Bogley

Sombeech

A snowboarder triggered an avalanche out of bounds near Brighton Ski Resort and his companion got swept away by it. Luckily he survived.

It happened around 1:30 p.m. in the backcountry, in an area called Pioneer Ridge Peak. The snowboarders had no safety gear.

Kelly Ferrone triggered the avalanche, which swept his friend away. Ferrone said, "I unstrapped and started running at full sprint through power up to my waist, and when I got to him, I kept yelling 'Marco,' and he'd yell 'Polo' until we found each other. He was buried up to his waist and wrapped around a tree, and I had to dig him out."

Deputy Shane Manwaring, with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, said, "The second snowboarder rode the avalanche down the hill, head first, on his stomach. Somewhere in the descent, he's able to get himself back on his back and his snowboard in front of him, at which point he hits a tree, snapping his snowboard."

Deputies say that snowboard likely prevented further injury.

The avalanche was 8 feet deep, 1,000 yards wide and 2,000 feet long.

Again, deputies say the two friends were in an out-of-bounds area at Brighton, in an area that does not have avalanche control or ski patrol. It's an area where people go at their own risk.

The injured snowboarder is being treated at a clinic. He has an amazing story to tell, and you'll hear from him on Eyewitness News at 10.

Jaxx · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 2636

OOOH scary. I need more avalanche training.

Joe Gardner · Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 370 Location: SLC

snap101 · Joined: 30 Aug 2008 Posts: 34 Location: St george

Thats a MONSTER!!!
did you guys see the one on the back side of mt logan?

check it out!
http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/BRAIC/LoganPhotos/LoganPhotos08-09/12-24-08,East%20Face%20Logan%20Peak,Toby%20Weed.web/

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 315 Location: Hyde Park, UT

snap101 wrote: Thats a MONSTER!!!
did you guys see the one on the back side of mt logan?

Toby showed us some of those photos on the projector screen last night. It was mostly refresher material for me last night but tomorrow we're going out for field practice with the beacons and shovels which I've never done before.

I'm still officially undecided but leaning towards acquiring my Level 1 AAA Avalanche Certification this year.

BTW, he also had some shots of the monster slide in Wood Camp in '86. Now THAT was a monster! :dropmouth:

One mile wide and traveled 2-1/2 miles down the canyon. 60 feet deep and snow remained at the deposition site all the way through the summer and into the following winter.

bbennett · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:36 am Post subject:

cachehiker wrote: I'm still officially undecided but leaning towards acquiring my Level 1 AAA Avalanche Certification this year.

BTW, he also had some shots of the monster slide in Wood Camp in '86. Now THAT was a monster! :dropmouth:

One mile wide and traveled 2-1/2 miles down the canyon. 60 feet deep and snow remained at the deposition site all the way through the summer and into the following winter.

I've always been fascinated by avalanches and really wanted to get into avalanche control work some time ago. How does one go about getting an avalanche certification?

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 315 Location: Hyde Park, UT

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche_courses

http://www.americanavalancheassociation.org/pdf/EDCOMM_Table_071008.pdf

If I get to Pro level after a couple of years, I can probably wrangle my way into a free season pass somewhere.

Paying $40, $50, $60 or more a day to ski, it's just plain sick and wrong. Better to earn your turns.

Joe Gardner · Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 370 Location: SLC

bbennett wrote: I've always been fascinated by avalanches and really wanted to get into avalanche control work some time ago. How does one go about getting an avalanche certification?

Start here: http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche_courses

I'm planning on getting Level 1 certified over the winter. Until then, I'm reading everything I possibly can to educate myself. Wasatch Touring, REI & the Black Diamond store all have really great books as well as people who can tell you when the next class / lecture is.

Any pictures of the Wood Camp in '86 slide? Where is Wood Camp?

The largest slide I have seen was the one that took out bridal vail falls around 10 years so. IIRC, UDOT had to use quite a bit of TNT to get the Provo river to flow again.

