Tree well fatality in Steamboat 1/5/10

[cold_smoke]

Just heard they pulled a female out of Chute 3 this morning, seems to be asphyxiation from going head first into a tree well. Heard she was a solid skier and A-basin instructor.
Those are all the details i know at this time.

RIP. Vibes to her friends and family.

[wrinkledpants]

Damn.

+++++++++++++++++vibes++++++++++++++

[TGR420]

That is so sad. It seems like we are seeing more and more of these. I think an avalung might have a small chance of helping in these situations.

[GoEhuge]

Dammit... I hate seeing these threads. Just plain scary to think how easily this sort of a thing can happen to anyone.

++++++Vibes+++ to all family and friends.

[Ski_Phan]

My question with the avalung is this....

Do you ski while breathing through it?

How are you suppose to get the hose to your mouth if you can't move buried in the snow?

[mtnbiker/boarder]

++++VIBES TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY+++++SUCH A SHAME TO READ THIS ....

[nogophers]

Steamboat Ski Patrol members found the body of a 23-year-old woman at the base of Chute 3 early this morning.

A friend reported the woman missing on the Steamboat Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon.

The woman was an instructor at Arapahoe Basin Ski and Snowboard Area, Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. spokesman Mike Lane said.

Lane said patrollers found the woman's body at the base of Chute 3, a double-black-diamond run in the Christmas Tree Bowl area, at 8:07 a.m. after ski patrollers and Routt County Search and Rescue volunteers resumed searching at 6 a.m. today. The woman's name has not been released pending notification of her family.

Lane said Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg was on the scene this morning. Lane said the woman was found near a tree well, the loose snow near the base of trees that can trap skiers, but it is unknown what caused her death.

On Tuesday, Lane said the woman was skiing on Christmas Tree Bowl with friends and was last seen at skier's right of the Big Meadow area. The friends skied down to the Bar UE chairlift, said John Kohnke, of Ski Patrol, but the woman did not come down. Searchers stopped looking at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Ski Patrol led the search, with Search and Rescue assisting.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14...#ixzz0brObPYMT

[Que]

+++++++vibes+++++++ spooky

[^^^]

Very sad. Doesn't matter how good of a skier you are, tree wells are very dangerous. RIP.

[TGR420]

My question with the avalung is this....

Do you ski while breathing through it?

How are you suppose to get the hose to your mouth if you can't move buried in the snow?

First off. Major and Huge Vibes to the family and friends. On the avalung note, you never know. you may be able to swing it into your mouth before the snow settles. You may have that chance. This gal was lost for so long it probably would not have helped, but there have been others where it could have worked. As my brother said to me the other day about Recco, "If it saves 1 life it is worth it." I believe this.

[summit]

Ugh... very sad... RIP

[Snowvols]

That's awful. Prayers are sent that way.

[Shredhead]

My question with the avalung is this....

Do you ski while breathing through it?

How are you suppose to get the hose to your mouth if you can't move buried in the snow?

No.

I would rather find out I can't, than not have it and find that I could?

[hutash]

Bummer, best wishes to family and friends. I suspect this will turn out to be somebody many maggots know

Avalungs work in this situation since the snow is loose and one can get the mouth piece in fairly easy (if it is unzipped.) Then one has the time to relax and figure things out. I wasn't in a tree well, but upside down in deep powder once and just put the mouth piece in, took a couple of breathes, relaxed, then figured out which way was up.

[grskier]

+++vibes to friends and family

[cmsummit]

Just terrible. RIP and vibes to her friends and family.

EDIT: so more people have died in CO so far this year as a result of NARSID than avalanches? Kind of odd considering our spooky, shallow snowpack.

[GeezerSteve]

Very sad

[sequoiashan]

Very Sad. +++Vibes to family and friends. Be careful out there

[huckasoreass]

First off. Major and Huge Vibes to the family and friends. On the avalung note, you never know. you may be able to swing it into your mouth before the snow settles. You may have that chance. This gal was lost for so long it probably would not have helped, but there have been others where it could have worked. As my brother said to me the other day about Recco, "If it saves 1 life it is worth it." I believe this.

I'll back Todd on this. I haven't had first hand experience in this situation, but I had a friend die in a tree well. It's a seemingly benign danger that could hit anyone. The whole thing is that once someone falls into a tree well upside down, panic sets in to get to the surface to get air, and all that panic does is cause more snow to fall in onto your head. Having the ability to pop in the avalung and take a moment to try to figure out the best way out (which can't be easy) may make all of the difference.

Best wishes to this girl's friends and family.

[jmf]

These accidents break my heart. It's hard to imagine how fast things can change - one minute you're having the time of your life - the next minute you're losing the fight for your life. Prayers for the deceased, family and friends.

Be careful out there guys.

[GeezerSteve]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, huckasoreass.

These sad events should remind us all to buddy up when skiing trees. We get some big ass tree wells here in the PNW, and we always buddy up when skiing trees.

10+ years ago, I was skiing a big dump pow day at Hyak (Alpy lots were full, avy danger too high to tour) and we found a kid upside down in a tree well. We pulled him out. His face was starting to turn blue. We escorted him down to the lodge, where his mother was waiting. The kid thanked me for saving his life. The mother, who did not comprehend the seriousness of the threat to her son's life, treated me like I was some dirty old man. I should have kept in touch with the kid -- he might have bought me a bottle of single malt Scotch every Xmas for the rest of his life.

Best to her family and friends. Awful.

[tricameron]

sad news. She was a friend of mine. Im shaking right now.

[emr]

vibes to family and friends.... Also props to the rescuers who where out late and up early searching for this individual.

[boltonoutlaw]

How are you suppose to get the hose to your mouth if you can't move buried in the snow?

Rig it on your pack so that the mouthpiece is annoyingly close to your face.

Vibes to the family & friends.

[nikster140]

I just heard about this. It broke my heart, being her age, and loving to ski as much as Grace did. She was skiing a chute that I and several people I know have skied over the last week. It's amazing how fast things change.

I have an avalung backpack and have not used it in my few days out this season. I will bring it with me every time I'm out from now on, with that mouthpiece in my mouth when I'm in a place like Christmas Tree.

Also, I tend to ski alone, and it terrified me to hear this could happen with four friends looking after her. I'll be looking for someone to ski with then, too. So if anyone else likes to ski that kind of stuff alone, let's team up and not let this happen to another undeserving soul.