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Show at the slide at 9: 30. By this time four to five inches of new snow covered the ground andwind speed was increasing. A systematic probe was organized and P. N.' s body was located four feet under the surface at 10: 09 p. m. on the first pass. The body was dug out and marked with probes. Since the rescuers were wet and seriously chilled, they left the body for the second party to bring out. The fresh mountain rescue team arrived shortly after the first left and evacuated the victim's body. They returned to the highway at about 1: 30 a. m. COMMENTS Entering the trail to Shuksan Arm by a different route than through the ski area, the touring party did not have the benefit of warnings or see any closure signs. Even so, they persisted on their tour in the face of obvious danger signs and by an i11- chosen route for a time of avalanche danger. They also failed to keep the party spread out while crossing an avalanche slope. Touring groups like this can benefit from available expert knowledge about snow hazards only if they take the trouble to seek it. Above all, the best protection for the ski tourer is wise route selection. Even the most experienced avalanche expert cannot outguess all snow conditions, but a novice can recognize dangerous terrain and go around it. The rescue leader faced a difficult decision when he delayed the rescue party to take them around by a safer route. His expert knowledge and judgement averted a possible compound disaster. ( See Report No. 58- 2 for one which was not averted by the rescue party.) The decision not to risk additional lives at the cost of delay was probably a sound one, considering the dangerously unstable snow condition. Five caught; four survive - one dead. Size of slide- small, running only 150 feet. Small avalanches are the killers. No. 66- 2 SNOQUALMIE PASS. WASHINGTON 11 March 1966 ACCIDENT SUMMARY Late Friday afternoon G. F. was traveling U. S. Highway 10 on his way to see his family at Wenatchee, Washington. About 1800 hours on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass, at the edge of a snow shed, an avalanche struck the station wagon, partially crushing the roof and breaking out some of the windows. Highway crews soon reached the scene and removed the occupants of a second 134 |
