. No doubt, he fell into a familiarity trap. I am told by one of the investigators that the group acknowledged the danger that day and decided they would head to safer terrain in Mineral. So in Alecs's mind, if they could just get down the west couloir safely they would be ok. The other guys didn't know what they were getting into because from the top it just looks like a moderate tree run. Perhaps he figured if he did get caught he could possibly grab onto a tree like our friend did there two years ago. Whatever the excuses, the risk seemed acceptable and he set off down the west couloir like he had done so many times before. Where there is great passion there is often great error.
If I had held my ground and refused to ski the headwall that day would it have influenced Alecs to choose a different route on Saturday? In a sense, it doesn't matter anymore because it's in the past. But in another sense, it does matter because I hope that question will forever remind me to stick with what I know is right, regardless of the consequences.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420284_10150621427875306_651165305_11496142_378052 44_n.jpgThe West Couloir of Kessler. Red line indicates the avalanche crown and x is where Alecs was found. The Argenta headwall is on the left side of the peak. Photo thanks to Utah Avalanche Center