DMC
01-13-2005, 03:23 PM
I've been to Mount Rose a couple times... Everytime I went I drooled over the steep chutes that were CLOSED... And well they should be... Because they are everything they tell you in AVI class not to ride...
So they opened them for the first time in YEEEEARRRSS... And the next day - they slide..
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/12/16/87799.php?sps=rgj.com&sch=LocalNews&sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news
Skier recalls avalanche experience
Snowslide said to be moderate: Event occurred day after Chutes opened for first time in 40 years.
Jeff DeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
12/16/2004 11:30 pm
Dave Benson had looked forward to skiing the Chutes for a long time.
But during his second run down the newly-opened expert terrain at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe last Friday, the Reno resident got more than he bargained for when he was swept up by an avalanche.
“I thought I was really, really going to get busted up pretty bad,” Benson, 41, said of the brief but frightening event, which ended when he was able to wrap himself around a tree after sliding about 30 feet.
Mount Rose representatives on Thursday said the snowslide was “moderate,” about 200 feet long and up to 18 inches deep.
“There was not enough snow to bury (a person) and it was not a life-threatening slide,” said ski resort spokesman Mike Pierce.
Despite regular preventative measures at the Chutes, avalanches such as the one on Dec. 10 are possible given the steepness of the terrain, which ranges between 40 and 55 degrees, Pierce said.
“It is that type of terrain,” Pierce said.
The slide occurred the day after Mount Rose opened the Chutes to skiers and snowboarders for the first time in more than 40 years.
The terrain was opened under a new permit with the U.S. Forest Service. It is part of a series of improvements to Reno’s backyard ski resort designed to put it on par with some of Lake Tahoe’s premier resorts, including Squaw Valley USA and Heavenly.
Benson was skiing in an area with trees between two of the snow chutes that make up the new terrain, Nightmare and Miller Time. He had just passed a crater left from a recent avalanche control explosion — a scar in the snow that Benson said reassured him about the slope’s stability — when his ride was interrupted.
“About two or three turns later, a slab cut loose underneath me,” Benson said, adding that he quickly spotted a tree that he thought could arrest his slide.
“I was able to swim a little bit and line it up,” Benson said. After wrapping himself around the tree, Benson said he was able to keep his head clear of the snow that then piled up around him.
“I pulled myself out like being born again,” Benson said. “I stood up and was completely unharmed.”
Benson recovered one ski that he lost during the slide but lost the other one.
Ski resort personnel had blasted for avalanches at the Chutes for each of the three days prior to the Dec. 10 event, said Mike Ferrari, ski patrol director at Mount Rose.
“It was basically an isolated pocket” of snow that let go as Benson skied past, Ferrari said.
So they opened them for the first time in YEEEEARRRSS... And the next day - they slide..
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/12/16/87799.php?sps=rgj.com&sch=LocalNews&sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news
Skier recalls avalanche experience
Snowslide said to be moderate: Event occurred day after Chutes opened for first time in 40 years.
Jeff DeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
12/16/2004 11:30 pm
Dave Benson had looked forward to skiing the Chutes for a long time.
But during his second run down the newly-opened expert terrain at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe last Friday, the Reno resident got more than he bargained for when he was swept up by an avalanche.
“I thought I was really, really going to get busted up pretty bad,” Benson, 41, said of the brief but frightening event, which ended when he was able to wrap himself around a tree after sliding about 30 feet.
Mount Rose representatives on Thursday said the snowslide was “moderate,” about 200 feet long and up to 18 inches deep.
“There was not enough snow to bury (a person) and it was not a life-threatening slide,” said ski resort spokesman Mike Pierce.
Despite regular preventative measures at the Chutes, avalanches such as the one on Dec. 10 are possible given the steepness of the terrain, which ranges between 40 and 55 degrees, Pierce said.
“It is that type of terrain,” Pierce said.
The slide occurred the day after Mount Rose opened the Chutes to skiers and snowboarders for the first time in more than 40 years.
The terrain was opened under a new permit with the U.S. Forest Service. It is part of a series of improvements to Reno’s backyard ski resort designed to put it on par with some of Lake Tahoe’s premier resorts, including Squaw Valley USA and Heavenly.
Benson was skiing in an area with trees between two of the snow chutes that make up the new terrain, Nightmare and Miller Time. He had just passed a crater left from a recent avalanche control explosion — a scar in the snow that Benson said reassured him about the slope’s stability — when his ride was interrupted.
“About two or three turns later, a slab cut loose underneath me,” Benson said, adding that he quickly spotted a tree that he thought could arrest his slide.
“I was able to swim a little bit and line it up,” Benson said. After wrapping himself around the tree, Benson said he was able to keep his head clear of the snow that then piled up around him.
“I pulled myself out like being born again,” Benson said. “I stood up and was completely unharmed.”
Benson recovered one ski that he lost during the slide but lost the other one.
Ski resort personnel had blasted for avalanches at the Chutes for each of the three days prior to the Dec. 10 event, said Mike Ferrari, ski patrol director at Mount Rose.
“It was basically an isolated pocket” of snow that let go as Benson skied past, Ferrari said.