One may recall the tragedy from this past winter where no one called in a search for two lost skiers outside of Kicking Horse resort. Now, a lawsuit over the issue has targeted individual search and rescue volunteers on the teams that did respond.

The 'official' called-in notification for the couple who did not return from their skiing trip apparently occurred on Feb 23; they were found February 24. From that perspective, the search took a perfectly reasonable amount of time.

Things get sticky, however, when one considers that they had been missing since February 15. In addition, there were multiple sightings of SOS messages in the snow which were spotted and reported, including to the RCMP. However, no one (including the RCMP) apparently took any action. Thus, the surviving member of the lost couple has begun a lawsuit against the Golden and District Search and Rescue Association, among others, which includes volunteers.

Having volunteered on a SAR team in the States, and just starting to get involved in one up here, I find this whole thing very interesting. In the States, the order goes like this:

(1) Someone calls in a missing person to the police
(2) The police call the SAR team with the needed skills or jurisdiction
(3) The search commences

Even if one of our team members saw something that might warrant a search (say, an SOS) he/she would still report it to the police. The police would then call out the necessary resources. Sometimes, sticky situations like this do arise, but if any one of the volunteer members act without an official call out from law enforcement, it is clear that the person is acting independently and is possibly personally liable. Thus, due to liability fear, a good rule of thumb to remember in the States is:

If no one calls you in missing, no one will search for you.

Thus, it is a good idea to have a contact to call you in! In addition, there are many legal protective barriers in the States available to the rescuer. These include the Good Samaritan Law (for acting in good faith and without formal training) and the Volunteer Protection Act (for acting without pay and with formal training). However, one must also realize that the States has NASAR, a formal training program for individual rescuers, and the MRA, one of many formal certification programs for rescue teams.

Thus, one might sue a certain team, but not the individuals on that team. The team may be disbanded, but the members will usually be protected under the Volunteer Protection Act. Or, (or maybe in addition) they often carry personal liability insurance.

A similar situation can sometimes be found in for-profit organizations. For example, the lawsuit from a 2005 in-bounds avalanche in Mount Charleston, Nevada closed the resort for more than a month, and just recently finished in settlement. But it did not target the patrollers individually.

Apparently not so here in Canada. From CBC News:

The big message is, that there does appear to be a situation in the Canadian legal system that will allow a subject to sue societies for something that happens operationally, so we better have insurance, we better be covered, because if we are not, it can all affect us personally

Yikes! Teams are already reacting to this terrifying realization. Many volunteer teams in the area have already shut down, with extreme examples such as the Fernie search and rescue board resigning, and Golden's team removing all available equipment for response and technical rescues. And the stagnation has moved beyond the backcountry; BC highway response teams have drawn back their responses because of liability fears.

I personally find it exceptionally sad that a lawsuit -- which essentially is trying to sue for lack of response -- is showing liability issues which will create an even worse lack of response. Something needs to be done.

Many of you may have already heard about the repeated avalanche close calls in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. Tuckerman is a large bowl where one can ski, climb, etc.

On April 25, there was not one but three close calls with avalanches in the ravine. This, about two weeks following another, more serious close call on April 11, also in the ravine and showing that Mount Washington's major avalanche season wasn't over yet.

Brian Clarke's blog has an excellent writeup of the series of incidents on the 25th, describing how eyewitnesses on scene were cheering for the avalanches and then, obviously, people just kept climbing and skiing.

He points out that amazingly, two of the avalanche close calls were caught on video, and then posted on YouTube. Here is the first video, apparently of the second slide of the day:

And one of the third slide of the day:

Other blogs report similar incredulity, including one that has photos of a fat snow-covered bowl on Saturday and a thin, avalanche scoured bowl Sunday. TetonAT has resurrected a forum post from a man caught in one of the slides.

This, only days before 6 hikers were caught and killed in an avalanche in Austria. Avalanches can kill people, even (and often especially) springtime ones. I don't understand this group mentality from Tuckerman. Be careful out there.

The Avalung is particularly interesting because it cannot be tested using test dummies or other tools, and no one wants to volunteer to go through an avalanche to see they can keep it clamped between their teeth.

But some attention has been given to the Avalung this season, if only for two reasons. First, Black Diamond released a video filmed with a helmet camera worn by a skier who got buried with his Avalung and then got dug out.

Secondly, a very interesting accident report came out of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center which documented a party of three, who all were buried, who all used their Avalungs, and who rescued themselves.

Many reviews like this one of the device have circulated, pointing to the integration of Avalung and backpack as the reason why it comes out on trips.

Of course, as with anything in real life, many lessons can be learned. The speedy rescue in the video had nothing to do with the Avalung, rather it points to skilled partners. And the role of the Avalung and the condition of the snow that buried the three men in Colorado seem difficult to separate.

But, it is good to see some information being released on this device which, though excellent in theory, has yet to be fully fleshed out in the wild.