atr3yu

B.C. avalanche kills 2 skiers - British Columbia - CBC News

This is not even an hour away from my house. Pretty scary stuff to be honest.

poutanen

Yeah I saw that on 660 news last night. Sounds like heli-skiing with 1 guide and 3-4 other people. The guide and one person were able to dig themselves out, the other two didn't make it. If the RCMP supplied photo is of the actual area, it's scarey to look at! I can see how it'd look like a perfect slope but there's clearly two distinct levels in the snow.

This reminds me of the Craig Kelly story. The guy was a very advanced backcountry rider with Avalanche training all over the place, but died in an avalanche anyway. I'd love to hit the backcountry one day but I'm starting to think the resorts with constant bombing have to be a lot safer (I know it's still possible to have an avalanche in bounds, but far less likely methinks).

Scarey shit that it happened so close to you too!

mjd

that's horrible. i really feel for these ppl.

can't help but think one reason for the high incident rate with professionals is that they are out there more than anyone else. i hope it's not $$ driving them to take folks into areas that are avy-prone. i'd like to see a study on that.

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Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse

legallyillegal

shit happens


want to stay safe? stay home and hope a jet engine doesn't fall on you in your sleep

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THERE ARE SPECIFIC REASONS AS TO WHY I AM MORE LOCAL THAN YOU

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poutanen

Still wouldn't want to die snowboarding... You'd think paying $1500+ a day for cat/heli boarding they'd have enough resources to virtually eliminate the chances of being caught in an avalanche.

I think I get what MJD is saying. Not sure what a resort does or says to people that have booked a week of backcountry, when said backcountry is under an extreme avalanche warning. I'd be bummed if a trip got cancelled, but if I got a full refund I could at least use the time to hit a nearby resort. There was really good boarding this week all over South East BC...

That's gotta be brutal for the guide though. The safety of the people is almost 100% on his shoulders when it comes to avalanche awareness.

2hipp4u

Everything you do in life is a calculated risk, I would rather die on a mountain doing what I love then getting run over by a fucktard drunk driver.

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GBR

NightRider2613

Agreed 100%. If I went out riding some crazy backcountry line I would be a hell of a lot happier than being an old fuck sitting in a hospital somewhere wasting away my last days eating applesauce out of a straw. That said though, I sure as hell wouldn't want to go picking a fight with an avy-prone mountain, but hey, even in everyday riding shit happens, even inbounds.

ThunderChunky

How can this happen with a guide. I know avies can strike anyone, anytime. But it seems like this still shouldn't have happened. I know next to nothing about the BC though so........

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poutanen

Yeah but I'd rather die on a mountain when I'm 70 and lived my life. I'm just imagining being 30 and riding resorts my whole life. I finally decide to splurge and bend over to pay the $1500+ for some real backcountry heli-cat stuff, and now I die for it? Fuck that!

These deaths wouldn't stop me from backcountry boarding, but they would make me seriously question continuing on a trip despite avalanche warnings for pretty much the whole province... There's calculated risk and then there's being stupid. Not sure which catagory this situation falls under.

poutanen

Read this Craig Kelly (snowboarder) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As far as I can remember, the guy was already an american avy instructor, and was studying to become a canadian instructor. He basically pioneered freeriding. He was part owner of the cat boarding centre near Fernie, BC...

Basically if anybody should have been aware, it would be him. But he died.

It's like going ice fishing in the spring after they tell you to take the huts off cause the ice is too thin. You can bring a guide with you but you might still fall through the ice.