I鈥檇 put on tire chains before, and I might have set a speed record for attaching them had I been in my own driveway. But, somewhere on the side of a snowy mountain pass in the tiny alpine country of Andorra, all that muscle memory evaporated. We鈥檇 bought the correct chains for our vehicle down in town, but now they didn鈥檛 seem to fit around the tire on my rental car. Temperatures were plunging.

While I Googled tire chain tutorials, my partner smacked the frozen chains against the ground, hoping to gain a little elasticity. After an hour of struggling, a friend with four-wheel-drive vehicle showed up, and we opted to leave our rental ride on a snowy shoulder.

As we rolled back to town, I assessed my abysmal performance with the car. I am not a bad winter driver鈥擨 live and work in the mountains after all鈥攂ut driving a new car in dreadful conditions torpedoed my experience.

Driving a rental car鈥攐r any vehicle that’s not yours鈥攊n the snow is inherently uncomfortable. A lack of preparation can make things worse, quickly. Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to avoid the pitfalls I experienced on my doomed Andorran adventure.

Set Yourself Up for Storm Driving Success聽

If you鈥檙e traveling to a snowy area, or a place where you could run into winter weather, your preparation must start well before you get the keys. Most rental car agencies offer four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options (even internationally), but these vehicles get booked fast. If you’re traveling in winter, secure your rental car with enough lead time.

Check if your rental company offers a cold-weather package. These packages sometimes include comforts like ski racks, heated seats and steering wheels, and also remote start capabilities, so the car can begin defrosting before you enter the driver鈥檚 seat.

Rental car agencies that operate in snowy regions of the United States typically offer all-weather and snow tire options, but check with an agent to confirm your rental is equipped with the proper winter rubber. Remember that all-weather tires are generally suitable for a wide range of conditions, but winter tires are specifically designed specifically for snowy and icy driving conditions.

You should also assess your driving routes prior to your trip. Say your next trip is to the desert, but is there a mountain pass between the airport and your sunny oasis. Knowing exactly where inclement weather may occur, or pinch points can happen, will help you be better prepared when unexpected weather rolls in.

Consider downloading driving map apps that integrate weather forecasts and extreme weather updates into their routes like Navver or DriveWeather so you can prepare for what鈥檚 ahead in real time.

These Tools Can Make or Break Your Trip

There are a few key pieces of equipment that can make or break your winter car rental experience. Here鈥檚 a few we can鈥檛 go without.

Ice Scraper

To keep your windows and mirrors clear, make sure you have an ice scraper that鈥檚 up for the job. Again, this item is an easy add, but an even easier one to forget. Most rental car agencies will provide a scraper for free upon request, but you might want to consider bringing a small one of your own, just in case.

Check out the Hopkins SubZero 80037, which is equally good for scraping ice as it is for shoveling and sweeping snow.

Windshield Wiper Fluid

Underrated and understated, wiper fluid can be the difference between seeing the road and staring through an iced-over windshield. Reduced visibility is a major cause of winter accidents, so keeping your visual pathways clear is a huge safety boost. Wiper fluid has a lower freezing point than water and will prevent your wipers from icing up, but that stuff can go fast鈥攅specially in the heart of the storm. Make sure you鈥檝e got an extra container of wiper fluid in the car anytime you head into the mountains. Remember that wiper fluids come at different temperature ratings鈥攇et one that will freeze well below zero.

An Emergency Kit

You never want to expect the worst, but you do want to plan for it. Having a properly stocked emergency kit is a big plus for driving your rental car in the snow. What should you bring? For starters, add a flashlight, first aid supplies, a phone charger, a blanket, water, and a non-perishable snack or two. If you鈥檙e forced to pull over and spend the night in your vehicle, it鈥檚 important to stay warm and fueled up, all while keeping your devices charged for potential emergency contact.

We recommend the Haiphaik Emergency Roadside Kit.

Tire Chains鈥擸es or No? Well, it Depends.

While tire chains are commonly used in snowy regions around the world, rental car agencies don’t always provide them. In the U.S., agencies typically dissuade renters from using them on their vehicles, and some, like Hertz and Enterprise, prohibit their use entirely. The agencies maintain that their cars are fully equipped and winter ready.

Other agencies, such as SIXT, Avis, and Europcar, will offer the option to rent tire chains or a tire sock, which provides extra traction. Some others permit chains, but do not provide them. Make sure to check with your rental agency before booking, as these policies often change.

We recommend the SCC Auto-Track.

Check Your Car Before You Go

An individual rental car might see hundreds of drivers each year, and each one treats the vehicle a little differently. Before you roll out of the rental lot, make sure to go through a quick safety checklist.

First, clear all snow and ice from the car. This might sound like overkill, but as the car heats up and snow starts to slide, roof snow can fall onto windshields and obscure vision at intersections or when pressing on the brakes.

Next, check the tire pressure and tread. We mentioned that most rental car fleets have winter tires, but if those tires are noticeably under-inflated, they provide less traction in icy and snowy driving conditions. You should also take a second to check the wiper fluid, as that鈥檚 going to be the difference between an iced over windshield and unobstructed vision on the road.

Lastly, take a look at the wipers themselves. If they鈥檙e caked in ice or wearing thin, that鈥檚 going to affect performance and, ultimately, your view while you drive through that next storm. Again, rental agencies should be replacing these, but sometimes things slip through the cracks, and winter travel is one game that rarely offers do-overs.

Snow Driving Tips

Know Your Comfort Level

Ok, it鈥檚 time for a serious self-awareness test: How comfortable are you driving in the snow on a scale from one to ten? If that number is low, it might be wise to simply wait out a storm or leave for your destination a little earlier.

