Another slide at Jackson Hole (resort closed)

[boardman]

whoa. thankfully, no lives lost.

UPDATE – No injures in slide at JHMR
Monday, December 29, 2008
By PJH Staff

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – After initial fears that an avalanche on Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's Headwall had buried up to 10 people, reports confirmed that the slide had merely partially collapsed walls and shattered windows at Bridger Restaurant, atop the Bridger Gondola summit. The resort is closed until further notice.

At 10 a.m., up to 10 people were suspected buried in an avalanche at JHMR, sources said. Reported at 9:50 a.m., today, the slide was said to have taken place on the Headwall, an open out-of-bounds area accessed by hiking, just above the Bridger Gondola. Emergency crews have responded.

At 10:40 a.m., sources reported that the avalanche damaged and possibly entered the restaurant atop the summit, also feared to be the location of the buried skiers. At 10:49 a.m., A partial collapse of walls at Bridger Restaurant was reported, without injury. At 11:01 a.m., an anonymous caller said that no one was buried or injured, which Planet JH sources confirmed at 11:10 a.m. PJH

Here is a JHMR statement:
At approximately 9:30 am this morning, after JHMR Ski Patrol had completed one avalanche hazard reduction route and were getting ready to conduct another, the Headwall slid naturally from the southeast aspect above the Bridger Restaurant.

This incident took place before this area of the mountain had been opened to the public. A search for potential victims took place and everyone has been accounted for. This incident is under full investigation and a more detailed report will be released at 4p.m.

At this time, JHMR will remain closed until further notice.

http://www.planetjh.com/news/A_104611.aspx

[PwdrHound]

It's going to be a long season...

I'm sure you all got wind of the Canadian Avy...

3 rescued, 8 missing in Canadian avalanches

* Story Highlights
* Group had been snowmobiling in popular backcountry destination
* Two of the buried riders managed to self-rescue, find third victim
* Darkness, avalanche hazards prompted authorities to postpone the search

(CNN) -- Eight snowmobilers remained unaccounted for Monday after two avalanches in western Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Three others survived the incident, which occurred Sunday afternoon south of the town of Fernie in the southeastern part of British Columbia. The three men suffered minor injuries, and one of them was hospitalized overnight.

"A search party will be going out as soon as daylight hits to look for the remaining eight missing, but it certainly doesn't look good," said David Wilks, mayor of Sparwood, the small town just north of Fernie where the snowmobilers reside.

"There's 11 people involved, eight of those who are in dire straits this morning. We're hoping for the best, but reality tells us if you're stuck in the snow for about 24 hours, bad things can happen."

The 11 had been in Harvey Pass, a popular backcountry snowmobile destination. iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video

An avalanche buried part of the group, and as others came to assist them, a second avalanche buried them, police and Wilks said.

"Two of the buried riders managed to self-rescue within about 20 minutes. These two used their avalanche beacons to locate a third buried victim who they rescued after an additional 20 minutes of digging," police said.

There have been previous coal mine disasters in the region, Wilks said. "But in recent memory this is the largest single tragic event to hit this community," he said.

Wilks said the snowmobilers are men in their mid- to late 20s and described them as upstanding citizens, most of them working in coal mines or as businessmen.

"All were well-aware of the dangers involved in snowmobiling. All are very cautious with what was going on," Wilks said.

A command post was set up Sunday, but darkness and avalanche hazards prompted authorities to postpone the search until Monday morning.

The Canadian Avalanche Center is classifying the avalanche hazard in the region as "high," police said, and crews were trying to establish "slope stability" at the site in time for searching to resume.

The mayor said temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees in recent weeks had warmed up in the last two or three days to 25 degrees.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, avalanche technicians and local emergency crews were to undertake the search and will be using avalanche-trained police dogs.

[davidhowland14]

the pictures from tetonat.com were incredible from todays slide.

this is the second floor of the building:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/3147570447_521312fffc_o.jpg

glad to hear no one was hurt.

[PWDR8S]

Woah! 2nd floor? Whew....
Glad nobody was hurt.

[NtrentT]

I'm very happy to hear no one was hurt.

JHMR wanted the photos taken down, and wants to hide the damage in my opinion.

