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Snow Fall ♦ the AVALANCHE at TUNNEL CREEK ♦

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Snow Fall ♦ the AVALANCHE at TUNNEL CREEK ♦ 4 NY THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012 Snow Fall ♦ THE AVALANCHE AT TUNNEL CREEK ♦ Chris Rudolph, the effervescent 30- porters and editors from Powder maga- Each snowflake added to the depth, From Preceding Page year-old marketing manager for Ste- zine and ESPN. There were executives and each snowflake added to the weight. year — will keep rising as the rush to the vens Pass, knew the preferred route from ski equipment and apparel compa- It might take a million snowflakes for a backcountry continues among skiers, down. Tunnel Creek was his favorite at- nies. There were Stevens Pass regulars, skier to notice the difference. It might snowboarders, climbers and snowmobil- work diversion. Earlier that weekend, some with broad reputations in the take just one for a mountain to move. ers. he mentioned plans for a field trip to niche world of skiing, glad to spend time The backcountry represents the fast- Tunnel Creek to a select group of high- with the assortment of guests. est-growing segment of the ski industry. powered guests and close friends. “It was a very, very deep, heavy, pow- To the Peak More than ever, people are looking for The operations manager for Stevens erful, strong group of pro skiers and ski fresh descents accessible by helicopters, Pass agreed to pick up the group in one industry people,” said Keith Carlsen, a Dawn cracked with the intermittent hiking or even the simple ride up a of the ski area’s trucks at the end of its photographer and former editor of Pow- sound of explosives near the top of Cow- chairlift. descent. From the bottom of Tunnel der. boy Mountain. Stevens Pass ski patrol- Before 1980, it was unusual to have Creek, it is about a half-mile trek Rudolph was the connecting thread. lers, called to duty whenever more than more than 10 avalanche deaths in the through deep snow to U.S. 2, then a four- Some visitors, like Saugstad, were at a few inches of snow fell, had arrived to United States each winter. There were mile ride back to Stevens Pass. Stevens Pass for a promotional event check and control the ski area’s 200 in- 34 last season, including 20 skiers and At 11:32 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19, head- aimed at expert female skiers, spon- bounds avalanche zones. COWBOY ing up the mountain, Rudolph sent a text sored by Salomon, the ski equipment After getting the latest assessment MOUNTAIN snowboarders. Eight victims were ski- ing out of bounds, legally, with a lift tick- message to the operations manager. maker. Rudolph skied with the group all from the area’s full-time avalanche fore- On the slopes et. And many of the dead were back- “A big posse,” Rudolph wrote. day Saturday. He organized and hosted caster, more than a dozen patrollers along U.S. 2 country experts intimate with the ter- a catered dinner for the women later filled their backpacks with 2.2-pound that night in Leavenworth, a serious emulsion charges, shaped like cartoon is the Stevens rain that killed them. “It’s a cultural shift, where more ski- A Plan in Motion outdoors town dressed as a Bavarian dynamite. Chairlifts rumbled to life, fer- Pass ski area. ers are going farther, faster, bigger,” village, 35 miles downhill to the east. rying the crews up the dark mountain. To ski the other said John Stifter, the editor of Powder Like many ideas that sound good at Powder had come to spotlight Stevens Three two-person teams assigned to side, known as magazine, who was a part of the group the time, skiing Tunnel Creek was an Pass for a feature article on night skiing. Cowboy Ridge removed their skis and idea hatched in a bar. When the magazine’s editor, John Stif- filed through the boundary gate. They Tunnel Creek, at Tunnel Creek in February. “Which is tending to push your pro skiers or other It was Saturday, Feb. 18, the afternoon ter, arrived by train to Leavenworth two took turns plowing a path through the skiers proceed experienced, elite-level backcountry ski- light fading to dusk. Outside the Foggy days earlier, he found Rudolph’s car fresh snow with their bodies. Their at their own risk. ers that much farther, faster and bigger, Goggle, a bar at the base of the ski area, waiting for him. Inside were keys to the boots forged an icy stairway to the top of C A S C ADE MOO UNU TAINS Stevens Pass Ski Area To Leavenworth HWY 2 Cowboy Mountain Hiking Path SKYLINESKYLIN EXPRESS EN EAV E EX EXPRESS TH H Tunnel Creek irlift HWY 2 SEVENTH HEAVEN ChairliftChairlCh ChairliftChairl Ski ai rl Area