Death at Bridger

The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking lot.
A search team covered the mountain and his body was discovered fairly quickly
since he had his transceiver turned on even though he was skiing inbounds lift
served terrain. He was considered an expert skier but the deep snow prevented
any movement on his part to escape. Sort of like getting stuck in a tree well
I guess. Will it make you think twice about skiing by yourself on a deep
powder day?

Stu

"JLGSAK" wrote in message
...
The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep
snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking
lot.
A search team covered the mountain and his body was discovered fairly
quickly
since he had his transceiver turned on even though he was skiing inbounds
lift
served terrain. He was considered an expert skier but the deep snow
prevented
any movement on his part to escape. Sort of like getting stuck in a tree
well
I guess. Will it make you think twice about skiing by yourself on a deep
powder day?

Stu

I've fallen in the deep and gotten to the "panic moment" before regaining
some sort of direction and mobility. It hasn't changed my behavior on powder
days though.

What I've noticed on the steeps is that when you fall on your back, feet
uphill, the snow behind you sluffs down over your face. It's spooky.

pigo

Here's the link the newspaper article.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com...eathbzbigs.txt






"JLGSAK" wrote in message
...
The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep
snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking
lot.
A search team covered the mountain and his body was discovered fairly
quickly
since he had his transceiver turned on even though he was skiing inbounds
lift
served terrain. He was considered an expert skier but the deep snow
prevented
any movement on his part to escape. Sort of like getting stuck in a tree
well
I guess. Will it make you think twice about skiing by yourself on a deep
powder day?

Stu

JLGSAK wrote:
The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking lot.

Quoting from the newspaper article:
"Two days later, on Tuesday afternoon, the Gallatin County sheriff's
office received a phone call from a friend of Cavanna who had spotted
Cavanna's car parked in Bridger's parking lot."

What kind of crap is that? Friday four people got lost at Alpine Meadows
(dummies went down the drainage behind Estelle - no one goes there,
unless they intend to climb out) and their car, remaining in the lot
after hours, was immediately observed as an indication of possible lost
skiers/boarders. Search and Rescue was on the job in hours, and they
were found alive.

So how come this guy's car can sit in the lot for two days and no one
notices an abandoned car. Doesn't Bridger give a ****? Kinda weird, IMO.

"lal_truckee" wrote in message
...
JLGSAK wrote:
The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by
himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep
snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking
lot.

Quoting from the newspaper article:
"Two days later, on Tuesday afternoon, the Gallatin County sheriff's
office received a phone call from a friend of Cavanna who had spotted
Cavanna's car parked in Bridger's parking lot."

What kind of crap is that? Friday four people got lost at Alpine Meadows
(dummies went down the drainage behind Estelle - no one goes there,
unless they intend to climb out) and their car, remaining in the lot
after hours, was immediately observed as an indication of possible lost
skiers/boarders. Search and Rescue was on the job in hours, and they
were found alive.

So how come this guy's car can sit in the lot for two days and no one
notices an abandoned car. Doesn't Bridger give a ****? Kinda weird, IMO.

I suppose they could have investigated and then some "lifes lottery" player
could sue for invasion of privacy. Had Bridger found the guy from noticing
his car, fine. It's not their job though.

"pigo" wrote in message
...

"JLGSAK" wrote in message
...
The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by
himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep
snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking
lot.
A search team covered the mountain and his body was discovered fairly
quickly
since he had his transceiver turned on even though he was skiing
inbounds
lift
served terrain. He was considered an expert skier but the deep snow
prevented
any movement on his part to escape. Sort of like getting stuck in a
tree
well
I guess. Will it make you think twice about skiing by yourself on a
deep
powder day?

Stu

I've fallen in the deep and gotten to the "panic moment" before regaining
some sort of direction and mobility. It hasn't changed my behavior on
powder
days though.

What I've noticed on the steeps is that when you fall on your back, feet
uphill, the snow behind you sluffs down over your face. It's spooky.

