[moosefish]

[Guiran]

Glad you three are all right. Scary stuff.

[Foist]

Dicey, obviously, like everyone, I'm so glad you're okay. You too, Mark.

[jenjen]

Holy crap Dicey! I'm so glad you're ok. What an eye opener!

[dicey]

EF- Logan was not caught in the slide, and as far as I can tell, she didn't even notice anything was going on. Dane- I don't think folks need to turn around when the sun comes out, but I get your point. It's hard to say if this could have been avoided. I guess we could have dropped down and traversed below the slope in the trees, but as in Joans' case, trees are not a guarantee of safety. Maybe Mark or MC can elaborate on that incident, as I have only heard of it second hand. I don't want to seem like I was overly confident in the snow conditions on Sunday, but I had been out the previous two days in the area (Granite and Mailbox), and nothing I experienced on Friday and Saturday led me to believe such an event could or would happen on Sunday. I want to believe there is something we could have done differently for my own peace of mind out there, but maybe I'll just have to make my mind accept that it was just bad luck/timing, and move on.

[Foist]

Do you think you'll have trouble, mentally speaking, going back out in the snow?

[gyngve]

Where/when did you dig hasty pits? Were you both crossing the open slope at the same time? Did you each have beacon/probe/shovel?

[ActionBetty]

Ive played with Diceys beacon and probe before

[Solo Steve]

AB - Dicey, glad you're OK!

[Hiker Boy]

Ditto gyngve's questions. Glad everyone made back safely. What a scary experience!

[Mtn Dog]

Dicey, glad you're OK and thanks for the details. The slope angle has me puzzled. I was under the impression that the critical slope was more like 37-38 degrees; yours was relatively flat by comparison and should have remained stable. Perhaps the weight of the snow as it melts and solidifies in the sun was the deciding factor.

[dicey]

Gary -- We didn't dig any pits, hasty or otherwise. I won't speak for Mark, but for me, it is more about my lack of confidence to accurately analyze the results more than anything else. Not an excuse, I just need to make more time to practice the not terribly exciting or fun but still very important componants of being out there this time of year. We were crossing this slope (and the previous gullies) one at a time. We had some, but not all of the gear we should have brought on the trip. I acknowledge responsibility for a lack of communication on my part to Mark before hand as to what we each should bring. I vow to make this a priority in the future. As I stated previously, I'm glad I was given a chance to learn from this experience - many have not been as lucky.

[gyngve]

[gyngve]

[gyngve]

Dicey, Did you see any signs of recent avy activity, balling/pinwheeling of wet snow, big bombs falling from trees, etc.? How deep were you postholing in the snowshoes on the sun-exposed aspects as opposed to the ones in the shade?