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Show Case History No. 1 ( See Figure 35) Members of party: A and B, guests at , excellent skiers; enthusiastic but inexperienced ski mountaineers. C and D, ski instructor and ski patrolman, respectively, excellent skiers and experienced ski mountaineers. Events leading up to accident: C and D were going to test the Run, known to be dangerous at that time. A and B went along at their own request. The accident: C skied onto the slope, followed immediately by A and B. Slab plus dry snow avalanche fractured while all three were on the slope. C made an experienced ski mountaineer's typical test run of a doubtful slope: a short fast dip in and out of the danger zone. Only the edge of the slide touched him. B and A went farther out onto the slope. B, nearest to the release point, managed to ski out to one side. A attempted to outrun it straight down the gully. He went over a rock ledge, apparently fell, and was picked up there by the slide. B, looking for A, went out onto another avalanche slope and started a second slide which buried the tip of the first one. Rescue operations: Rescue operations were prompt, considering the distance from help, and well organized. Accident happened at 2: 00 p. m. First party reached the scene at 3: 30 p. m. Follow- up party reached the scene at 9: 45 p. m. Victim was found at 5: 00 a. m. the following morning. Elapsed time: 15 hours. Cause of death: suffocation. Immediate action was unsuccessful. Systematic probing was unsuccessful. Body was finally located by trenching. Weather and hazard data: Successive storms followed by prolonged cold. Snow had not settled and was unstable. Terrain data: See Figure 35. Conclusions: Mistakes which were direct cause of accident: 1. A and B went onto the slope at once instead of waiting for C to complete his test run. 2. A and B went too far onto the slope. 3. A tried to outrun the avalanche. 4. The second slide started by B complicated rescue operations. Under the conditions, the only hope of locating A quickly would have been an avalanche dog. - 94 - |