*******************************AVALANCHE at Berthoud Pass - Story - Lesson - Trajedy - Recognition ***************

not quite your typical NS post hey...

very tragic, hope this will prevent people from going out without thinking.
 
I think i'll read my avalanche hand book once more.

And I've been thinling about taking an awareness course. Think I,ll do that to.
 
Who ever posted that is very brave and should feel better about sharing his experience with everyone. Everyone just got a sobering taste of how real this is. RIP Sammy.
 
people will always be interacting with avalanche situations like the one in this story. however, you do have the power to change the ending. carry your gear and be prepared for the worst.
 
fist of, this post has taken my wisdom to another level, thank you. second, i hope, and think that this most likely will prevent people like us heading into this crazy scenario, its awfull. I cant imagine what it was like being there, doing the cpr, and experiencing the fatal outcome of this. i hope everybody takes a moment and reads this.
 
Shit man, thanks for that story. Made me think and feel for Sammy and really is telling me to get some knowledge about a situation before I even enter it.
 
thanks... this one really hit home since only two days ago I set off a fairly big slide... Everyone I was with was prepared and educated but sometimes you still tend to take for granted what those things can do.
 
So I posted this in the Colorado Forum and was plesently suprised to see it up here. A few important facts to know.

The origonal thread was on Telemark Tips. Here is the address:

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13425

I did not write this, no was I there. The origonal poster on TT got the account via e-mail.

There is a great avi educational page over there as well:

http://www.telemarktips.com/AvyEyesMedia.html

Check that out.

Here is the thread from the Colorado forum:

https://newschoolers.com/ns3/web/forums/readthread.php?thread_id=168334&

If you take any thing away from this it should be that if you are going to venture outside of a controled resort, you need

1. Knowledge of: Where you are going

How to get Help

How to get out quickly

Rescue technigues

Basic first aid

2. Basic Equipment: A Beacon

Metal Bladed Shovel

A real Probe

The knowledge to use said equipment

3. Never go out alone. If you want to come back of course.
 
I never really considered the equipent to be that important. I knew a beacon would be useful but the probes and stuff, I never thought about it really. RIP
 
thanks for posting this. it goes to show you how much of a difference being prepared can make when going into the backcountry.
 
Damn, I saw the people gathered at berthoud and figured there had been a slide, but this goes to show you that with out proper knowledge and equipment, the backcountry can kill...RIP
 
Thank you for that. The information in there was great, and I hope everyone takes the time to read it. Most likely those simple lessons will end up saving someone here. Also, im sorry for your loss.
 
I've been over Berthoud Pass many times, never skied the BC there but heard stories. Great message for anyone who does or doesn't ski BC. Unfortunately things like this happen.
 
This is not true, only 20% of fatalities occur before 15 minutes I am prettty sure. And no the best chance he could ever have is his buddies. People that are their that can watch him go down. I have been in a few situations like this and I'll tell you without my beacon it would have been tough. But watching the person getting draggged down zeros your search area to like 40 ft depending on how big of a slide. And judging by the description of the body it sounds like he died of affixiation. You need to learn more before you talk.
 
If you think a 1 in 5 chance of dieing after being dug up in 15 minutes is good odds...well then youre just a fucking moron. Also there were like 10 people on the scene diging him out, did you read how hard it is to get a body out of the snow, you think his buddy could h ave done it on his own in under ten minutes?

And also I said he still had a good chance of dieing even if his buddy had the equipment because if you had read the story it said he most likely suffered a broken neck. Im not sure what the stats are but lots of avy deaths are a result of trama, couple that with the fact of only a 50% survival rate after 30 minutes and I dont see how on earth you can disagree with me.
 
The chance of dieing from trama coupled with the chance of dieing from asphyxiation is not good odds at all d ude...i dont know what youre on. And also maybe you missed teh part where they described how he had a broken neck.
 
Ok you did correct yourself in the pm you sent me, but yeah about 30% survive after 30 minutes, but 1 in 5 good odds? Yeah after you have been buried in an avalanche those are good. Number 2/

"We were certain he had back and perhaps neck injuries but this was secondary"

that does not mean that he died from a broken neck, you can get way fucked up and still live.

I have my avalanche certs too, I'm to impressed so quit sending me pm's. I have dealt with these situations before I understand what happened.
 
tracker_survival_success.gif
OK
 
That is such a tragic, but good account of the situation. I have been there before and your superhuman strength, you think you will have, isnt there. Everything goes at a million miles a second and its hard to think. Im sure you did everything that you could do and you should be commended for it.

It always takes a tragedy to learn a lesson. Its sad that it has to be this way but 95% of the time it is. DONT LET IT BE YOU. BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST. ALWAYS CARRY THE PROPER GEAR OR DONT GO!
 
either way gotama you have to be an idiot if you think you have a good chance of surviving an avy. Provided you dont kill yourself falling down the mountain and your buddy can get you out in 15 minutes you still only have a 70% chance of living. Go load a 10 shot revovler(probably doesnt exist) with three bullets...still think its a good chance of living?
 
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