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Skier dies in avalanche in Tuckermans Ravine Area

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
We all know how deadly avalanches can be. And for those of us who live in the East, this seems to be something that can happen elsewhere -- more specifically, out west.

Today there was a deadly reminder that avalanches can occur in the East, too: A man was killed by an avalanche in Tuckerman's Ravine in New Hampshire. You can read about it here.

Wherever you are, stay safe.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The avalanche was in Ramond Cataract, which is between Tuckerman Ravine and Huntington Ravine.

Quoting longtime Mount Washington Valley climbing guide Rick Wilcox:
"Raymond Cataract is a very narrow ravine, he said. Historically, it does not have avalanches “unless we have a major snow year like this year.” In most years, Raymond Cataract sees few skiers, he said. Most trek up Tuckerman Ravine or Huntington Ravine, said Wilcox, “but with snow like they have this year, people are skiing lots of places we don’t normally ski.”

Tuckerman Ravine on the left, Huntington Ravine on the right, Raymond Cataract in the middle
mtwash_eastpano.jpg
For more info:
https://www.wmur.com/article/fatal-avalanche-tuckerman-ravine/27117823

https://www.unionleader.com/news/en...cle_9adae2ad-7f7e-5ab0-80ca-5841aa82def5.html
 

MsWax

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My husband and 10-year-old will be heading up Tucks in a couple weeks. Stories like this terrify me!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
So scary! Not to be judgement at all, because we never know everything that led up to an event and I don’t know how quickly people were able to respond here or whether it would have made a difference etc.. I read that it was believed he was skiing alone, but was wearing a beacon. If this is true, and if you go out alone in the backcountry, who can you reasonably expect will be close enough to help in an emergency like this when every second counts? Is it common for people to go out solo in avalanche terrain like this? I’m just starting to want to venture into the backcountry, but can’t imagine going it alone, and I think even partner choice is so important when you are out because you literally are putting your life in their hands if the unthinkable were to happen.. need to make darn sure they have the ability and know how to help you and vice versa.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Part of my question was answered by another article I just read. The skier was found around 1.5 hrs after the avalanche. He was still breathing at that time, but went into cardiac arrest. That’s a long time to be buried!
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So scary! Not to be judgement at all, because we never know everything that led up to an event and I don’t know how quickly people were able to respond here or whether it would have made a difference etc.. I read that it was believed he was skiing alone, but was wearing a beacon. If this is true, and if you go out alone in the backcountry, who can you reasonably expect will be close enough to help in an emergency like this when every second counts? Is it common for people to go out solo in avalanche terrain like this? I’m just starting to want to venture into the backcountry, but can’t imagine going it alone, and I think even partner choice is so important when you are out because you literally are putting your life in their hands if the unthinkable were to happen.. need to make darn sure they have the ability and know how to help you and vice versa.

From several years paddling whitewater, I completely agree with you @MissySki about the choice of partners. And that decision involves not just skill set, but general temperament and group dynamic. I (rightly) felt great pressure to be at the top of my rescue game when paddling with others. And I knew the little quirks of members of my group to be able to absorb and adjust to them. If something goes wrong in whitewater, there are very few circumstances in which self-rescue is an option; you rely on others.

With that said, I do a lot of solo stuff that other people sometimes disapprove of, so I can offer maybe that perspective. The victim sounds from local forum chatter as though he was very experienced. He may have been carrying a beacon so that he could be located by rescuers, knowing well that they would likely not arrive in time in the case of a burial, but making it possible to ultimately locate him and save rescue personnel time and effort. In other words, a person with that level of experience who went into Raymond Cataract was probably making an informed and calculated choice.

I don't mean to sound grim, just to say that the chances/choices that others are willing to take might not be our own, but that doesn't make them ill-informed (and I'm not saying you suggested that, it's just what pops up in comment sections most readily in these sorts of events).

