Do you know what happened in the mountains this week? Here’s a selection of news, articles, posts, videos, photos, and other cool things that we think you’d like to know about. Enjoy!
- Massive Avalanche In Tyrol, Austria Buries 17 Ski Tourers – Kills 5, Injures 2 – A Mountain Journey – Two groups of skiers at a freeride camp were surprised by an avalanche in the Tyrolean Alps that buried 17 people and killed 5 Czech skiers on 2/6/2016. RIP.
- Snow Biker Killed In Avalanche Near Cottonwood Pass, Colorado – A Mountain Journey – A solo snow biker died in a large avalanche west of Buena Vista, Colorado in the Sawatch Range on 2/5/2016. RIP.
- Equipment Failure Leads To Death Of Backcountry Skier From MSU In Hyalite Canyon, Montana – A Mountain Journey – A backcountry skier died in Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman, Montana after an equipment malfunction left him stranded in the backcountry overnight. RIP.
- Lake Tahoe Gains 28 Billion Gallons of Water, Rises 8-Inches | Tahoe Forecast to Rise 1.7-Feet By Summer – SnowBrains.com – All of the snow in California is a great thing for Lake Tahoe. Water levels are on the rise and this is a good thing for the CA drought.
- Snowmobiler Killed In Avalanche In Idaho – A Mountain Journey – An avalanche north of Brundage Ski Resort in Idaho killed Kirk Bradley Kinzer Jr on 1/31/2016. RIP.
- Backcountry Skier Injured In Avalanche In Spoon Couloir On Disappointment Peak In GTNP – A Mountain Journey – A skier was injured after triggering an avalanche in the Spoon Couloir. His partners did an excellent job with the rescue.
- The 2015 Golden Pitons – Climbing.com – Find out who won this years Golden Piton Awards. Congrats!
- Black Diamond Recalls Carabiners, Quickdraws, And Nylon Runners – A Mountain Journey – Black Diamond issued a recall on gear. Check your climbing and mountaineering gear and tell your friends to do the same.
- Snowmobiler Killed In Avalanche Near Wolf Creek Pass In Colorado – A Mountain Journey – A group of 4 snowmobilers triggered an avalanche that buried two members of their group. They were unable to self rescue because they did not have shovels. One person died. RIP.
- 10 Indian Soldiers Declared Dead After Avalanche on Siachen Glacier In Kashmir (UPDATED) – A Mountain Journey – An avalanche at a high altitude military outpost killed ten Indian soldiers on 2/3/2016. RIP.
- Body Of Missing Skier Found In Avalanche Debris In Wasatch Mountains of Utah – A Mountain Journey – A skier who went missing on 1/31 was found on 2/2 in avalanche debris outside of the ski area boundary of Park City in Utah.
- BREAKING: Freeride Mountain Biker Kelly McGarry Dead At 33 – Teton Gravity Research – Kiwi mountain biking legend Kelly McGarry collapsed on his bike and died while biking on the Ben Lomond trail outside of Queenstown, NZ.
- Avalanche Kills Backcountry Skier In Gunma Prefecture, Japan – A Mountain Journey – Shigeki Yoshida died in an avalanche on 1/31/2016 while backcountry skiing outside of Katashina Village in Japan. RIP.
- BMX Icon Dave Mirra Dead At 41 In Apparent Suicide: Police – Reuters.com – Dave Mirra who won 14 gold, 6 silver, and 4 bronze medals in X-Games from 1995 to 2009 was found dead in his truck this week. RIP.
- A-Basin Receives initial Approval For Expert Terrain Expansion – Curbed Ski – Arapahoe Basin in Colorado got the go ahead to expand their terrain by 338 acres – including the backcountry areas known as the Beavers and Steep Gullies.
- Squamish Locals Upset Over Plans For New $3.5 Billion Dollar Ski Area – UnofficialNetworks.com – What are your thoughts about the new Garibaldi at Squamish ski resort?
- Crews Use Howitzer To Clear Avalanche Prone Red Mountain Pass – KOB.com – Nothing like some good old military firepower to triggers some avalanches in Colorado.
- Video: Missing Snowboarder Survives 2-Nights in The Mt. Baker, WA Backcountry – SnowBrains.com – Oliver Smith got lost after exiting the ski area boundary at Mt Baker. He spent two nights lost in the Cascades before he was found.
- 2 Snowboarders Seriously Injured After Falling Off 200-Foot Cliff In Jackson – Teton Gravity Research – Three snowboarders fell off a 200′ cliff after descending the Why Not Couloir outside of the JHMR ski area boundary.
- Skier Caught In Avalanche On Mammoth Mountain – YouTube – A skier was caught in a size 1 avalanche in bounds at Mammoth Mountain in an area called Philipps.
- Patagonia’s Torre Traverse In Under 21 Hours – Climbing.com – Colin Haley and Alex Honnold completed the north to south Torre Traverse of Cerro Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre—in 20 hours 40 minutes. Wow.
- Owl Attacks Red Deer Skier Twice – CBC.ca – A cross country skier at Red Deer was attacked twice by a an owl while out skiing near Heritage Ranch.
- Missing Snowboarder Dies After Falling Off Large Out-Of-Bounds Cliff At Cypress Mt, BC – SnowBrains.com – A snowboarder was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the Montizambert creek drainage outside of the Cypress Mountain ski area boundary.
- Toni Sponar – The Ski Journal – The Ski Journal just released a story about one of our skiing heroes, Toni Sponar. Pick up a copy and read it.
What backcountry news did we miss? Tell us in the comments below.
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