Mammoth Mtn. Avalanche

Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
copeg
Founding Member & Forums Administrator
Founding Member & Forums Administrator
Posts: 2109
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:25 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Contact:

Mammoth Mtn. Avalanche

Post by copeg »

Details are sketchy this soon after the incident...I hope everyone is OK....
Posted on Mon, Apr. 17, 2006

Avalanche hits Mammoth Mountain resort; search under way
Associated Press
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - An avalanche struck the Mammoth Mountain resort Monday and a search was under way to determine if anyone was trapped. Three minor injuries were reported.

The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center had posted a warning of "considerable" danger on Monday.

The avalanche occurred shortly after 2 p.m., said Fire Chief Brent Harper.

More than 200 people were searching an area of a ski run in the Climax section of the resort, which has had record snowfall this season. Climax is near the top of the 11,053-foot mountain.

"I just hope there's no one under there," Mayor Rick Wood said in an interview. "I'm just waiting and hoping like everyone else."

The avalanche came on the heels of an April 6 tragedy when three members of Mammoth's ski patrol were asphyxiated by gas from a volcanic vent. One of the three was the resort's avalanche expert.

"As the news, whatever it is, comes out, I'd really like to be conservative and cautious and hopeful," the mayor said. "We don't need another terrible thing. We just hope for the best."

The Mammoth Web site reported the resort closed operations for the day at 2:30 p.m. It also said 11 inches of snow had fallen in the 24 hours preceding 6 a.m. and the base depth was 18 feet to 20 feet.

The resort has had more than 52 feet of total snowfall since October.

Mammoth, 195 miles east of San Francisco, is very popular with skiers and snowboarders from Southern California. It has 3,500 skiable acres, 150 trails and 28 lifts.

The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center's had warned that there was considerable danger of both natural and manmade avalanches in the Mammoth Basin.

"Natural avalanches are possible and you will probably trigger a slab avalanche if you get into steep northwest to southeast facing terrain especially above treeline," the warning said.

A slab avalanche sets loose an entire slope.

The April 6 deaths occurred as a ski patrol team was raising a fence around a well-known hazard, a vent that spews volcanic gases. Thick snow collapsed and two members of the patrol fell in. A third member, Charles Walter Rosenthal, was overcome and died after entering the hole in a rescue attempt.

Rosenthal, a research scientist, was the ski patrol's snow and avalanche analyst, and was president of the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, which he had helped found.
User avatar
SteveB
Founding Member
Posts: 228
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 10:08 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Reno, NV

Post by SteveB »

One of the partners at the law firm I work for is there right now with his family. All is well with them. Let's all keep good thoughts that there won't be any casualties...
User avatar
copeg
Founding Member & Forums Administrator
Founding Member & Forums Administrator
Posts: 2109
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:25 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Contact:

Post by copeg »

The LA Times currently has a photo of the avalanche.

Story and photo

Its crazy to see all the tracks that are above and on the flank of the slide...
User avatar
Mooses
Founding Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:33 am
Experience: N/A
Location: Durango, CO

Post by Mooses »

trailblazer wrote:The LA Times currently has a photo of the avalanche.

Story and photo

Its crazy to see all the tracks that are above and on the flank of the slide...
That is one big avy. Holy smokes.
"Sorry folks, park's closed, moose out front should have told ya."
User avatar
Snow Nymph
Founding Member
Posts: 2042
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:43 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
Contact:

Post by Snow Nymph »

Pretty gnarly! :( Got e-mails from friends right after it happened. :(

What's going on with the mountain??? Seems like its been cursed since McCoy sold it! :(


http://www.nbc4.tv/video/8780774/detail.html
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


http://snownymph.smugmug.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests