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gb
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gb
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 Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:52 pm |
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West Slopes North - Canadian Border to Skagit River
Issued: 6:33 PM PST Saturday, March 10, 2018
by Dallas Glass
NWAC avalanche forecasts apply to backcountry avalanche terrain in the Olympics, Washington Cascades and Mt Hood area. These forecasts do not apply to developed ski areas, avalanche terrain affecting highways and higher terrain on the volcanic peaks above the Cascade crest level.
Late Saturday we received reports of an avalanche fatality on Park Butte near Mt Baker. One snowmobiler was caught, carried, and killed in the accident. Initial reports indicate the avalanche occurred on a NE aspect near 5300'.
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fourteen410
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Dang 
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Yana
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Yana
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Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:26 pm |
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PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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cascadeclimber
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It looks like they were high-pointing on the lee slopes of Park Butte, which is designated wilderness and outside the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area where the sleds are allowed.
I've also, more than once, seen sled tracks on the summit of Baker.
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Yana
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Yana
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Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:19 am |
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| cascadeclimber wrote: | | It looks like they were high-pointing |
I think you mean highmarking. I don't believe that is what the snowmobiler in question was doing (see comments in snowmobile forum thread), though it seems likely that they would have also triggered the avalanche if they had been.
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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Ringangleclaw
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| cascadeclimber wrote: | | It looks like they were high-pointing on the lee slopes of Park Butte, which is designated wilderness and outside the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area where the sleds are allowed. |
Other maps show that the summit of Park Butte is in fact the border of the wilderness, hence the snowmobiler was in fact legal.
It is common for the USFS to publish little cartoon maps showing boundrys which are in fact in error when compared to higher quality USGS, USFS and vendor topo maps.
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NBSAR
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NBSAR
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Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:09 pm |
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| cascadeclimber wrote: | | It looks like they were high-pointing on the lee slopes of Park Butte, which is designated wilderness and outside the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area where the sleds are allowed.
I've also, more than once, seen sled tracks on the summit of Baker.
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That slope and the ridge to the left in the photos are not in the Wilderness.
Luke frequently climbed that slope and jumped off the cornice.
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kbatku
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kbatku
Questionable hiker
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Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:56 pm |
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I can't comment with authority whether he was within wilderness boundaries or not, but I know many people around here who brag about riding in the wilderness and have found snowmobile parts deep within the Goat Rocks so yes, it happens. Either way, a guy is dead tragically - whether he died where he was supposed to be or not is just a footnote.
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Yana
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Yana
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Sun Mar 11, 2018 8:48 pm |
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Updated report from NWAC:
| Quote: | | A single snowmobiler triggered and was caught, carried and killed in a large (D2.5) slab avalanche on Park Butte in the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area. The avalanche was triggered just below the summit on a NE aspect near 5400'. The victim was carried 1000' through a gully and sparse trees. The avalanche was 200 ft (60 m) wide and averaged 4' deep (1.2m). It failed on a 2 cm thick layer of facets above a rain crust. |
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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Stefan-K
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Stefan-K
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Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:59 am |
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not 100% sure, but judging from the two tracks to the left of the photo on Snowest, that wasn't highmarking but rather launching off the edge of the ridge top.
At the top of the middle of the avi crown you can see what looks like an impact mark...
impressive but also completely insane, given the terrain and questionable conditions
It seems there's a culture of exaggerated confidence in airbags in the snowmobile community. The Gallagher fatalities (3/3/18) were both wearing airbags.
Not sure about this one?
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Ringangleclaw
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| Stefan-K wrote: | | It seems there's a culture of exaggerated confidence in airbags in the snowmobile community. The Gallagher fatalities (3/3/18) were both wearing airbags. |
I think one of the accidents they were eating lunch. The Gallagher accident looks to be just poor decision making
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Stefan-K
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Stefan-K
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Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:42 am |
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| Ringangleclaw wrote: | | I think one of the accidents they were eating lunch. The Gallagher accident looks to be just poor decision making |
Almost every avi fatality is poor decision making.
Experience level makes no difference, all it takes is one bad choice. In fact the majority of avi fatalities are amongst the "experienced."
The fairly recent advent of airbags and their perceived insurance/assurance may very well soon change those statistics.
Where you eat lunch is part of the decision making process.
If you are a member of Snowest, look up a great post from "Chadly" - - good info.
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Ringangleclaw
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| Stefan-K wrote: | | not 100% sure, but judging from the two tracks to the left of the photo on Snowest, that wasn't highmarking but rather launching off the edge of the ridge top.
At the top of the middle of the avi crown you can see what looks like an impact mark...
impressive but also completely insane, given the terrain and questionable conditions |
I don't agree that impact was the likely cause. It looks like he was jumping to the photo's left of the slide. The tracks seem to indicate that after some of the jumps he turned hard left (photo right) and into the eventual slide. A big heavy machine trenching across terrain like that would be effiecent at releasing a slide.
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Ringangleclaw
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| Stefan-K wrote: | | Where you eat lunch is part of the decision making process. |
The Gallagher accident had nothing to do with lunch as far as I know
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NBSAR
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NBSAR
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Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:49 am |
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I've watched the rider in question launch that cornice. I think that it is reasonable to guess that the impact triggered the slide.
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