if Boundary ft Stevens Pass Seattle WASH. JEREMY WHITE/THE NEW YORK TIMES to the point where there’s no margin for the snow continued to fall, roughly an car, keys to a slope-side cabin and two the skinny ridge. error.” inch an hour. By morning, there would Pabst Blue Ribbons in the cup holders. Back on their skis, facing down into No one knows how many avalanches be 32 inches of fresh snow at Stevens At the bar, Rudolph mentioned an the ski area and with their backs to Tun- occur. Most naturally triggered slides Pass, 21 of them in a 24-hour period of idea to a few people: Tunnel Creek on nel Creek, they spread across the ridge are never seen. Those set off by humans Saturday and Saturday night. Sunday. Invitations traveled in whispers to stamp and destroy wind-swept cor- are rarely reported unless they cause fa- That was cause for celebration. It had and text messages, through a knot of nices, small balconies of crusty snow. talities or property damage. been more than two weeks since the last friendships and slight acquaintances. They removed the charges from their But avalanches occur in Tunnel Creek decent snowfall. Finally, the tired layer Meet at the fire pit, on the stone deck packs. Like party poppers that spew regularly. Its slopes, mostly from 40 to of hard, crusty snow was gone, buried at Granite Peaks Lodge, at 11. Rudolph confetti, charges have a pull-wire, an ig- 45 degrees, are optimal for avalanches deep under powder. thought his Sunday morning staff meet- nition that lights a 90-second fuse. The Mark Moore of — flat enough to hold deep reservoirs of Rudolph promoted Stevens Pass with ing would end by then. patrollers lobbed the lighted charges the Northwest snow, yet steep enough for the snow to restless zeal. In seven years there, he As darkness enveloped Stevens Pass into the many steep chutes below them. Weather and helped turn a relatively small, roadside on Saturday night, stadium-style lights With muffled booms, heavy waves of slide long distances when prompted. Avalanche Center The long elevation drop means snow ski area into a hip destination. flooded the slopes in white light, and snow tumbled harmlessly into the re- can be fluffy at the top and slushy at the He unabashedly courted ski journal- snowflakes fell in cotton-ball clumps. cesses of the empty slopes below, clear- in Seattle set the bottom. Temperatures, wind and precip- ists and filmmakers to take a look. They, Rudolph and those with the Salomon ing danger for the day’s thousands of in- avalanche itation change quickly, and something as in turn, gave Stevens Pass star turns in event left for dinner in Leavenworth. bounds customers. conditions as magazines and popular ski movies, rais- The lines for the ski lifts began form- welcome as a burst of sunshine can alter Stifter, 29, and Carlsen, 38, headed out- “considerable” the crystallized bonds deep inside the ing the area’s cool quotient. side to work on their article for Powder. ing about 7, two hours before they were snow. And because Tunnel Creek is out- Rudolph was the oldest of three chil- “I skied just off the trail, not out of to open. When the gathering skiers and for that day, side the ski area, it is not patrolled or dren raised in California’s Bay Area by bounds, but in the ski resort, to shoot snowboarders heard the explosions meaning specifically assessed for danger. outdoors-minded parents. The young some of these night shots I took,” Carl- echo down the mountain, they cheered. human-triggered It signaled a powder day. In March 2011, a University of Wash- family pulled a pop-up Coleman camper sen said. “And in tree wells I was, like, avalanches were ington student was caught in an ava- around the West and skied the areas neck deep — easily nipple deep, wading In Leavenworth, Chris Rudolph likely. lanche in Tunnel Creek. Having been around Lake Tahoe. The grown siblings around in snow, trying to get my angle. awoke in his two-bedroom house on Ash carried into a stand of trees, he was un- continued to vacation with their parents, There was so much new snow.” buried by friends within minutes and climbing peaks like Mount Whitney in With the daytime crowds gone, the found dead. Three others were partially California and Mount Rainier in Wash- nighttime atmosphere was festive and buried about an hour later when the ski ington. the faces were familiar. Families played patrol’s arrival set off a second ava- Rudolph peppered his language with in the deepening snow. More serious ski- lanche. words like “rad” and “stoked.” But he ers and snowboarders sought the fresh- Many of the most experienced locals was no simple-minded ski bum.
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