Dutchman
Active VIP Member
This is more for info, but it does back up what Avy Canada is warning us about.
We were riding the Crowsnest area this past week. Saturday we were the first ones out of the Atlas parking lot and stopped in at the Window mountain area. The slopes around the lake didn't look to goods we never went near them.
We then went over to the window mtn slope and it too look very sketchy. There was a big debris field at the bottom from a previous slide. So we continued out of the area and went up the ridge to the north. While sitting there checking out the view, we hear several sleds coming into the bowl area. They start climbing, 2-3 at a time, each one going a little higher than the last. We were sitting there watching (app 1/4 mile away), wondering WTF. That slope is not safe, and sure enough a giant slab lets go. We watched the last rider outrace the snow down the mountain, and we could see they all made it out ok.
We also ran into a couple ladies from Avy Canda and they too witnessed another slide nearby, triggered by sleds. Nobody there was caught in it, but......? There is a good video about these slides on face book under "AVALANCHE CANADA SOUTH ROCKIES", but I can't seem to link them.
Anyways, I'm no Avy expert, but I know enough to stay off when conditions are poor. It was sort of obvious at Window, with a big debris field of trees, branches, snow boulders. Then add in the fact of high winds for several days. After seeing that, why the heck would a guy attempt to climb that slope?
Who knows how many times this happened, these are just the ones we witnessed. I usually don't say things like this (to each their own), but in this case it really hit home. We were there just 15 minutes before and could have triggered that slide if we didn't listen to our common sense. Or maybe we would have returned to look for a buried person.
With all the awareness out there, why don't people listen? Why temp fate? It's just not worth the risk. I have no problem staying on the flats, in the trees away from the slopes. We actually had 3 days of great riding without doing one highmark. And we made it home safe.
Glad nothing bad happened here, but it's totally preventable. Come on people, you need to use your head a little more.
We were riding the Crowsnest area this past week. Saturday we were the first ones out of the Atlas parking lot and stopped in at the Window mountain area. The slopes around the lake didn't look to goods we never went near them.
We then went over to the window mtn slope and it too look very sketchy. There was a big debris field at the bottom from a previous slide. So we continued out of the area and went up the ridge to the north. While sitting there checking out the view, we hear several sleds coming into the bowl area. They start climbing, 2-3 at a time, each one going a little higher than the last. We were sitting there watching (app 1/4 mile away), wondering WTF. That slope is not safe, and sure enough a giant slab lets go. We watched the last rider outrace the snow down the mountain, and we could see they all made it out ok.
We also ran into a couple ladies from Avy Canda and they too witnessed another slide nearby, triggered by sleds. Nobody there was caught in it, but......? There is a good video about these slides on face book under "AVALANCHE CANADA SOUTH ROCKIES", but I can't seem to link them.
Anyways, I'm no Avy expert, but I know enough to stay off when conditions are poor. It was sort of obvious at Window, with a big debris field of trees, branches, snow boulders. Then add in the fact of high winds for several days. After seeing that, why the heck would a guy attempt to climb that slope?
Who knows how many times this happened, these are just the ones we witnessed. I usually don't say things like this (to each their own), but in this case it really hit home. We were there just 15 minutes before and could have triggered that slide if we didn't listen to our common sense. Or maybe we would have returned to look for a buried person.
With all the awareness out there, why don't people listen? Why temp fate? It's just not worth the risk. I have no problem staying on the flats, in the trees away from the slopes. We actually had 3 days of great riding without doing one highmark. And we made it home safe.
Glad nothing bad happened here, but it's totally preventable. Come on people, you need to use your head a little more.
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