TheSnowpit.com News Blog

Tragically, this season is ending in much the same way it began -- in the past week four snowmobile fatalities have occurred in three separate accidents:

• One near Hellroaring Creek (Official CAC report in PDF format) on Wednesday
• Two near McBride, BC on Tuesday
• One near Whitewater, near Blue River (Official CAC report in PDF format) on March 21.

The Canadian Avalanche center has been diligently working on ways to reach the sledding community, and their recent news releases reflect the end of a tough season.

Interestingly, folks out there still have ideas on where the missing link is -- the link that will connect danger and sledding for these folks. One such idea comes from Lou Dawson (scroll to the bottom of the post), namely, that every snowmobile gets sold with a safety booklet for backcountry travel...but that booklet mentions nothing about avalanches.

Real help, unfortunately, has seemed to be elusive so far....

Such hard stuff. My heart goes out to all those involved.

Despite the recent formal study from Albi Sole at the University of Calgary showing that avalanche education doesn't actually reduce your risk, sometimes it comes in pretty handy.

While crossing a slope near the Big-Cottonwood-Millcreek ridgeline, one of a team of three was caught and buried under a short slide. His companions enacted a successful rescue via beacons, probes, and shovels.

Of course, on the odd-news front, sometimes you don't need a beacon. After three days of being buried in a snow drift in Ontario, this woman was found alive by a search dog.

• Juneau gets its forecast center back
• Early season slide in Summit County, Colorado
• Good Press for The Fine Line
• Bacteria discovered as snow nucleation instigators

Early season mayhem continues - thin snowpack, crusts, bad skiing. But, for the people of Juneau, early season has finally brought them a forecaster. Tom Mattice from Colorado replaces Bill Glude who previously performed that job. If the Juneau forecasts take the same spin that they did previously, these forecasts will be more inclined toward the safety of homeowners than recreationalists.

But Colorado has not even started their forecasts for the season yet, which of course doesn't stop Mother Nature. I was sad to hear that probably the first avalanche injuries of the season occurred on Torrey's Peak in Colorado, with three climbers taking a 1000-foot ride. According to the article, the avalanche occurred in a windslab via human trigger.

Which means it's time to dust off those beacons, get new batteries, and, if you need to, get yourself some edumacation. The Rocky Mountain Sherpas are doing their part by touring with their excellent film The Fine Line. The film has gotten lots of well-deserved good press, which I love seeing as well.

Of course, the science of snow formation continues to be a great mystery despite the fact that we love, fear, and ski upon snow all the time. When it only consists of supercooled water, snow needs something to freeze around, which can be dust, pollution, or....bacteria? Interestingly enough, scientists have just discovered that ice-nucleating bacteria, often the cause of plant ailments, can also serve as the best snow nucleation material known. Does this mean Nevada will stop shooting silver oxide into the air and start shooting pathogens instead?