Hasler Avalanche, recovered body today.

[frock]

I apologize to all of you in advance. I have been on Snowest for years and posted this earlier tonight without even thinking of posting here, sorry everyone.

I just got home from recovering the body of the fella that was buried in Hasler yesterday and need to share a few things with you guys. This is what I've learned happened yesterday according to Search and Rescue and the RCMP as well as what happened today when we were in there.

There was 14 in the group, made up of adults and kids. 5 were buried, 4 were rescued and are OK. This gentleman was not so lucky. They dug him out and tried to revive with CPR. They had to leave him because they left 4 or 5 sleds buried in there. This group was outfitted with everything that you should have when mountain riding, from what I could see. They had beacons, shovels, probes and he was wearing an ABS avalanche pack. Don't know how proficient they were at using these things, but I think they must have been because they got 4 out alive.

The coroner and one of the policeman brought the pack down to the police station after she examined him and we tested the pack. It worked fine. It appears he never had a chance to activate it. The area they were in was a bad, bad terrain trap with very little room between the bottom of the hill and thick trees. The face is very steep and if he wasn't watching the hill when it let go, he never had a chance to deploy the pack because the slide would have been on them in a split second.

The slide occured in 2 side by side slopes. He was buried in the upper slide and it looked like there was 10 to 12 feet of snow piled against the trees. The lower slide was much bigger and was close to 30 feet deep in the creek draw.

Sorry about this being so long winded, but I have to unload and this is the place for this. 2 of the kids in the group were his, one of them was buried. Brings a tear every time I think of this. He was someones Son, someones Husband and someones Daddy and he's gone.

This was the last place to climb on the way out, after this it's a trail through the trees till you hit the road then the trucks. You can have all the gear and know how to use it and still get into trouble folks. Please be careful out there cause there are a lot of people who need you to come home.

 

[mattmedic]

thanks,for the post, sad to hear his family was with him, thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the departed . and its ok to vent, rather than keeping it in and having it affect you and your family in the days to come, thanks again.....

 

[BIGFOOT]

..Again another VERY SAD DAY ... With another family torn apart. Thks for the post 'frock'.

 

[rsaint]

Awsome post on such a sad topic . My heart goes out to the family and rips me apart at what is going thru the kids right now.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Thanks so much for the update on what happened. It's better that we read some of the facts rather than try and guess what happened.

 

[dooski]

Thanks so much for the update on what happened. It's better that we read some of the facts rather than try and guess what happened.

exactly so then we can learn from the mistakes that happened, because we can take all things for granted and dont pay attention to what we should be doing. It is sad to hear these stories and my heart goes out to all the families and friends that lost their loved ones.

 

[Scotford]

Thanks for the post frock.....Tough one to take...

There is a group of 30 sledders heading up today to get the 5 sleds out...hope everyone is safe today...

 

[stuckenough]

Very sad news for sure. It's hard to really think of anything to say that would comfort someone.
From what you describe, a good rule would be to spread out when going through any area you even think might be unsafe...don't bunch up.

 

[teeroy]

thanks Frock. been sitting here all morning thinking about Hasler and the terrible terrain traps there. as soon as you come up out of the trees, you're in one. don't matter which way you go in or out. and thinking more about it, there are very few "safe" areas out there anywhere....definitely has me re-thinking riding the area until the spring....

my deepest condolences to the family. a very tragic event.....

 

[frock]

I've had some time to think about whether they were playing in here or just passing through and i believe they likely were playing because the trail doesn't come out in this bowl. You actually go past and below this bowl into a creek draw then turn and go up into this bowl. Then to get out you have to drop back down the creek draw and carry on out.

Another point that I think should be made is this wasn't a huge slide. The hill is only about 300 ft high and if you combined both slides they might be 4-500 yards wide, but the problem here was where it occured. There is very little room between the bottom of the hill and the wall of trees so it didn't take a huge amount of snow to make it deep at the bottom. The second, lower slide funneled all the snow into a narrow creek draw so again it didn't take much snow to make it very deep in there.

Thanks for the update on the guys going in for the cleanup, Scotford. They will need a group that size to get everything dug out and off the mountain. Sounds like you know this group so could you please post how they made out today when you hear any news.

Last thing, my heart goes out to this guy's friends and family. My deepest heartfelt condolenses to them.


Shane

 

[teeroy]

thanks Frock, I think I know exactly where you are talking about....

 

[The Warden]

Everytime I hear about these incidences I get a case of the chills, My heart hurts for the families affected. Thoughts are prayers are with them all tonight.

Play safe everyone, and make it home alive!

The Warden

 

[polarice]

seems ive been saying this way tooo much

thoughts and prayers to all affected

 

[m7mod]

my prayers go out to the family

 

[troy]

Was the slide part way down Wolf Creek?????

 

[Scotford]

I've had some time to think about whether they were playing in here or just passing through and i believe they likely were playing because the trail doesn't come out in this bowl. You actually go past and below this bowl into a creek draw then turn and go up into this bowl. Then to get out you have to drop back down the creek draw and carry on out.

Another point that I think should be made is this wasn't a huge slide. The hill is only about 300 ft high and if you combined both slides they might be 4-500 yards wide, but the problem here was where it occured. There is very little room between the bottom of the hill and the wall of trees so it didn't take a huge amount of snow to make it deep at the bottom. The second, lower slide funneled all the snow into a narrow creek draw so again it didn't take much snow to make it very deep in there.

Thanks for the update on the guys going in for the cleanup, Scotford. They will need a group that size to get everything dug out and off the mountain. Sounds like you know this group so could you please post how they made out today when you hear any news.

Last thing, my heart goes out to this guy's friends and family. My deepest heartfelt condolenses to them.


Shane

Thanks frock.....the group didnot go today...they are heading out tom am...I might be joining them,,weather pending of course and conditions...and ya I can keep ya informed...

 

[plastictits]

my heart goes out to the family. this is one very sad story.

 

[frock]

Was the slide part way down Wolf Creek?????

Yes, right at the very top.

 

[frock]

Thanks frock.....the group didnot go today...they are heading out tom am...I might be joining them,,weather pending of course and conditions...and ya I can keep ya informed...

Thanks Scotford. I hope you guys get in there soon. It was blizzard conditions when we were up there and I've seen it snow 3 feet overnight in there. Hopefully that isn't what you guys are faced with.

Best of Luck
Shane

 

[ferniesnow]

Thoughts and prayers are with the family regarding this tragic event.

All through BC (from the north to the south), the conditions are sketchy and will be for awhile; be safe out there guys and gals....