[at-l] Second Avalanche in Whites

[rickboudrie@hotmail.com (rick boudrie)]

...... Here is a report of a second avalanche in Tuckerman.....


Four climbers caught in
second NH avalanche
By CAROL ROBIDOUX
Union Leader Staff

A second avalanche yesterday morning at Mount Washington=92s Tuckerman Ravi=
ne
threatened the lives of four experienced out-of-state climbers who had
witnessed Friday=92s fatal avalanche.

Forest rangers said the four had even helped in the attempt to recover hike=
r
Thomas Burke, 46, of West Springfield, who was killed in Friday=92s snow
slide.

This time only one hiker was injured as a rush of snow at the floor of
Tuckerman Ravine sent all four flying about 100 feet. The snow buried one
hiker completely, and another partially, said Christopher Joosen, lead snow
ranger at Mt. Washington Avalanche Center.

He said all four are lucky to be alive.

=93We see it all the time, people who are good at their sport, be it skiing=
 or
ice climbing, but who=92ve taken no time to learn about the medium they=92r=
e
traveling through,=94 said Joosen.

He said the four had been warned of ominous conditions before attempting
their hike yesterday. Rangers posted a high-risk avalanche bulletin after
five inches of overnight snow, sub-zero temperatures, gusts of more than 90
miles-per-hour and a visibility factor of less than 100 feet.

Joosen said the hikers, three men and one woman, were Eastern European. The
woman was visiting from Europe, while the others were from New York. They
were attempting to reach a sluice for a day of ice climbing. The sluice is
about 150 yards from Friday=92s avalanche site, said Joosen.

After the two hikers buried in snow were rescued by the others, the four
walked down the slope to Hermit Lake, about a 15-minute walk, where they
were met by snow rangers.

The woman, who had been partially buried in the avalanche, complained of
neck pain. She was backboarded and taken to Pinkham Notch and eventually
flown to a Portland, Maine, hospital where it was determined she had severa=
l
fractured vertebrae, said Joosen.

He said piecing the story together was challenging, given the language
barrier, but one of the party spoke fluent English. They explained to Joose=
n
that, at first, they thought they had been hit by a blast of wind, or
possibly a powder blast from an avalanche.

=93A party has to be prepared to do their own rescue. That means wearing th=
e
right equipment and following safe travel techniques in avalanche terrain,=
=94
said Joosen.

One essential piece of equipment, known as a beacon, can transmit a signal
to other hikers in a party. If someone is buried or lost, everyone else in
the group turns their beacons to =93receive=94 a distress signal.

He also said avalanche education courses are underused, but readily
available to anyone who is interested.

=93We post an updated avalanche bulletin everyday at our Web site,
www.tuckerman.org, and we encourage people to seek out the information as
one more tool to use before deciding if it=92s a good day to attempt to hik=
e
in Mt. Washington,=94 said Joosen.





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