================ USFS Report: Double Avalanche Fatality Summary Gulf of Slides Mt. Washington-New Hampshire March 24, 1996 On March 24, 1996 at approximately 9:30 am, three people were caught in a class 3 avalanche in gully #2 in the Gulf of Slides. John G. Wald, 35 of Cambridge MA, and Todd Crumbaker, 35 of Billerica MA, were killed. The Gulf of Slides is the ravine just south of Tuckerman Ravine on Mt Washington. The avalanche occurred in gully #2 which, from the top of the ridge, is about 1000 feet long, 60 to 85 feet wide and has a slope of 40-45 degrees. The fracture occurred approximately one third the way down from the ridge in the narrows at the point of utmost convexity. The crown was estimated to be 18-28 inches deep and 80-85 feet across. The debris stayed mostly in the main gully, but did hop a ridge around a slightly downhill right corner and settled in thick spruce and fir trees. The debris in the main gully was estimated to 250 by 65 feet in area and ranged from 2 to 14 feet deep. The debris over the ridge into the trees was estimated to be 80 by 100 feet in area. Due to the remote location of the gully and subsequent new snow in the days following the avalanche, the site was not revisited for a follow up investigation or measurements. In the days preceeding the event, the area received 12-13 inches of new snow. With high west winds a fair amount of snow loading occurred. Avalanche danger was posted as High and natural release avalanches were witnessed in both Tuckerman and Huntington Ravines on the morning of the 24th. Visibility in the area was very low on this day due to steady winds continuing to blow new snow off the summit cone of Mt. Washington. Away from the mountain it was a crystal blue sky day. The first individual, who was hiking by himself up on the right side of the gully, noticed two others about 250 feet below him (John and Todd). They were standing in the middle of the gully where it begins to level out into the runout zone. This area is a classic terrain trap with ridges on both sides. They appeared to be either removing their skins or their skis. The avalanche originated approximately 200 feet above the first individual, 450' above John and Todds location. He was able to move 4 feet to his right and step out of the moving debris before it had gained much momentum and yelled down to watch out. Once the avalanche stopped he started down the Gulf of Slides trail to see if the other two had skied out. When he did not see signs of them, he started probing the debris with his ski pole. A local university outing club came across him and assisted in an improvised probe line with ski poles. One of the group was eventually sent out to the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Pinkham Notch Visitor Center (2.75 miles from the scene) to call for more help. This person arrived at Pinkham just as a skier with a cellular phone arrived at the scene and called 911. Approximately 150 minutes had passed since the accident. Chris Joosen and Kai Allen (FS Snow Rangers) along with Jason Hunter (Harvard Mountaineering Club Caretaker) were returning from Huntington Ravine when they received a radio call reporting the accident from Dave Neely at Pinkham Notch. Kai, Jason and Liz Haigh (AMC Caretaker) were dispatched from Tuckerman Ravine as the first organized hasty team. Chris gathered additional probes and headed down to Pinkham in the USFS LMC-1200. Brad Ray and Marianne Bradley (FS Snow Rangers) reported to Pinkham to assist in organizing other rescue teams. Chris departed from Pinkham with six AMC employees. They followed the hasty team's tracks to the gully arriving approximately 30 minutes later. At this point John and Todd had been buried 4 to 4 1/2 hours. A beacon search was done by the hasty team followed by random probing in the most likely burial areas. Most of the debris pile in the gully, which measured 225-250 ft. by 65 ft., was uniform without many visual clues on likely burial locations. A ski pole was found on the ridge where the debis had jumped the gully into the trees. The pole was the hardest piece of evidence so random probing was done around the trees in that area for an additional 15-20 minutes. Additional rescuers arrived and Chris started a probe line at the toe of the debris while Kai ran shovel teams and random probers who did extra probing around trees after the line had moved through. There were approximately 35 people on scene. Todd Crumbaker was found by the probe line under 7 to 8 feet of snow 60 feet from the terminal end of the debris. John Wald was located 35 minutes later, by a small probe line covering fingers off the main debris, just behind the line to the right and 40 feet above Todd, 100 ft from the toe. His head and torso were under 5 feet of debris. Todd and John had been buried approximately 6 and 7 hours respectively. Probable cause of death was suffocation complicated by trauma. Christopher Joosen USFS Snow Ranger From: Doug Abromeit: Date: ## 04/16/96 10:39 ## Another tragedy on Mt Washington. Several obvious lessons with this accident including the danger of traveling in or across a gully, the effect wind and heavy precip has on stability and the need to have rescue equipment and know how to use it. From: CHRISTOPHER JOOSEN:R09F22D02A Date: ## 04/16/96 11:56 ## Another tragic situation of no avalanche awareness and making many mistakes in avalanche terrain. If anyone has any questions pass them along and I'll try my best to answer them. Chris. 