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For the week of Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2000

Bald Mountain avalanche a reminder of need to be careful


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

j26snow.jpg (10200 bytes)Fire and ice. A west-Ketchum pile of firewood collects layers of fluffy ice as winter continues to mount. Though the wood stack isn’t ready to slide, the piling snows of late should be trod on carefully in the mountains. There have already been 10 North American avalanche deaths this winter. Express photo by Willy Cook

The avalanche in Bald Mountain’s Lookout Bowl on Friday, Jan. 14, was an almost lethal reminder of just how dangerous and unpredictable winter in the mountains can be, even within the controlled boundaries of a ski area.

With rising temperatures, significant new snowfall and a weak base layer of snow, a three-foot-thick slab of snow—150-feet wide—swept more than 1,000 feet down Lookout Bowl. No one was caught by the slide, and two local residents who watched the Sun Valley Ski Patrol jump into action after the slide hailed their follow-up performance.

But the fact that an avalanche occurred on an open ski run at a major Western ski resort while skiers navigated the run raises questions in the minds of some critics whether the run should have been open at all. Rising temperatures and significant new snowfall should have been clues of imminent danger, they contend.

The ski patrol, abiding by Sun Valley Co. policy, referred such questions to Sun Valley’s public relations officer, Jack Sibbach.

Sibbach said the ski patrol and mountain manager, together, decide what parts of the mountain will be open. He said the ski patrol "probably" has more power making such calls. Safety comes first, Sibbach said.

When asked what other considerations go into opening the ski area, Sibbach responded that no other considerations are more important than safety.

In-ski-area-boundary avalanches in open areas are nothing new to Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain.

In January of 1998 local skier Darin Sales was buried by an avalanche below Gretchen’s Gold in Seattle Ridge area’s trees when he triggered a slide.

Adam Kraft, who was skiing with Sales at the time of the slide, began digging his buried friend out and was later assisted by ski patrol members.

Another slide in 1951 ripped down Easter Bowl, burying and killing a class of students and a ski instructor. Only one body was found before the spring sun melted the snow.

Inbounds avalanches are also nothing new to ski resorts around the West.

In fact, last weekend a man was killed skiing inside the boundaries of Crystal Mountain Ski Area in Washington. The avalanche victim and a friend were on a closed slope that had undergone avalanche control work earlier in the day, according to an accident report written by Crystal Mountain ski patrollers.

Another avalanche occurred the same day on an open slope at Crystal Mountain, breaking another man’s leg.

Avalanche experts say predicting avalanches is as much art as it is science, and that fact is reiterated as winter mountains continue to swallow experienced winter backcountry travelers throughout the West.

So far this winter, 10 people have died in avalanches in North America. Some were experienced in the backcountry, and some were not, according to the North American Avalanche Center’s Internet site.

As the snow continues to pile on, local avalanche danger will remain considerable to high.

The Sun Valley Avalanche Center called for "considerable" avalanche danger by day’s end yesterday as snow accumulations steadily continued through the morning.

"North facing aspects [of mountains] are harboring the weakest snow, and the crusts on the sunny aspects could be a sliding surface for the new snow. Use good route selection and heads up travel techniques today to get out and enjoy the new snow," the report read.

Snow is expected to continue through Thursday and cool, cloudy conditions will usher in the weekend.

 

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