Avalanche Death in the Rubies

 

It could have been worse, but it was bad enough.

A young man is dead, another is badly injured, dozens of rescuers were at risk trying to effect a rescue in remote avalanche terrain, on a day made treacherous by a drought-year snowpack.  The Rubies are not exempt from the dangers of backcountry travel.

It is hard to know what to say.

Three young people were snowmobiling where they had no business being, in the Ruby Mountains Wilderness near Castle Lake. Snowmobilers regularly ignore wilderness regulations around here.  The slide broke above them, according to witnesses, burying one young man, breaking another's femur.  And, according to witnesses... they weren't wearing avalanche beacons.  They had no realistic means of locating their friend quickly enough to save his life. 

Nearby sledders did their best, as did the incredible pros at Ruby Mountain Heliski.  It wasn't to be.

The information is out there.  This has been a deadly year in the winter backcountry all over the western United States, as the dry snow year followed by a significant storm system has layered dense, wind-affected snow over a big pile of facets.  When it goes, it goes all the way to the ground.  Combine those conditions with thousands of backcountry enthusiasts desperate to get out and play in the mountains and, well.... people die.  

As of two days ago, the Washington Post reported that 27 people had died in avalanches so far this year.  That's what we average in an entire season.  Now we are at 28.

The thing that strikes me more than anything is the cavalier attitude about backcountry snowplay that seems rampant among certain groups.  There is a saying that is VERY true... "There are old climbers, and there are bold climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers."  Insert "skiers" or "snowmobilers", same idea.

This has been coming, I'm sad to say.  Modern snowmobiles are incredibly powerful, and high-marking is the game of choice.  The rider guns it straight up a steep slope, a slope that's right at the prime angle for avalanches, trying to get his tracks higher than the last guy.  And again.  And again.  To be honest, I'm very surprised that we haven't had an avalanche fatality sooner.  The sledders have been living on borrowed time.

This young man ran out of time, and far too soon.  A friend who knows him says he was a wonderful young man, with a bright future ahead of him.  

Current conditions info

Seems like everybody in Elko County is involved with mining in some way, myself included. I mine for data rather than gold, though, particularly when I'm trying to figure out if it's worth heading up to catch a ski day.

Here are a few of my favorite internet haunts when I'm trying to get an idea of what's happening in the Rubies:

SNOTEL - The Lamoille #3 SnoTel site is handy for figuring out how much snow's fallen recently, as well as for seeing what the temperature is up to (or down to, as it were). It's located at about Thomas Canyon, at 7700' or so, so you have to extrapolate a bit to figure out temperature higher in the range. Keep in mind that snow totals here may be completely off from higher up, as the wind has a tendency to blow things to hell up there.

Lamoille #3 SnoTel  

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE - There are a couple of different places I go for info from these guys. The first link is pretty handy as it gives you an idea of what they think it's going to do over the course of the day. It's a point forecast which, right now, is set up on a ridgeline near Mt. Gilbert. You can move the point around as you like to see what it is forecast to look like pretty specifically around the range.

NWS Forecast Table

Here's another good one. This graph shows, among other things, wind speed and direction, forecast temperature, forecast wind chill for the point you select. This link shows forecast conditions up at road's end at the head of Lamoille Canyon:

Road's end weather chart

There is all kinds of good info on that site... click around and see what suits you best.

UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER - While our conditions aren't a direct correlation with what's happening over in Utah, they are the closest avalanche forecasting center and we do often have a similar snowpack. Checking here doesn't replace digging your own pits and doing your own research, but it is a good place to look for ideas. According to the guy who taught my last avy class, our snowpack tends to be most similar to that in the Uintas.

Utah Avalanche Center 

RUBY MOUNTAIN HELISKI - CONDITIONS PAGE - Last, but a long ways from least, I check out RMH's "Conditions" page. There's a lot of info to be had there if you're familiar with some of the terrain they ski. Besides, the pictures are generally excellent.

Ruby Mountain Heliski - Current Conditions

Finally, I look out my window. By the time I'm done cruising around all of these sites it's generally light out and I can see if there's new snow, spindrift on the ridges, etc. If the wind's howling at my house there's an excellent chance that it's howling up there, too. Handy to live this close.