A skier became caught in his sluff* while skiing Diagonal Gully in Huntington Ravine, causing him to fall approximately 50′ over the Harvard Bulge. He came to rest about 150′ below the ice. His partner knew something had happened, but could not see the fall and did not know exactly what happened. He then skied down, but did not locate his injured partner until he had reached the bottom of the fan. At the same time a solo ice climber had recognized what had taken place and was working his way to the injured skier. The climber and uninjured skier were able to contact 911 to summon assistance while they began to treat the injured skier, who was suffering from a very painful back injury.
Snow Rangers, Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol members, and two AMC caretakers responded on foot from Hermit Lake. The rescue effort was fairly straightforward. A backboard, litter, and technical rescue gear were brought up to patient’s location. He was stabilized and packaged in the litter. Due to the steepness of the snow slope, the litter was belayed down to the bottom of the fan. From here, additional rescuers from AMC, AVSAR, and MRS joined the effort to slide and carry the skier down to the ambulance at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center.
In total, this rescue effort was comprised of 20 people. All but the one Snow Ranger on scene were helping as volunteers. The groups that help make rescues possible in the White Mountains are a dedicated bunch. We sincerely appreciate all that they do. If you are interested in learning more, the New Hampshire Outdoor Council and Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol are good places to start.
*There is a fine line between a wet loose snow avalanche and the normal sluffing produced by skiers in steep terrain. Whether this incident should be classified as an avalanche incident or more simply caused by heavy sluffing may be debatable, but we are considering this to be an accident caused by a loose wet avalanche. In this gully, there are not many options for a skier to get away from his or her sluff, which is a common course of action. The skier described the sluff that caught and carried him over the ice cliff as being up to 3′ deep, wet, and heavy. He described trying to fight it momentarily before realizing that it was too big to fight. When we arrived on scene, there was a sluff debris pile in the immediate vicinity, but it was not deep enough to have buried a person. The primary hazard associated with the loose snow avalanche in this case is the cliff that sits at the base of the route.
It is also worth mentioning that the pair of skiers are “regulars” on Mt. Washington. They understand the risk involved in the sport and willingly engage with it. The two skiers were equipped with technical climbing gear (rope, harnesses, proper ice tools, etc.) as well as avalanche rescue gear. We understand that accidents can happen to anyone on any given day, no matter how experienced, skilled, or gear-laden one is. This fundamental and unchangeable rule is set by the mountains that we choose to recreate in. This is why we always encourage visitors to bring the right gear to not only help prevent an accident, but to help get through unexpected or unfortunate events.
