35 Avalanche Deaths in the USA in 2013/14 | Lets Make This Number Go DOWN:

The USA saw 35 avalanche deaths during the 2013/14 winter season.  

“Over the last 10 winters an average of 28 people died in avalanches every year in the United States.” – Colorado Avalanche Information Center

This means that we had 7 more avalanche deaths than average this year.  That’s a lot.  It’s too many.  We lost a very close friend this year.  It hurts.

2013/14 USA AVALANCHE FATALITIES:

Date	State	Location	Description	Killed
05/28 †	WA	Liberty Ridge, Mount Rainier	6 climbers caught, buried and killed	6
05/14	WA	North face of Mount Shuksan	1 backcountry tourer (on ascent) caught and killed	1
05/03	MT	Olson Gulch, west of Anaconda	1 backcountry skier caught, died on scene	1
04/28 †	OR	Crater Lake National Park	1 snowshoer caught in cornice fall	1
03/30	OR	Paulina Peak, south of Bend	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/22	WA	Granite Mountain	1 backcountry tourer caught, buried, and killed	1
03/15	AK	Kicking Horse Valley, west of Haines	1 heliski guide caught, buried, and died from injuries	1
03/11 †	MT	Cooke City, Montana	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/10	MT	Altoona, about 10 miles northeast of Philipsburg, Montana	1 skier caught and killed	1
03/07 †	UT	Gold Hill, Uinta Mountains	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/05	CO	Sharkstooth Peak, La Plata Mountains	1 snowmobiler fully buried, missing and presumed dead	1
03/04	CO	Diablo Ridge, Pt. 12,505, approx. 1 mile W of Conejos Peak	1 skier caught, buried, and killed	1
02/28 †	MT	Mount Jumbo, Missoula	1 snowplayer and 2 residents caught and buried, 1 resident killed	1
02/22 †	MT	Troy, West Cabinet Mountain Range	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 partly buried and 1 buried and killed	1
02/18	WY	Near Togwotee Pass	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
02/16	ID	Frenchman Creek, northwest of Galena Summit	4 snowmobilers caught and buried, 1 killed	1
02/15 †	CO	Star Mountain, near Twin Lakes	5 skiers caught, 3 injured, 2 killed	2
02/11	OR	SW face of Cornucopia Peak, Wallowa Mountains	5 backcountry skiers caught, 1 uninjured, 2 injured, 2 killed	2
02/10	CO	Near Kebler Pass, west of Crested Butte	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed	1
02/10	CO	North Fork Swan River, south of Keystone Ski Area	2 sidecountry riders caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed	1
02/09	UT	Left Fork Huntington Creek	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
02/08	UT	Near Tibble Fork Reservoir	1 snowshoer caught, buried, and lkilled	1
01/18	WA	Lewis Peak, Cascades north of Stevens Pass	1 climber killed in cornice fall avalanche	1
01/07	CO	East Vail, backcountry southeast of Vail Ski Area	4 sidecountry riders caught, 1 injured, 1 killed	1
01/01	MT	Onion Basin, northern Gallatin Range	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 buried and killed	1
12/31	CO	Parkview Mountain, west of Willow Creek Pass	One backcountry traveler buried and killed	1
12/26	WY	Pucker Face, near Jackson Hole Mountain Resort	One skier caught, buried, and killed.	1
12/26 †	ID	Neely’s, Palisades Peak	One snowmobiler, caught, buried and killed	1

We all need to do everything we can to bring this number down.  Yeah, lets bring this number down.  Lets make the average annual average deaths go down.

How do we make this number go down?  We educate ourselves.  It’s really all about education.  Of course, good partners and good decision making are key as well.  But education is going to help you pick better partners and make better decisions.  Avalanche education.

Get avalanche educated, read accident reports, learn what went wrong in previous avalanche situations.  

Sign up for a class right now, you can even take them over the summer in the Southern Hemisphere.  There are so many classes in so many places.

American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Course Schedule

Canadian Avalanche Center Course Schedule

also, the International Snow Science Workshop is an amazing place for information

AMAZING AVALANCHE TUTORIAL HERE:

Avalanche.org

If you’re already avalanche certified, take a refresher course.  New ideas and techniques are coming out every year that can help us be safer in avalanche terrain.

Here at SnowBrains, we’ll continue to do our part by reporting on every avalanche we learn of.  One of the best ways we can avoid avalanches is by learning about previous avalanche accidents.