Me, I'm old and don't have kids or a spouse. My cat is kind of a jerk, but I know he'd be taken care of if I died. That's not to say that I maximize risk-taking, just that dying in the outdoors isn't the worst thing that could happen to me, and I wouldn't want people to wring their hands if it happened. It could happen in the frontcountry, backcountry, driving to the trailhead, etc.
 

TeleChica

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I think it's really important to be clear about where this happened and why. I might consider changing the title of the thread to "on Mt. Washington" or "Near Tuckerman Ravine" (no 's). Raymond Cataract is not skied that often because it usually is not in. But it is this year, and unfortunately, it is a serious terrain trap. Check out the crown line (from Ski the Whites FB page--he took these by drone):

1555102995129.png

You can see that it narrows into a series of frozen waterfalls below:

1555103073236.png

Heartbreaking, because you can see his ski line and where it ends as he triggered the slide.

I'm certainly not saying anyone should not be careful anytime you go up there, but this was a particularly dicey situation. The avi forecast was Moderate, and apparently there were slides in other places (Oakes) as well.
 

TeleChica

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@MsWax it may be perfectly fine when your family heads up there. Typically in Spring the snowpack turns isothermal, basically, it's the same temperature throughout after many freeze/thaw cycles. If it's a warm day, no new snow, low avi danger as forecasted, then I would not be worried. But right now, it's still a winter snowpack, so a lot more variables. (Of course, in Spring you can get huge slides due to a lot of rain, but typically people aren't skiing in those conditions.)
 

elemmac

Angel Diva
My husband and 10-year-old will be heading up Tucks in a couple weeks. Stories like this terrify me!

Check in with the volunteer patrol up at Hojos, have them give you a run down of the conditions. Where to go, where to avoid, and most importantly...listen to them. Between their input, reading the avalanche report (https://www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org) and looking at the avalanche ratings at Hojos you can get a pretty solid idea of what’s safe and whats not.

No need to be terrified. It’s such an amazing piece of New England, but you just have to be smart about it and be willing to change plans in conditions/weather doesn’t deal you the right cards.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
From several years paddling whitewater, I completely agree with you @MissySki about the choice of partners. And that decision involves not just skill set, but general temperament and group dynamic. I (rightly) felt great pressure to be at the top of my rescue game when paddling with others. And I knew the little quirks of members of my group to be able to absorb and adjust to them. If something goes wrong in whitewater, there are very few circumstances in which self-rescue is an option; you rely on others.

With that said, I do a lot of solo stuff that other people sometimes disapprove of, so I can offer maybe that perspective. The victim sounds from local forum chatter as though he was very experienced. He may have been carrying a beacon so that he could be located by rescuers, knowing well that they would likely not arrive in time in the case of a burial, but making it possible to ultimately locate him and save rescue personnel time and effort. In other words, a person with that level of experience who went into Raymond Cataract was probably making an informed and calculated choice.

I don't mean to sound grim, just to say that the chances/choices that others are willing to take might not be our own, but that doesn't make them ill-informed (and I'm not saying you suggested that, it's just what pops up in comment sections most readily in these sorts of events).

Me, I'm old and don't have kids or a spouse. My cat is kind of a jerk, but I know he'd be taken care of if I died. That's not to say that I maximize risk-taking, just that dying in the outdoors isn't the worst thing that could happen to me, and I wouldn't want people to wring their hands if it happened. It could happen in the frontcountry, backcountry, driving to the trailhead, etc.

Thank you for your perspective @SallyCat, I agree with you 100%. I had also wondered about the beacon being used for a potential recovery versus rescue situation as you described, but the idea didn’t seem super realistic to me. Your describing it as you have made it more understandable. I myself am quite risk averse, so it’s hard to imagine that mindset, but I definitely respect someone else’s right to weigh the risks and make the choices they are comfortable with as well.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My husband and 10-year-old will be heading up Tucks in a couple weeks. Stories like this terrify me!

It's a hoot to go up to Tuckerman Ravine on a warm sunny Saturday in the spring. There will be tons of people in the bottom of the bowl with lawn chairs, coolers, dogs, babies in sleds, some will be in costumes. There will be people climbing up the wall to ski and people staying in the bowl just to watch.