Here's the reason ::) To protect the privacy rights of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort,
the photographs previously associated with this post
have been removed.

But I found them so here they are.

I think awareness about avalanche danger is more important than protecting the appeal of JHMR's restaurant that was built in the middle of a slide path

Avalanche control work at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort produced numerous hard slab avalanches to five feet in depth and running full track. The Headwall area released a moderate slide then a team used an explosive charge to control a remaining pocket. The charge pulled out most of the remaining headwall and ran to below the restaurant burying three patrolmen briefly after the debris flowed around a ninety degree corner of the building and continuing several yards. During a brief clearing in the weather several large, long crowns from naturally occurring avalanches were reported on northeasterly aspects from 8,500 to 10,000 feet. Most of these slides continue to run on the persistent mid-November crust.

http://stephenkoch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/avalanche-photo-inside-couloir.jpg

http://stephenkoch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/avalanche-photo-outside-couloir.jpg

http://stephenkoch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/avalanche-photo-ski-patrol.jpg

http://stephenkoch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/avalanche-photo-ski-patrol-and-chairs.jpg

http://www.skiingthebackcountry.com/images/tb530_1149.jpg

[boardman]

HOLY fahqing shyte, batman! I hadn't been able to view the pics on Teton AT! That's unreal!

Directly above the restaurant, for any who've been, is exactly the hiking area to access Casper Bowl and the Crags, which I've hiked dozens of times (and witnessed Casper Bowl roped off because of Avy danger). Crazy stuff. Thanks, Tony!

[pulverschwein]

Crazy shyte, that thar. My buddy Phil was working at Bridger - they're still waiting for word of whether they'll be reopening the restaurant this season. Enjoyed a few delicious $15 bacon cheeseburgers in that joint last season (one with bladepeople) and a couple of $25 ones in the fine dining Couloir restaurant which is now closed (believe it or not, they were worth every cent). Haven't heard from him in a couple days, which concerns me a bit, as does this huge snowfall on top of the crusty layers from late Nov - early Dec. Hoping things stabilize in the next 4 weeks.

Stephen Koch also refuses to take down the photos http://stephenkoch.com/

[NtrentT]

Thats where I got them from, and put them up through my own host as well.

I'd like to discuss the reason why JHMR wanted the photos taken down.

I think it was a business move, to protect the "SAFE IN-RESORT" image, but I could be wrong.

Some say its along the same lines why crime scene photos aren't posted, but I don't know how anyone could correlate that with this.

Any insight as to why?

[pulverschwein]

I'd like to discuss the reason why JHMR wanted the photos taken down.

I think it was a business move, to protect the "SAFE IN-RESORT" image, but I could be wrong.

Some say its along the same lines why crime scene photos aren't posted, but I don't know how anyone could correlate that with this.

Any insight as to why?
FWIW I think you's 'zactly right, Ntrent.

Those graphic images are a scary and sobering reminder to tourist / gaper types who assume that the whole resort, 'specially the buildings, are 100% safe from objective hazards like big releases. 'taint the case. As folks who spend lots of time in Lil Cottonwood will tell ya, interlodge is used wisely and for real cause. I remember seeing photos of the wing of the Alta Peruvian where my ma has stayed many times completely blown out and 6' deep in compacted debris after a big avy.

I am not at all surprised that the corporate types at JHMR want to hide these photos, not for the sake of privacy, security or any reason other than the bottom line. Simply put, those pictures are legitimately frightening and may scare off wary tourists and their dollars. According to my sources out there, bookings are already way down for the season. The resort doesn't want to terrify even more visitors and lose their cash.

I'm ambivalent about them because I think those who are unaware of the danger / capacity for destruction posed by avies that may be scared off by these pics prolly won't be skiing the same terrain as me. I think the people who I'll compete with for first tracks might not be exactly stoked by the images, but aren't stunned by them and realize that they represent the copious amounts of snow at the resort. To those, I have some advice - stay away from J Hole from 1/31 to 2/7 - it's NOT going to be good then. ;) :D

[BladeGirl]

I have a cousin-in-law on ski patrol there. She has been there the past 20 years or so and now her job is mostly avalanche control. She says her job has been complete hell every day.:(

-BG