The first time I fell in really deep powder, I wsa head down on a little
steep pitch just below the chair unloading platform. I struggled for a long
time to get my feet worked around below me, then stood up and fell right
back down again the same way.

in article , JLGSAK at
wrote on 1/3/04 11:03 PM:

The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by himself
apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep snow.
He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking lot.
A search team covered the mountain and his body was discovered fairly quickly
since he had his transceiver turned on even though he was skiing inbounds lift
served terrain. He was considered an expert skier but the deep snow prevented
any movement on his part to escape. Sort of like getting stuck in a tree well
I guess. Will it make you think twice about skiing by yourself on a deep
powder day?

Stu

Hey, Stu? I thought you were a mental health professional. What kind of
pro stands idly by and says nothing when innocent men are defamed and
harassed?
Who do you treat? Psychopathic sheep?

pigo wrote:

"lal_truckee" wrote in message
...

JLGSAK wrote:

The day after 70 inches fell at Bridger last week a guy skiing by

himself

apparently fell head first on an expert run and suffocated in the deep

snow.

He wasn't missed for 2 days until someone noticed his car in the parking

lot.

Quoting from the newspaper article:
"Two days later, on Tuesday afternoon, the Gallatin County sheriff's
office received a phone call from a friend of Cavanna who had spotted
Cavanna's car parked in Bridger's parking lot."

What kind of crap is that? Friday four people got lost at Alpine Meadows
(dummies went down the drainage behind Estelle - no one goes there,
unless they intend to climb out) and their car, remaining in the lot
after hours, was immediately observed as an indication of possible lost
skiers/boarders. Search and Rescue was on the job in hours, and they
were found alive.

So how come this guy's car can sit in the lot for two days and no one
notices an abandoned car. Doesn't Bridger give a ****? Kinda weird, IMO.


I suppose they could have investigated and then some "lifes lottery" player
could sue for invasion of privacy. Had Bridger found the guy from noticing
his car, fine. It's not their job though.

Sure, it's their job, just like sweep is the Patrol's job. When you shut
down, you make a simple check that everyone is off the mountain.

"Richard Henry" wrote :
pigo wrote:
What I've noticed on the steeps is that when you fall on your back, feet
uphill, the snow behind you sluffs down over your face. It's spooky.

The first time I fell in really deep powder, I wsa head down on a little
steep pitch just below the chair unloading platform. I struggled for a long
time to get my feet worked around below me, then stood up and fell right
back down again the same way.

My first experience with powder (more like just soft and deep, as it
was a couple days old and fairly heavy) had me being planted like a
carrot. I ended up going in vertically head-first and sunk up to
about mid-thigh. I instinctively started to wiggle around to clear
breathing space even before I came to a stop. My legs were left
sticking straight up in the air. Even with my head three feet under,
I could still hear my buddy laughing his head off. Good thing it was
at Keystone so the snow wasn't any deeper.

The last time I fell in powder conditions was at Jackson Hole last
February. My uphill ski hit a buried rock near the top of Tower Three
Chute. I landed on my left elbow and my arm stuck in the soft snow
and my shoulder dislocated as I rolled downhill. Nothing like sliding
headfirst on a double-diamond run knowing there are trees, rocks, and
cliffs below you and your shoulder is in the middle of your chest.
Took all I could do to get spun around and to get stopped, although it
took me almost all of the run. Came to a stop right at the crux where
the two cliffs bordering the chute close in. Took three ski
patrollers to haul my butt out of there. Thought briefly (very
briefly) about skiing out on my own, but my shoulder was still quite
dislocated and wasn't going back in without help. Took the doc and
two nurses about ten minutes of tug-of-war to get it reduced
(unmedicated, no less). Worst of all, this was on the first day of
the trip. I didn't even make it to lunch time! ...and we had tons of
fresh powder all week.

Bottom line: Powder is dangerous; better to stick to the groomed.

Think SNOW!!!
Richard "who will continue to ski powder whenever it's available, but
will probably be a little nervous..."

"lal_truckee" wrote in message
...

Sure, it's their job, just like sweep is the Patrol's job. When you shut
down, you make a simple check that everyone is off the mountain.

I can't count the number of times I left my car in a lot for some reason or
another. I think it's completely different than patrol.