Posted on 04/21/2013 5:28:12 PM PDT by dirtboy
Colorado authorities have identified the victims of a backcountry avalanche on Saturday as five experienced snowboarders and skiers who were participating in a community event promoting backcountry safety and gear.
The Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering's organizer, Joe Timlin, who worked as the Rocky Mountain sales manager for various snowboard brands, was among the deceased, according to the Clear Creek County Coroner's office.
"I lost a very dear friend today," said Adam Schmidt, editor of Snowboard Colorado Magazine, one of the event's sponsors. "I helped Joe put this community event together. Everybody in the snowboard community here knew him, and he was an awesome guy. Our hearts go out to the families of those that were lost at Loveland Pass. We are all very saddened by the news we received of this tragedy ... The avalanche triggered above them and pretty much just buried all of them."
Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger identified the other victims, all from Colorado, as: Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder; Ian Lanphere, 36, of Crested Butte, and Rick Gaukel, 33, of Estes Park. A sixth rider, Jerome Boulay, sales manager for Silverton, Colo.-based Venture Snowboards, was partially buried and survived the slide. All six were reportedly expert riders and were equipped with proper backcountry gear, including avalanche beacons. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said the Loveland Pass avalanche was about 500 feet wide and 4 feet deep.
The Colorado Department of Transportation closed a highway as many skiers were headed home from nearby Arapahoe Basin ski resort.
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The best gear in the world won't save you when you are buried in snow packed like cement.
Just think of them as a pack of male dogs all following that one bitch in heat!
The adrenaline rush.
More AGW killing people?
No worries here at Jay, Smuggs, and Stowe... except for the trees, rock, and ice.
How whacked is that?
FMCDH(BITS)
‘expert riders and were equipped with proper backcountry gear, including avalanche beacons”
People on this thread seem pretty damned harsh. Five people died here.
A lot is for the thrill but with me, I stick to the ski resorts and not being good in skiing, I never venture out. I know for the people who venture out, it would be hard to know that your are danger until the snow comes crashing on you.
April 20th (4/20) — just saying...
My gosh. That has got to be the best analogy I have ever heard. Nailed it!
I’ve been a ski pro for almost 47 years. In ‘72, when I was young and dumb I set off a slide at the top of “High Rustler” that went all the way into the Gold Miners Daughter. I was lucky that the slab left above me didn’t let go or I wouldn’t be writing this.
A ship in a harbor is safe... But that’s not what ships are for. — Adm Grace Hopper.
People can lose their lives in lots of ways. You can be safety-conscious as you want and still get whacked by a bus you didn’t see. I’m a lot more careful now than I once was... But I remember the days I skied the backcountry and jumped the stupid jumps and lived life a lot more edgy than I do now. I don’t miss it... But I’m glad I did all of it. I’ve skied into and out of avalanches. They suck. I’ve fallen four hundred feet down a slope I really thought I could ski down. It happens. I’ve skied stuff that I look back up and shudder to look at. People should live the best they can. I don’t think anybody looks back on their deathbed and wishes they’d taken fewer chances in life.
As much in life, you can only know the thrill of riding like that on a cloud of snow if you’ve done it. Sometimes shit happens. They had their beacons on. That’s the best they could have done. It’s terrible. But they died doing what they loved. That is more than most people get.
Yikes. Snow was never my thing, but it fits every motivated driver, surfer, & MXer I’ve ever known to a T.
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