San Juans heli ski slide - pov footage

[skaredshtles]

More guide shenanigans.
https://classic.avalanche.state.co.us/caic/acc/acc_report.php?acc_id=865&accfm=inv

Wow.

[BFD]

That guy did fine. He paid over $1800 for a day of skiing. The guy was not even thinking avalanche. There were 16 tracks on it already and he was following the guides track that was just put down. Yea he probably panicked when he saw it happening and made a mistake of stopping. Once the slab is moving faster than you, you are not skiing off. He got his feet downhill and managed to pull the trigger and the outcome was favorable. They probably handed him the avie pack in the parking lot that morning. Somebody fucked up and it wasn't that guy. Was the person skiing down next to the avalanche the guide? I bet you could of felt the depth hoar under that soft slab without turning over your ski pole.

[Alpinord]

I took a short ride like that on a surprisingly low angle slope. It seemed to happen in slow motion. It was a 50cm hard wind slab over large surface hoar. I probably moved 50’ down slope and rode on top like that.

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Just up valley from this slide I was the last of three traversing across the slope (above the one that killed that Opus Hut group below the road a few years ago) after skiing from a climb up to Marge Simpson from Ophir Pass and the whole slope started moving slowly. It was like wet concrete and had unbelievable power and a bit puckering to traverse the couple hundred feet or so, expecting it to really go while it was taking me downward. It was May and we did not quite adhere to the 'off by noon' protocol for spring conditions. We named it after Mudfoot. And it probably continued 1500 ft or more and got steeper. It would have been very scary slow ride if caught.

We've skied that Commodore (met ASF on top one time) route many times and that just looks horrible for a typical February. More weird than usual in the San Juans. February was the warmest on record.

[TBS]

That was the slab flowing up and over the stock wall and yes, it was a great demonstration of flowing solids acting as a liquid mass. All in all that was a great video to use to show people what getting caught looks like up close and personal.

What makes a slab flow uphill, even as a wave? Seems like gravity would have something to say about that…

[::: :::]

Wow
The “flow uphill” is the release forces acting progressively uphill as everything below drops away, likely with buckles up and drops down depending on the bed below

[andy m]

The slab is not flowing uphill -- it just appears that way, since the caught skier (and GoPro and frame of reference) is already moving downhill as part of the avalanche when you see the "wave."

As Bunion said, the wave is the avalanche going over the stauchwall, which is the lower boundary of the slab that was triggered.

[::: :::]

The slab is not flowing uphill -- it just appears that way, since the caught skier (and GoPro and frame of reference) is already moving downhill as part of the avalanche when you see the "wave."

As Bunion said, the wave is the avalanche going over the stauchwall, which is the lower boundary of the slab that was triggered.

Thx for that clarification - makes more sense now
The whole “static” [relative] POV thing is wild to see

[Dantheman]

That was a pretty wild video of the slab starting. I like to think I also would have tried to haul ass out of there and hopefully pulled my trigger immediately.

That guy clearly does not haul ass anywhere ever. It's physically painful watching him sideslip across the guide's traverse track.

[2FUNKY]

That guy clearly does not haul ass anywhere ever. It's physically painful watching him sideslip across the guide's traverse track.

No shit. The pedaling heal turns were bad. Same with the back seat tip pulling traverse. Eek. Glad he was uninjured.


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