An avalanche at Steven’s Pass ski resort yesterday has claimed the lives of three people. All victims were experienced backcountry skiers. A fourth person who was also caught deployed their airbag and survived.
The avalanche started small, then grew and ended up traveling over 2,000 vertical feet. The survivor was buried up to her head near two of the other victims.
More details from ESPN.
More details from The Wenatchee World.
More details from Powder Magazine.
More details from KIRO-TV (local station).
This is very sad news. Condolences to family and friends. Even though it seems to be a relatively low snow year, the number of avalanche incidents seems to be as high as a normal year. Please put on your avy eyes when skiing, especially out of bounds.
Preliminary Report from NWAC on Tunnel Creek Avalanche Accident
© 2012
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Prelim report released by NWAC today:
https://www.nwac.us/media/uploads/documents/accidents/2011_2012/Preliminary_Tunnel_Creek_Avalanche_Accident_2-29-2012.pdf
[…] practice, what to do to avoid the situation or deal quickly with the right emergency tactic. As the Tunnel Creek avalanche incident made clear, groups of strangers can make this lack of preparedness even more […]