Uintas Avalanche Tragedy
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 7:31 am
Our run towards a fatality free year in Utah ended in tragedy yesterday when a family on an outing broke off a cornice and two children were buried and killed in the ensuing avalanche. The report is on this link: http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanch ... ill-hollow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It is painful to pick lessons out of such a tragedy but there are a couple of points to keep in mind:
1) Respect cornices and give them a wide area of caution. They can start much sooner than you expect and they are deadly.
2) Micro climates exist. You can be in a benign general avalanche condition but a much different micro climate condition.
Keep your guard up and stay safe.
It is painful to pick lessons out of such a tragedy but there are a couple of points to keep in mind:
1) Respect cornices and give them a wide area of caution. They can start much sooner than you expect and they are deadly.
2) Micro climates exist. You can be in a benign general avalanche condition but a much different micro climate condition.
Keep your guard up and stay safe.