603-466-2713 ================ Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 22:04:12 -0500 From: Scott Miller Subject: Gulf of Slides Avalanche Here is an article that came out of the Boston Globe. By MIKE RECHT Associated Press Writer MOUNT WASHINGTON, NH- Mount Washington has claimed its fifth and sixth victims of 1996- two Massachusetts men swept to their deaths in a 500-foot avalanche. A third hiker, who felt the snow moving from under him saved himself by "four or five steps," Fish and Game Maj. Ronald Alie said. The avalanche came at 9:30 a.m. after nine inches of windswept snow fell in the previous two days, much of it sticking to the sides of the steep slopes. Yesterday's sun may have loosened it, helping cause the avalanche, searchers said. "The first body was face down when we dug him up, said Tuc O'Brien, 19, of Raynham, Mass., an Appalachian Mountain Club member who took part in the search. "The second guy was face up," said O'Brien, who had been on the snow shelters. Alie said the first body was found at 4:15 p.m., the second about an hour later. They were dug out from between six and eight feet of snow. Searchers spent seven hours in avalanche danger conditions looking for the two men, whose names were not released by press time. The avalanche was reported in the Gulf of Slides, a remote gulley southeast of the more popular Tuckerman Ravine where skiers hike to the top of a high, very steep slope, and speed into a bowl of snow that blows off the summit and accumulates up to 70 feet. Alie said the victims had skis with them, but were hiking when the avalanche hit. AMC search coordinator John Sanders said the victims were struck at an elevation of of about 4500 feet and swept 500 down the mountain. The avalanche covered an area about 250 feet wide. Sanders said the third man was climbing separately above the victims, who were following his footsteps, when he felt the snow going out from under him. "He was able to go to his right and not be carried away. He was in the right place at the right time," Sanders said. When the man looked behind him and didn't see the hikers, "he knew they were buried and went searching for them, which is the prudent thing to do rather than go for help because you only have a certain period of time to survive," Sanders said. The man found a pack on top of the snow and one hanging in a tree, Alie said. He then asked other skiers for help and he and the volunteers probed for two hours looking for the pair. Two volunteers headed toward the AMC base camp and on the way found someone with a cellular phone and dialed 911, Alie said. Sanders said it was likely the people in the gulley caused the slide by their weight on the snowpack. He said he didn't know whether the victims had avalanche survival training or whether they were aware of the avalanche danger because they didn't sign the register at the AMC base, about 3.5 miles away from the avalanche. Weather conditions, including avalanche danger are posted at the base. The AMC late last week issued a standard spring skiing advisory warning of avalanche dangers. Hikers and skiers are advised to stop at the base camp to check the day's conditions. Yesterday's were rated "high" for the likelihood of the avalanche, the second-highest on a scale that includes low, medium, high, and extreme danger. About 40 rescuers moved as quickly as possible to probe about an acre of hard packed snow up to 12 feet deep, but also had to move gingerly so as not to trigger more avalanches. Six people have died so far this winter in the Presidential Range, which includes Mount Washington, a stark reminder of the dangers that await the estimated 250,000 people who use the mountain trails. The six deaths are a season record. More the 100 people have died on Mount Washington through the years. The mountain is well known for unpredictable weather. It is in the center of three major storm tracks, and sunny skies are often replaced quickly by heavy overcast, fog, snow, rain, or bitter cold winds. The world's fastest surface wind speed, 231 mph. has been recorded on its 6,288- foot peak. ================ From: CaptQueege Newsgroups: rec.backcountry PINKHAM NOTCH, N.H. (Reuter) - Two Massachusetts men were killed Sunday when they were buried under a dozen feet of snow by an avalanche that swept over an area known as the 'Gulf of Slides' on Mount Washington. ``They were hiking to get up to the top of Gulf of Slides so they could ski down,'' said Randy Leclair of the Appalachian Mountain Club, which assisted in the rescue effort on the 6,288-foot-high mountain, the highest in the East. A third member of the group escaped the avalanche and tried to dig out the other two before national and state rescue officials were called in to help search in high winds and subzero temperatures. Leclair declined to identify the dead pending notification of their families. The three ignored or failed to notice seven-foot signs warning of a high risk of avalanche. Search and rescue members of the Appalachian Mountain Club said winds of more than 100 miles per hour at the top of the New Hampshire mountain, known for its nasty winter weather, and more than 8 inches of recent snowfall triggered the avalanche. The two deaths brought to six the number of people who have died on the mountain this season, Leclair said. ``Almost every single accident that happened this year could have been preventable,'' he said. ================ From: Views From The Top, Two Die in avalanche on Mt. Washington Two people died in an avalanche in the Gulf of Slides on Mt. Washington. A third person in the group managed to escape the avalanche. It is not known if the group was hiking or skiing. The avalanche occured at about 4500' and the bodies were found about 500' lower. At Pinkham Notch, the avalanche danger was reported as HIGH at the time of the slide. The accident bring the death toll to 6 in the Presidential Range this winter. ================ Date: Sun, 24 MAR 1996 09:01:12 From: Jay Levine Newsgroups: rec.skiing.alpine Subject: Re: 2 Dead @ Tucks Sunday 3/24/96 This event, in my opinion, must be classified as a "suicide". 1. Avalanche danger posted as high. 2. Did not check in with forest service anyway. 3. No avalance transceivers. 4. Hike was up middle of gully. 5. Did they dig a snow pit to check for slide danger? 6. Did they carry avalanch shovels? 7. I'll bet slope was approx 35 degrees. All these factors increased their risks... ================