If there's avalanche danger, there will be plenty of warning at Hojo's cabin below the bowl. Alternative routes will be advised. There's a big sign there, and in front of it will be a forest ranger talking to anyone heading up.

Before your husband and so go, there are plenty of online resources they can consult that will tell them of the avalanche danger that day. I think the Mt. Washington Observatory guys post the danger levels at 6:30 in the morning for that day after going out to check everything out.
image.png
Are they planning on skiing, or on staying in the bottom of the bowl and watching skiers come down?
 
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MsWax

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's a hoot to go up to Tuckerman Ravine on a warm sunny Saturday in the spring. There will be tons of people in the bottom of the bowl with lawn chairs, coolers, dogs, babies in sleds, some will be in costumes. There will be people climbing up the wall to ski and people staying in the bowl just to watch.

If there's avalanche danger, there will be plenty of warning at Hojo's cabin below the bowl. Alternative routes will be advised. There's a big sign there, and in front of it will be a forest ranger talking to anyone heading up.

Before your husband and so go, there are plenty of online resources they can consult that will tell them of the avalanche danger that day. I think the Mt. Washington Observatory guys post the danger levels at 6:30 in the morning for that day after going out to check everything out.

Are they planning on skiing, or on staying in the bottom of the bowl and watching skiers come down?

They actually went up last year and skied Left Gully. DS wants to ski Hillman's Highway this year. I think the plan is go in early May, so I hope the snowpack will be a bit safer then, but they do plan to check in at Hojo's. I'd actually like to get the 5- and 8-year-olds to base of the bowl to watch, but I'm not sure the 5-year-old would make it, and we don't have traction for them either...
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
You can't see Hillman's from the base of Tuckerman Ravine. Have fun! If it's open all the way (I haven't checked), maybe some of you could ski down the Sherburne Trail???? It would be bumped up, though.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
I have mixed feelings about risking one’s life on a solo venture, particularly on hard-to-reach terrain. What about the rescuers? If you’re under the snow where there is high avalanche danger, you’ve just invited a bunch of rescuers - snow rangers, in this case - to venture into avy territory, rushing, to save your life. One of the rangers in the MWAC report did not wait for a lookout but headed down to the burial site alone. Heroic, and it was his choice too, I guess, but the original skier put him in that position.

It is not unknown for rescuers to get injured or die in these situations. So it seems it’s not just a decision for oneself, but the solo risk-taker may ultimately put rescuers’ lives in danger.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I have mixed feelings about risking one’s life on a solo venture, particularly on hard-to-reach terrain. What about the rescuers? If you’re under the snow where there is high avalanche danger, you’ve just invited a bunch of rescuers - snow rangers, in this case - to venture into avy territory, rushing, to save your life. One of the rangers in the MWAC report did not wait for a lookout but headed down to the burial site alone. Heroic, and it was his choice too, I guess, but the original skier put him in that position.

It is not unknown for rescuers to get injured or die in these situations. So it seems it’s not just a decision for oneself, but the solo risk-taker may ultimately put rescuers’ lives in danger.

I feel that way, too. I mean, I can understand the impulse of doing something alone, but if you get into trouble, you are putting others' lives at risk. Precautions are great; you do what you can to minimize the danger. But still......
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
There was a fatality at Mammoth in March. A snowboarder was in an out-of-bounds area, probably seeking a well-known experts-only spot called Hole in the Wall. It's a cave on the cliff that goes through below to the lakes basin on the other side. It's skiable when there's enough snow but hard to find, and one generally uses a local guide to get there. He was by himself, and rode down the wrong finger on the cliff. When he realized his mistake (this is my guessing), as a snowboarder, he may have taken his board off, tried to haul himself back up with it, and then slipped. The people who were visiting the Twin Lakes area saw it happen, called 911, and ran to him, but nothing could be done. I was nearby and saw the aftermath. It was awful and sad. Only 31 yo.
 

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