Summit · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 2786 Location: 127.0.0.1

I have a sweet video of HUGE slide (1995?) in Slide Canyon that went all the way to the highway in Provo Canyon. If it was a digital format I would upload it to youtube... but its not.

My old man has been doing the Ski Patrol Avalanche thing for 34 years.

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 315 Location: Hyde Park, UT

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/BRAIC/WoodCamp1986.html

Wood Camp Hollow is a drainage on the north side of Logan Canyon about 10 miles up. If you hiked or biked the Jardine Juniper trail you've been through the deposition site. Wood Camp Hollow is the big wash coming in from the left about 1/2 mile up from the trailhead. I try to make it up there every spring for a picnic beneath the two short lived waterfalls.

I'm sure there is still some evidence of the slide up there but there's a pretty good one coming down that way every few years. Surprisingly though, there isn't much deadfall and firewood around. I guess it's all the rednecks up there burning pallets and drinking Busch Light. I swear 90% of the cans I haul out of the backcountry are Busch Light. Why is that?

Joe Gardner · Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 370 Location: SLC

Thanks for the link, I'm not familiar with that area all that much, time to go check it out.

I see 2 - 3 PBR cans under the Crest Express lift at Brighton all the time... :(

Summit · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 2786 Location: 127.0.0.1

Joe Gardner wrote:
I see 2 - 3 PBR cans under the Crest Express lift at Brighton all the time... :(

Aheemmm... Rednecks drink bud and not PBR.

Wild One · Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 189 Location: Columbus, OH

Sombeech wrote: A snowboarder triggered an avalanche out of bounds near Brighton Ski Resort and his companion got swept away by it. Luckily he survived.

It happened around 1:30 p.m. in the backcountry, in an area called Pioneer Ridge Peak. The snowboarders had no safety gear.

Kelly Ferrone triggered the avalanche, which swept his friend away. Ferrone said, "I unstrapped and started running at full sprint through power up to my waist, and when I got to him, I kept yelling 'Marco,' and he'd yell 'Polo' until we found each other. He was buried up to his waist and wrapped around a tree, and I had to dig him out."

Deputy Shane Manwaring, with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, said, "The second snowboarder rode the avalanche down the hill, head first, on his stomach. Somewhere in the descent, he's able to get himself back on his back and his snowboard in front of him, at which point he hits a tree, snapping his snowboard."

Deputies say that snowboard likely prevented further injury.

The avalanche was 8 feet deep, 1,000 yards wide and 2,000 feet long.

Again, deputies say the two friends were in an out-of-bounds area at Brighton, in an area that does not have avalanche control or ski patrol. It's an area where people go at their own risk.

The injured snowboarder is being treated at a clinic. He has an amazing story to tell, and you'll hear from him on Eyewitness News at 10.

WTF?! Dude, I hope those guys know how ridiculously lucky they were. That is a BIG freakin slide and to somehow manage to get back on your back and feet down while draggin a snowboard--dude was totally lucky! :frustrated:

Reminds me of that big slide at Aspen Grove a few years back when a couple guys hiked up that little coloir and killed/buried a bunch of people. We were actually up there snowshoeing on the Alpine Loop road and had just got back to the jeep when the hole mountain freaking came down! Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

Last Child · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 1248

This is a pretty knarly avalanche shot. Check out the river of snow right in front of the camera. Holy crap!

Summit · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 2786 Location: 127.0.0.1

Wild One wrote: Reminds me of that big slide at Aspen Grove a few years back when a couple guys hiked up that little coloir and killed/buried a bunch of people.

I was in the canyon when that one came down, it had dumped 3'+ feet of snow @8000. Sundance closed due to high winds and snow and those guys decided to hike up Elk Point via Aspen Grove. Not a very good decision.

I took this photo a few months later in the spring. The 6 people were in the narrow gully in the very center of the photos when the slide dropped off Elk Point (high point in the photo).
Notice all the trees that were stripped bare due to the air blast of the slide..

More info here - http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/photos/Images03-04/Elk-Point-12-26-03/index.htm