Woman rescued after Crystal Mountain avalanche
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. -- A Tuesday afternoon avalanche at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort left a young woman buried under the snow for at least 10 minutes.
The avalanche was triggered just after 2:30 p.m. in bounds at the resort and quickly swept the woman into a tree well.
Fellow skiers and members of the resort's ski patrol were able to rescue the woman, despite the fact she was completely covered in snow and wasn't carrying an avalanche beacon.
A skier named Chad -- who skies with rescue gear and an avalanche beacon -- was in the area and saw the avalanche hit. He realized the woman had been swept up, but didn't know exactly where she was.
"The poor girl was down there without a beacon, so we had no clue were she was, other than somewhere in this big 50 foot radius, at least," he said.
Chad said he and others with rescue gear probed around randomly until they found the woman. They pulled her out and she was able to ski down on her own, according to Tiana Enger of Crystal Mountain.
For his part, Chad credited his fellow skiers for finding the woman before it was too late.
"If it had been just one or two people trying to find her, she probably wouldn't have made it out," he said.
After the rescue, the ski patrol ran avalanche dogs over the entire area to make sure no one else was buried, according to ski patrol director Paul Baugher.
The avalanche was triggered just after 2:30 p.m. in bounds at the resort and quickly swept the woman into a tree well.
Fellow skiers and members of the resort's ski patrol were able to rescue the woman, despite the fact she was completely covered in snow and wasn't carrying an avalanche beacon.
A skier named Chad -- who skies with rescue gear and an avalanche beacon -- was in the area and saw the avalanche hit. He realized the woman had been swept up, but didn't know exactly where she was.
"The poor girl was down there without a beacon, so we had no clue were she was, other than somewhere in this big 50 foot radius, at least," he said.
Chad said he and others with rescue gear probed around randomly until they found the woman. They pulled her out and she was able to ski down on her own, according to Tiana Enger of Crystal Mountain.
For his part, Chad credited his fellow skiers for finding the woman before it was too late.
"If it had been just one or two people trying to find her, she probably wouldn't have made it out," he said.
After the rescue, the ski patrol ran avalanche dogs over the entire area to make sure no one else was buried, according to ski patrol director Paul Baugher.
it was a slab with probably a 2 foot crown, we concentrated on tree wells. was very difficult to move around in such deep snow, so probe line was very difficult to organize. she was down for closer to 15 minutes. slides happen inbounds, this was a sleeper in an area that you would not expect to be considered avalanche terrain. wear a beacon, don't rely on patrol, save each other, keep your eyes on each other. Patrol does a great job with avy control, but, mother nature works in her own special ways. if it weren't for the other regular skiers on the mountain that carried rescue gear, the outcome could have been very different. we were lucky to find her.
 @ChadRobbs The news says it was in the Northback area. Can you narrow down the location a bit more?
 @ChadRobbs Where did this happen on the mountain?
Crystal's patrol needs to do a better job of avalanche control.Â
 @lakeview my guess is you don't get out much.
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Such a great story to read. Nice to have good news too.
Lucky in many ways! The most being that it sounds like a surface slide of unconsolidated snow. Had it been a slab avy of heavier consolidated snow she would likely have not skied away or worse. Great job fellow skiers and CSP.
While in-bounds avalanches are properly rare, make no mistake - finding this woman alive without an avy beacon or RECCO reflector to quickly hone in on her exact location is pretty miraculous.
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Here's the math:
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If the "50 ft. radius" accurately describes her high probability location, my quick math indicates this an area of about 730 sq. meters. Based on my experience and head math, a well-trained, properly-equipped, and focused rescuer can probe a square meter in approximately 30 seconds (very best case scenario). Assume a probe line of 10 such people, and it would take them about 49 minutes to properly probe this seemingly small "50 ft. radius circle".  Statistically, after 20 minutes of burial, death rates increase on a very steep curve.
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So, the fact that Crystal Patrol was on scene in 5 minutes, and found her using only probe techniques in another 5 minutes is...choose your preference...brilliant luck or a minor miracle. Statistically, she shouldn't have walk away.
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So bravo to all. The results are all that matters. Job well done CSP.
That is one lucky lady
Go Chad! Â
10 minutes of terror for her I bet. Happy ending. Hope she gets a beacon
 @Komo Dragon Or a Chad of her own.
A hanging Chad?