Kicking Horse avalanche death guys named today

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Eleanor
Wow, that sucks.

But at the same time, don't ski out of bounds and this shit is a lot less likely to happen.

RIP Hima, nothing wrong with skiing out of bounds, the best skiing is found out there but you need to know whats dangerous and what isnt. Ive skied the lower portion of that bowl many times but never ventured up to where they went because it's obvious suicide. Such a tragedy.

[Singel]

Condolences to all friends/family and everyone else affected by this tragedy (including ski patrol who had to dig them out).

Just to clarify a few things, as the news coverage has generally been terrible on this event. I hate to play the 'blame the victim' card, but in this case it seems very appropriate, and necessary to help avoid future PREVENTABLE deaths.

a) First of all, you might mention that they were skiing in a PERMANENTLY CLOSED area. Think Delirum Dive, Silver City, or Wild West at Sunshine, or Whitehorn 2 chutes, ER 5 at Lake Louise, but even more dangerous. Over years of hard work and study by patrol the preceding areas have been able to open at certain times of the year when conditions were deemed to be safe, compared to previously when they were also Permanently Closed areas. The area these two were skiing was not even at that point, but deemed to be too dangerous to open at all.

b) He may have had all of the avy gear, but it was all rented from the rental shop at the base. The employee overheard them talking about the line they were planning to ski and cautioned them strongly against it. It is very questionable whether they were in fact 'experts', especially when it comes to avalanche safety. It is extremely rare that the line they skied is considered safe. Saturday was nowhere near one of those days. It is called Darwin's Chute for a reason.

c) It was not his 'friends' that dug him out. His partner was also buried (Avalanche awareness 101 - go one at a time on any suspect slopes). AFAIK the 14 year old and 36 year old waiting at the top were not in their party; they called 911 and the rescue effort was launched by the resort and SAR. The 2 at the top either felt it was not safe to attempt the rescue themselves, or lacked the knowledge to do so.

d) It was more like 25 minutes and 30 minutes before they were dug out. They were buried under 160 and 170 cm's of snow. This was a big slide, over lots of rugged terrain and cliffs; it is likely that they succumb not only to suffocation, but trauma on the way down.

e) Ski patrol did an excellent job. I was very near the area at the time and everyone was hauling ass to get there. A heli was dropping ski patrol at the scene within minutes, flying to the top of the gondola to collect more patrol and equipment, and back to the scene. KHMR did everything they could, including unmissable signage for this permanently closed terrain.


Once again, I'm not looking to start a shitstorm here, but rather shine some light on how their preventable deaths came about so that others may think twice about ducking a rope without the knowledge and consideration to do so safely. Quite frankly, it would have been miraculous if either or both of them managed to ski out of that chute alive.

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
nothing wrong with skiing out of bounds, the best skiing is found out there but you need to know whats dangerous and what isnt.

Sorry, you're right, should've clarified.

Don't ski out of bounds without the necessary precautions & training.

None the less RIP and my condolences.

[GQBalla]

RIP

[a social dsease]

Originally posted by Singel
Condolences to all friends/family and everyone else affected by this tragedy (including ski patrol who had to dig them out).

Just to clarify a few things, as the news coverage has generally been terrible on this event. I hate to play the 'blame the victim' card, but in this case it seems very appropriate, and necessary to help avoid future PREVENTABLE deaths.

a) First of all, you might mention that they were skiing in a PERMANENTLY CLOSED area. Think Delirum Dive, Silver City, or Wild West at Sunshine, or Whitehorn 2 chutes, ER 5 at Lake Louise, but even more dangerous. Over years of hard work and study by patrol the preceding areas have been able to open at certain times of the year when conditions were deemed to be safe, compared to previously when they were also Permanently Closed areas. The area these two were skiing was not even at that point, but deemed to be too dangerous to open at all.

