I've backcountry skied, and it is true that this is why you don't go alone. In basic avalanche training you practice so that you can use beacons to find a buried person. You poke down with special poles, or ski poles if needed, to verify where the body is and how deep. This guy started digging with his hands, but there was a shovel which…
I've backcountry skied, and it is true that this is why you don't go alone. In basic avalanche training you practice so that you can use beacons to find a buried person. You poke down with special poles, or ski poles if needed, to verify where the body is and how deep. This guy started digging with his hands, but there was a shovel which can be quickly assembled in a backpack. The time frame is very short, as the snow packs around the person and cuts off air. If you've ever buried or lost anything in the snow or in the earth, you know that even if you know about where it is, it can be very difficult to find. If the guy had an idea where the body was, he could just poke around quickly.
The guy had avalanche training and was certified, he even worked for the ski resort, and he definitely knew what to do. He knew he had 15 minutes max, and less because he didn’t know how long the guy had been under. It easy to say you would have done it better and faster, and would have known exactly when to pull the shovel, which had to be assembled, but clearly he knew exactly what he was doing and did it well. Clearly he was running on adrenaline and his brain was working as fast as it could to get to the face and his brain didn’t want to stop to unzip, unpack and assemble a shovel until the mouth was free. He did everything perfectly and pulled the shovel at the right time when he had a clear path.
I hope you don't mean to suggest I thought I would do better, because I wouldn't. I have taken a very minor training on using beacons, doing avalanche rescue, aimed at regular skiers. I have a family member who is avalanche trained for professional purposes. I am not. My comment was to give a little more info on equipment and process, as, if you've never encountered this stuff, it could appear the guy was just lucky to dig the fellow out. It was a great video.
Didn't mean to imply that - just a general comment... I noticed a lot of people on his Instagram were asking, why didn't he use the shovel right away. He said he didn't realize the head would be so low. amazing interview:
“Upside down. In the dark and in deeper snow that I’d ever been in my life.”
He could barely move.
During avalanche-survival training, instructors tell students the first thing they must do is create an air pocket around their mouth. Steger remembered that from the basic training he did years ago.
“I was able pull my jacket up over my face,” Steger said. “I had the space to breathe, but there was so much snow on my chest, the act of breathing was very difficult.”
Now he did the only other thing he could do.
“I waited for my friends to come dig me out,” he said. “What we always do. I waited and waited.”
His friends, of course, had no idea where he was. He tried not to think about that.
Then his two-way radio, attached to his backpack, crackled. He could hear a staticky voice.
“My friend said they didn’t see me come out of the trees,” said Steger. “They said they couldn’t see me anywhere.”
Steger couldn’t reach the button on the radio to respond. He knew his friends were down the hill from where he was stuck.
He remembered from training that a person has about 15 minutes of air while buried in the snow. Steger guessed he’d been there more than 5 minutes.
Then came the dark thoughts.
“I’d never see my fianceé again,” he said. “We got engaged in December.”
He thought of Bill Kamphausen, his snowboarding friend who died in late 2022 right here at Mt. Baker Ski Area when he suffocated after falling into a tree well. Someone finally spotted the tip of Bill’s snowboard sticking out of the snow, but it was too late to save him.
After Bill died, Ian's fiance hounded him to get their wills in order.
He remembered seeing the documents that very morning on the kitchen table, not yet signed.
I've backcountry skied, and it is true that this is why you don't go alone. In basic avalanche training you practice so that you can use beacons to find a buried person. You poke down with special poles, or ski poles if needed, to verify where the body is and how deep. This guy started digging with his hands, but there was a shovel which can be quickly assembled in a backpack. The time frame is very short, as the snow packs around the person and cuts off air. If you've ever buried or lost anything in the snow or in the earth, you know that even if you know about where it is, it can be very difficult to find. If the guy had an idea where the body was, he could just poke around quickly.
The guy had avalanche training and was certified, he even worked for the ski resort, and he definitely knew what to do. He knew he had 15 minutes max, and less because he didn’t know how long the guy had been under. It easy to say you would have done it better and faster, and would have known exactly when to pull the shovel, which had to be assembled, but clearly he knew exactly what he was doing and did it well. Clearly he was running on adrenaline and his brain was working as fast as it could to get to the face and his brain didn’t want to stop to unzip, unpack and assemble a shovel until the mouth was free. He did everything perfectly and pulled the shovel at the right time when he had a clear path.
I hope you don't mean to suggest I thought I would do better, because I wouldn't. I have taken a very minor training on using beacons, doing avalanche rescue, aimed at regular skiers. I have a family member who is avalanche trained for professional purposes. I am not. My comment was to give a little more info on equipment and process, as, if you've never encountered this stuff, it could appear the guy was just lucky to dig the fellow out. It was a great video.
Didn't mean to imply that - just a general comment... I noticed a lot of people on his Instagram were asking, why didn't he use the shovel right away. He said he didn't realize the head would be so low. amazing interview:
“Upside down. In the dark and in deeper snow that I’d ever been in my life.”
He could barely move.
During avalanche-survival training, instructors tell students the first thing they must do is create an air pocket around their mouth. Steger remembered that from the basic training he did years ago.
“I was able pull my jacket up over my face,” Steger said. “I had the space to breathe, but there was so much snow on my chest, the act of breathing was very difficult.”
Now he did the only other thing he could do.
“I waited for my friends to come dig me out,” he said. “What we always do. I waited and waited.”
His friends, of course, had no idea where he was. He tried not to think about that.
Then his two-way radio, attached to his backpack, crackled. He could hear a staticky voice.
“My friend said they didn’t see me come out of the trees,” said Steger. “They said they couldn’t see me anywhere.”
Steger couldn’t reach the button on the radio to respond. He knew his friends were down the hill from where he was stuck.
He remembered from training that a person has about 15 minutes of air while buried in the snow. Steger guessed he’d been there more than 5 minutes.
Then came the dark thoughts.
“I’d never see my fianceé again,” he said. “We got engaged in December.”
He thought of Bill Kamphausen, his snowboarding friend who died in late 2022 right here at Mt. Baker Ski Area when he suffocated after falling into a tree well. Someone finally spotted the tip of Bill’s snowboard sticking out of the snow, but it was too late to save him.
After Bill died, Ian's fiance hounded him to get their wills in order.
He remembered seeing the documents that very morning on the kitchen table, not yet signed.
Oh my God! That is just incredible. I'm so glad you listened to all of that and shared it.