We heard the tragic details on King5 of 4 avalanche fatalities in WA today. 3 were skiers in Stevens Pass’ backcountry and 1 was a boarder at Alpental. According to King5, the 3 at Stevens Pass (Freeskiing World Tour head judge Jim Jack, Stevens Pass’ Director of Marketing Chris Rudolph and John Brenan -who all resided in Leavenworth) were part of a group of 13 experienced skiers with proper backcountry gear. The 3 together with a woman were caught in the avalanche which carried them more than 1500ft down the mountain – the woman who survived was using an avalanche inflatable airbag device. The Alpental incident happened when the avalanche swept the boarder over a cliff. We are very saddened to hear all this. Our condolences go out to their family and friends. It just so happens that we first heard about the rescue efforts while attending Pro Guiding’s Companion Rescue Clinic. Martin Volken who owns Pro Guiding and is a certified Swiss mountain guide and instructor/examiner for the American ski mountaineering certification program, was teaching the class. The news got us talking about backcountry safety, ski touring skills, experience, etc. If you’d like to learn more about all this, take a look at Pro Guiding’s classes (by clicking on their logo link to the right) or pay them a visit at their shop in N. Bend. We’ve had a lot of snow this weekend so be careful out there. Accidents can happen to even the best of us. Our thoughts are with the family and friends who lost loved ones today.
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