b) He may have had all of the avy gear, but it was all rented from the rental shop at the base. The employee overheard them talking about the line they were planning to ski and cautioned them strongly against it. It is very questionable whether they were in fact 'experts', especially when it comes to avalanche safety. It is extremely rare that the line they skied is considered safe. Saturday was nowhere near one of those days. It is called Darwin's Chute for a reason.

c) It was not his 'friends' that dug him out. His partner was also buried (Avalanche awareness 101 - go one at a time on any suspect slopes). AFAIK the 14 year old and 36 year old waiting at the top were not in their party; they called 911 and the rescue effort was launched by the resort and SAR. The 2 at the top either felt it was not safe to attempt the rescue themselves, or lacked the knowledge to do so.

d) It was more like 25 minutes and 30 minutes before they were dug out. They were buried under 160 and 170 cm's of snow. This was a big slide, over lots of rugged terrain and cliffs; it is likely that they succumb not only to suffocation, but trauma on the way down.

e) Ski patrol did an excellent job. I was very near the area at the time and everyone was hauling ass to get there. A heli was dropping ski patrol at the scene within minutes, flying to the top of the gondola to collect more patrol and equipment, and back to the scene. KHMR did everything they could, including unmissable signage for this permanently closed terrain.


Once again, I'm not looking to start a shitstorm here, but rather shine some light on how their preventable deaths came about so that others may think twice about ducking a rope without the knowledge and consideration to do so safely. Quite frankly, it would have been miraculous if either or both of them managed to ski out of that chute alive.

Well said. My condolences to family and friends. I can only hope that this will be a learning experience for others, there is no ski run in the world that is worth dying for. RIP

[3g4u]

Thats sad. RIP.

Any experienced out of bounds rider will own their own gear and know how to use it. You gotta be able to know when conditions are good and when they are not so good. I am glad i have taken the avalanche course a few times.

[GREENBOY]

again...they weren't 'out of bounds'...they were in a 'permanently closed' area. That doesn't mean if you're an expert or if the conditions are right you can go in there, it means it's permanently closed to anyone because it will likely kill you or someone else. There is a huge difference.

[Import_Girl]

Hima was always such a happy guy, and was so happy to connect with people that shared a passion for racing and high performance cars. Truly an amazing person, and will be missed by so many.

Thank you for everything you taught me, for the moments we laughed and for making such a differance in the performance industry. For your wife, and your beautiful girls, may they be clothed with strength to get thru these years with out you by their side.

I cant imagine their sadness, but I know it is devistating.

At the time of his funeral, 2:00 saturday afternoon, i was at the top of queest mountain over looking the shushwap. I got off my skidoo and layed on my back in the snow and prayed for his family, consumed my thoughts of all the people that were so close to him and laying him to his final rest. Remembering that moment, and breathing in the memory

[20incheyes]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Import_Girl
Hima was always such a happy guy, and was so happy to connect with people that shared a passion for racing and high performance cars. Truly an amazing person, and will be missed by so many.

Thank you for everything you taught me, for the moments we laughed and for making such a differance in the performance industry. For your wife, and your beautiful girls, may they be clothed with strength to get thru these years with out you by their side.

I cant imagine their sadness, but I know it is devistating.

At the time of his funeral, 2:00 saturday afternoon, i was at the top of queest mountain over looking the shushwap. I got off my skidoo and layed on my back in the snow and prayed for his family, consumed my thoughts of all the people that were so close to him and laying him to his final rest. Remembering that moment, and breathing in the memory

Well said! Hima was a true gentleman Very nice tribute you made to him and his family in the snow

[Hakkola]

Crazy. There's a house down the street and there have been a lot of cars outside for the past few days, was wondering what was going on. The neighbours went to a funeral yesterday, said it was the guy in that house, my mom thought it was Dr. Sheilish Dave that lived in that house, but I just figured out it was Hima because there was a porsche on a trailer outside his house a few times that looked track prepared and his wife had a sweet '94 500e that I used to oogle, very tastefully done. Had no idea who lived there until yesterday.

I never met him personally, but it was nice seeing the cars, and he sounded like a great guy.

RIP.