1st Hand Account of the Alta 2 Avalanche at Jackson Hole
I found this comment on my blog today - it was left in response to the post on the avalanche on Alta 2 at Jackson Hole. This was the inbounds slide that occurred before the larger event on a similar aspect in the Paintbrush/Toilet Bowl/Tower 3 area which killed a local skier.
It is interesting to hear the perspective of this skier, especially considering he is an out of state visitor.
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Hey,
I am the skier you described in the avalanche. I'm 18 and 6' 4" and this was the first avalanche I have ever been in. I got very lucky with my height to avoid getting buried and somehow I got carried in between a set of 4 or 5 trees without hitting any of them.
I have had many people ask me if I had an avalanche beacon with me. Unfortunately my response was "no" because I am from the east coast and have never even thought I would ever witness an avalanche let alone be in one.
Unfortunately someone told me that a skier named Dave was searching for his ski in the deep powder and was killed from suffocation and a broken neck as an avalanche came crashing onto him off of Thunder Lift.
Jackson Hole got too much snow and they couldn't control it, but they wanted to open the mountain for the Christmas crowds. It was a huge mistake and everyone should learn a lesson from this. Any person skiing/riding that day could have been killed like Dave and we should all take this into consideration.
It is interesting to hear the perspective of this skier, especially considering he is an out of state visitor.
______________________________________________________
Hey,
I am the skier you described in the avalanche. I'm 18 and 6' 4" and this was the first avalanche I have ever been in. I got very lucky with my height to avoid getting buried and somehow I got carried in between a set of 4 or 5 trees without hitting any of them.
I have had many people ask me if I had an avalanche beacon with me. Unfortunately my response was "no" because I am from the east coast and have never even thought I would ever witness an avalanche let alone be in one.
Unfortunately someone told me that a skier named Dave was searching for his ski in the deep powder and was killed from suffocation and a broken neck as an avalanche came crashing onto him off of Thunder Lift.
Jackson Hole got too much snow and they couldn't control it, but they wanted to open the mountain for the Christmas crowds. It was a huge mistake and everyone should learn a lesson from this. Any person skiing/riding that day could have been killed like Dave and we should all take this into consideration.
posted by Bradley Krugh at 5:30 PM
2 Comments:
I'd be curious what time you set off the slide. I'm asking because I came down right after the slide, skiing in the debris (obviously not knowing what had happened until I was in it). Just wondering how long after the slide I came down.
ddodson, I think the slide occured shortly after 1pm. I saw the slide from the lift, skied to Thunder after reporting the event to patrol, took a lap on Thunder, and after waiting for friends at Thunder for a few minutes they closed the upper mountain. I think they closed the lifts just before 2.
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