Out Of Bounds And In Danger
Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.
It was a rhetorical question from Mt. Baldy, Calif., volunteer Fire Chief Bill Stead. He watches year after year as people from the Los Angeles area make the day trip up to Mt. Baldy to ski, snowboard, or sled. He says they're so determined to have a good time; they often ignore the rules – going so far as to tear down avalanche-warning signs and use them as saucer sleds!
I saw it with my own eyes. The chief took us to a popular hill used for sledding. There, I saw adults and children walking right past a big posted notice: "Warning: Potential Avalanche Area—Do Not Cross!" They climbed right up that hill and sledded down, oblivious to the danger. I talked to some of the sledders who either said they didn't notice the sign or didn't think an avalanche could happen to them.
But the fact is that's exactly how an avalanche can happen. Conditions are ripe when the snow is layered and unstable from on-again, off-again snowfalls. A slab avalanche, the most severe kind, can occur when heavy wet snow piles up on a base of snow cracked by wind or warming. The trigger can be a person skiing, snowmobiling, or snowboarding out in the backcountry, out of bounds from the regular ski area. When the slab is triggered, it breaks off and steamrolls down the mountain at speeds up to 60 mph. Imagine trying to escape that!
Just this week, a group of snowmobilers in Alaska recovered the body of one of two friends buried in a deadly avalanche over the weekend. The group had been out in the backcountry about 70 miles southeast of Anchorage enjoying extreme snowmobiling when they triggered the slide. Alaska state troopers say the friends' action were extremely risky, because the area is still avalanche-prone. In fact, they say conditions are so hazardous the official rescue operation hasn't even begun. But one of the dead men's friends said, "We did everything as safely as could possible be done."
Since the beginning of December, 30 people have died in avalanches across the West. And while some areas out here have had record-breaking snowfalls, avalanche fatalities haven't reached the record … yet.