Incidents in the mountains

Great exposition @Ian_H and I agree. @izogi - Rather than starting from a place of safety and going down from there to "they were UNlucky', to me it seems more that all their poor decisions had taken them right to the bottom where tragedy was a likely outcome and the woman was lucky that she survived. I think had they made it out ok we would likely never have heard of it but it would have been a miracle.

swiss cheese model. where mistakes or holes in different aspects all lined up to cause the incident

You’d have to be pretty determined if thres a lot of soft snow, the track stays reasonably high for several kilometres, roughly 6 or 7k once you’re at harris lake all the way to the bluffs at ocean view corner above lake Mackenzie…. My guess is they wanted a challenge and that’s why they pushed on. But you don’t need an avalanche to cause problems, he could have just slipped on a slope, the snow gave way, he slipped over a ledge, fell through a cornice, sipped on ice, sounds like he went over the edge of something and took a big drop. A lot of that part of the track is on reasonably steeply sloping ground, and if you cant find the track which she said she couldn’t at least part of the way then that doesn’t make it any easier. The track as it is negotiates a few narrowish ledges, safe enough in summer but in winter you cant see where solid ground starts and stops..

waynowski, what you seem to suggest is that this track is basically unsafe in winter. Or do you think sensible people, suitable equipped and experienced, could navigate this safely?

it was unsafe in those conditions where there has been heavy snowfall and the snow hasnt stabilised, which is common through winter and spring.... you must be suitable equipped and experienced in moving in difficult snow covered terrain and be knowledgeable in assessing avalanche danger to make a correct decision on whether it is safe to progress or not. as winter progresses, travelling that area is generally less safe. i've seen winter photos of various parties in the area after a snowfall had stabilised, although they climbed up around the harris bluffs area and returned the way they came rather than traversed the hollyford face

I went in ski-touring in heavy snow and we planned to go up to Harris Saddle but my more experienced pal pointed out the slope up to the saddle was loaded so we lived to see another day mucking around with avalanche tranceivers on L. Harris. When I went back in summertime, it was such a surprise to walk the track around the L. Harris bluffs.

" you must be suitable equipped and experienced in moving in difficult snow covered terrain and be knowledgeable in assessing avalanche danger to make a correct decision on whether it is safe to progress or not. as winter progresses," This is actually quite an important point that I think is missed often. That the mountain/avalanche experience is just as much if not more about knowing if something is safe to cross, not just "how" to navigate it. I have a group of friends go down to do the Routeburn around October last year and it took a while to get in to them that the danger isn't in how to get over the saddle in the snow, but to be able to see if it's safe to even try. (Not that I know how to see that, I'd love to learn, but sometimes knowing what it is that you don't know if half the battle) Luckily they listened to a ranger at the falls hut and just walked up towards the lake and turned around. But it is a nuanced point that's often misunderstood.

Bivouac have avo sessions once a year in store. I think they've done this years ones. Apparently The Inuit have two hundred words to describe different types of snow and ice

Oh I didn't know that. Will have a look next year. Thanks :)

On the routeburn you can't even see where a lot of the ago risk comes from. It sits high behind rock ledges where the slope eases off. The Milford is even worse. There's just rock walls and most snow is hidden way above