Avalanche: Bunchgrass

From SNOWY TORRENTS, "Accidents in the US, 1980-1986:" Bruce Olson, age 28, David Carnahan, 26, and John Donnelly, 22, and their three dogs

An avalanche warning was in effect on Sunday, February 8, but on Monday morning the warning was lifted and the avalanche haz- ard was rated moderate on slopes facing northwest, north, and northeast.

Monday the 9th was the second day of a planned four-day trip for Bruce Olson, age 28, David Carnahan, 26, and John Donnelly, 22, and their three dogs. They left Logan Canyon the day before and had skied to the head of Bunch Grass Canyon. On Monday, they descended onto a lee slope beneath a cornice, planning to do some skiing in the new snow. The time was noon and it was snowing moderately with strong winds loading the slope with blowing snow. All three men were standing still when the three dogs charged onto the slope. At that moment, the slope released 8–10 feet below the cornice.

All three men were caught. Olson, who was standing a little downslope and towards the left, was getting ready to photograph the other two skiing. He was tumbled downslope and ended up at the bottom, not buried. Carhahan and Donnelly were also caught. Donnelly was only partly buried, with an arm and his head out of the snow. Carhahan was totally buried, feet downhill and head about a foot below the surface. All three dogs, who entered the slope above the skiers and proba- bly triggered the avalanche, were buried.

Rescue

Olson walked up the debris and helped dig out Donnelly. Carhahan, totally buried, was able to yell, and yell he did. Donnelly, who was buried next to him, heard the yells and he and Olson uncovered Carhahan within 15 min- utes of the avalanche. They never lost voice contact with him.

One dog dug himself out, another was recovered quickly, and the third was recovered 1 hour later from beneath 3 feet of snow. The first two dogs located the missing third dog, which had no lasting ill effects.

All three men lost ski equipment and had to walk out to Logan.

Avalanche Data

This was a soft-slab, skier- or dog-released avalanche, and was 300 feet wide and ran 625 feet slope distance. The fracture ranged from 2–4 feet deep on the 30 ̊ slope. The open, light- ly timbered slope faces northeast and the start- ing zone was at an elevation of 9,000 feet. The debris was in soft blocks of dry snow, which probably accounted for Carhahan’s and the dogs’ survival.

Comments

This party consisted of competent nordic skiers who were familiar with the area. None carried rescue equipment—no beacons, probes, or shovels. None had received avalanche train- ing. All three had previously signed up for an avalanche course, which was cancelled due to lack of interest.

The party knew of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, but since it is a toll call to Salt Lake City from Logan, they did not call for a forecast. After the accident, one of the party said that with an avalanche cord, he could ski anywhere. He was surprised to hear, via tele- phone conversation with one of the UAFC forecasters, of the grim survival statistics of buried avalanche victims. After the telephone conversation, he appeared convinced, for the first time, that he was lucky to have survived.