Avalanche
“I was the second one down the line, following a skier. One turn in, I triggered a large wind slab. After noticing the propagation and realizing there was no island of safety, I attempted to self-arrest on the bed surface by punching my hands in. It was pointless, since the slab propagated well above me, (but I didn’t know that at the time.) I was then engulfed by snow and went in and out of submersion as I was carried about 800’ at a speed of over 50mph… the next 20 seconds felt like 20 minutes as I tried to prevent snow from being shoved into my mouth, while tumbling head over heels, gasping for air every time I’d surface and preparing for impact with the rock wall… Luckily the latter never came. As the avalanche slowed down on the apron, I surfaced and ended up on top.” – Mitch McDermott, 3/28/20
On Friday, Wasatch backcountry skier Mitch McDermott was caught in an avalanche on Mt. Ogden at Snowbasin ski resort, UT and went for a 8,00-vertical-foot ride at speeds up to 50mph, and ended his ride on top of the snow.
The entire avalanche was captured on video by a drone and is dramatic.
“There’s no way around it, I fucked up. No of red flags were ignored (as we didn’t observe any), but this still could have been prevented. I have much more to talk on this later and where we went wrong..but for now I’m still processing the situation and gathering my thoughts.” – Mitch McDermott, 3/28/20
We at SnowBrains very much encourage the reporting of incidents like this so that we can all learn from them.
We will not tolerate negative comments surrounding this experience.
Let’s all read and learn from what Mitch has to tell us.
Thank you.
Right now, it is important that we avoid the backcountry or make sure ski/ride low angle terrain if we do choose to venture out.
If you do choose to use the backcountry during the Coronavirus crisis, please follow the guidelines listed below.
There was A HUGE AMOUNT of human triggered avalanches in Utah Friday.
Avalanche Rating on Friday, 3/27/20 was:
- Moderate above treeline
- Low near treeline
- Low below treeline
Please check out the Utah Avalanche Center’s Instagram story to see Avalanches in these locations on Friday:
- Mt. Odgen
- Mt. Superior
- Snowbasin ski resort
- Cardiac Ridge (near Alta)
- Main Days (near Alta)
- Providence Peak  (near Logan)
Mitch’s Recount of Avalanche
on Mt. Odgen, UT on 3/27/20:
As some of you already know, yesterday I got caught and carried in an avalanche…
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I was the second one down the line, following a skier. One turn in, I triggered a large wind slab. After noticing the propagation and realizing there was no island of safety, I attempted to self-arrest on the bed surface by punching my hands in. It was pointless, since the slab propagated well above me, (but I didn’t know that at the time.) I was then engulfed by snow and went in and out of submersion as I was carried about 800’ at a speed of over 50mph… the next 20 seconds felt like 20 minutes as I tried to prevent snow from being shoved into my mouth, while tumbling head over heels, gasping for air every time I’d surface and preparing for impact with the rock wall… Luckily the latter never came. As the avalanche slowed down on the apron, I surfaced and ended up on top.
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There’s no way around it, I fucked up. No of red flags were ignored (as we didn’t observe any), but this still could have been prevented. I have much more to talk on this later and where we went wrong..but for now I’m still processing the situation and gathering my thoughts.
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Watching this video was extremely sobering, and I hope it was for you too. Yesterday was a good reminder of how quickly things can go bad. The mountains are always in control, and we need to respect their power. I’ve been building up confidence with decision making all year, just to have it dismantled from this event yesterday..but maybe that’s not a bad thing. Sometimes you have to take a step back and re-evaluate your decisions.
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This is a good example of the importance in terrain selection. Yes it was a heavy line, but having a clean run out and no exposure to cliffs/hazards is what kept me alive and uninjured.
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I’m lucky to have walked away from this unscathed, with only a snapped snowboard. I appreciate everyone reaching out to me, as I’m completely uninjured.. just shaken up a bit mentally. I’m thankful it didn’t turn out much worse, cause it easily could have. Counting my blessings as Mother Nature provided another free lesson…but this almost wasn’t for free. Stay safe out there everyone.
My concern is we keep having these “close calls” in the mountains in Utah. I don’t know what it takes to make people realize the dangers. Everyone who uses the backcountry should be reading the Utah Avalanche Report EVERY DAY whether you go out or not. I am concerned because of these decisions because someone not of your party is going to get killed either below you or adjacent to you or rescuers who are called out to save you. One has to ask themselves, am I being responsible for what I am thinking about doing? I am not concerned you kill yourself have at it but when others may suffer who have to rescue you and your friends are selfish acts.