Did Luck Trump Stupidity?
February 5th, 2009Posted in Skiing Everywhere
There has been a lot of media coverage of the three avalanche survivors of an avalanche near Vail who managed to get themselves completely buried, simultaneously, in a single avalanche, but managed a self-rescue and lived to tell the tale. Here’s the official report of the incident.
Lou Dawson, a former avalanche victim himself, takes a hard line on the three lucky survivors “Most importantly, getting three people buried at once was an inexcusable mistake that puts these guys at the level of the Three Stooges when it comes to avalanche safety.”
I agree with Lou in this instance. They were incredibly lucky that one of them had just one arm free enough to be able to slowly dig himself free and then rescue his companions. Had that one arm been immobilized by denser snow, or a ski pole strap, all three would likely have perished in a slow and cold death scenario.
All three were outfitted with beacons, probes, shovels, Avalungs- all the stuff backcountry skiers are smart to carry, but even the Avalungs wouldn’t have saved these guys if not for that one lucky free arm.
Using a fully functional and alert brain to stay safe is still the best avalanche tool going.
Leave a Comment