If you rank a little higher on the scale, think about other drivers on the road. Are you driving at night? Are you in a place where people are also accustomed to driving in snow? Are you driving highways or side streets? Is the area you鈥檙e traveling through equipped for plowing and snow removal? Driving in a snowstorm in New York City is a very different experience than a snowstorm in Dallas, for example.

Low Gears Are Your Friend

A little manual control goes a long way when the mercury dips, so don鈥檛 be afraid to shift into lower gear to get a bit more grip on the road. This is especially helpful while heading downhill when a rash application of the brakes could send you sliding.

Avoid Cruise Control

Driving at high speed in inclement weather is obviously not a great call, but believe it or not, cruise control can also cause unforeseen headaches on highways and interstates. This automatic setting doesn鈥檛 account for changing road conditions and can actually cause loss of traction on slippery surfaces. It may be a temporary inconvenience for road warriors, but stormy weather calls for an active foot on the gas and brake and those hands on the 10s and 2s.

Understand the Challenge

Winter driving comes with challenges, but a little snow in the forecast shouldn鈥檛 reroute your entire itinerary. Like most driving, the more road time you log in adverse conditions, the more accustomed you will become to slippery roads and windblown highways. A new-to-you car can throw a bit of a wrench in that equation, but following these easy steps and being flexible with travel plans can go a long way in making your winter rental woes a thing of the past.

The post Driving a Rental Car in the Snow Is a Recipe for Disaster. Here鈥檚 How to Stay Safe. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

What happens to your body when you get lost and confused on a mountain in the bitter cold of a winter night? In 2016, The 国产吃瓜黑料 Podcast launched with this harrowing story of a lost motorist fighting for his life. Based on Peter Stark’s classic feature, Frozen Alive, it is still considered a high-water mark for experiential audio storytelling.

The post The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Over the centuries, people have pressed all sorts of creatures, from cows to frogs to crickets, into the service of meteorological forecasting. Some instances of animal-aided forecasting are truly bizarre: In the 1800s, two British meteorologists created a complex instrument called a Tempest Prognosticator, which relied on .

Thankfully, much of that folklore and leech-keeping has given way to modern forecasting algorithms, radar, and satellite imagery over time鈥攂ut not everyone is willing to leave the old methods behind. Here are a few of the strangest ways in which people still forecast long-term weather鈥攔anked from least to most weird.

10. The Tanana River

The tiny town of Nenana, Alaska, is home to one of the longest-running gambling events in the United States. The game? Watching ice melt. Every year since 1903, locals have placed a wooden tripod in the center of the frozen Tanana River. A cable affixed to the tripod runs across the surface to a clock on the bank. When the river ice breaks up enough for the tripod to fall in, the cable yanks on the clock, stopping it. People from around the world place bets on when this will occur, and the jackpot often surpasses $300,000. The time of breakup is considered the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and avid bettors use all kinds of homespun algorithms to predict the time of breakup, incorporating such data as annual snowfall, temperature patterns, and even train schedules.

Our take: This is the least-weird method, since melting ice definitely means warm weather. Hard to argue with that.

9. Sunspots

The Old Farmer鈥檚 Almanac has been one of America鈥檚 most trusted sources of long-term forecasting for decades. Since the 1700s, it has predicted the weather by . As the theory goes, more sunspots are correlated with more solar activity and stronger magnetic storms, which could in turn affect the temperatures here on earth. For a long time, this seemed pretty out there. But more recently, research has started to back it up. As it turns out, , albeit mostly in northern Europe and in parts of the northern U.S. In years where solar activity is calmer, pockets of cold air form high in the atmosphere, which results in colder winters and stronger easterly winds over northern Europe and the northern U.S.. When solar activity is high, those areas see milder winters.

Our take: It鈥檚 unique, but there鈥檚 some scientific backing. Not that weird.

8. Foggy Days in August

Appalachian Folklore suggests the more foggy mornings you see in August, the more days of snow you鈥檒l have over the winter. The traditional way to keep track is to put . End your August with ten beans, and you鈥檙e likely to see an identical numbre of days of deep snow over the winter. Unfortunately, there鈥檚 suggesting any truth to this. Though, it鈥檚 nice to have an excuse to keep your beans organized.

Our take: There鈥檚 no science behind it, but at least it doesn鈥檛 involve a captive live animal. Only a little weird.

7. Live Groundhogs

Puxatawny Phil is only one of dozens of groundhogs around the world that are kept under close watch in early February. If the groundhog sees its shadow, six more weeks of winter are said to follow. Of course, all the groundhogs have different predictions, and their rates of accuracy are . The idea of Groundhog Day came from a German custom, which had to do with a badger seeing his shadow. We think that swapping in the ferocious and unpredictable carnivore would liven up what鈥檚 become a somewhat sedate tradition.

Our take: We love to hate on beloved family pastimes. As popular as this method is, it鈥檚 still pretty weird.

6. Dead Groundhogs

In researching this story, we discovered that not only are there dozens of live forecasting groundhogs, but .聽Example A: a stuffed groundhog in Pennsylvania named Uni. Every year, Uni is lashed to a tiny raft and floated down Tulpehocken Creek for a while before he鈥檚 fished out. An official interpreter leans down to listen to Uni鈥檚 supposed prediction, and delivers the prediction in Pennsylvania Dutch. A second interpreter stands by to translate this prediction into modern English.

Our take: Uh huh. Weird.

5. Persimmon Seeds

Another gem from the American South: If you cut open a persimmon seed in the fall and find a spoon shape inside, expect snow. If you see a knife shape, the winter will be bitter cold. And if you see a fork shape, . While the seeds do contain shapes that resemble these three utensils, there鈥檚 no scientific basis for their correlation to weather conditions. But the fruit is still delicious, so we can鈥檛 not recommend trying.

Our take: It鈥檚 cute, but what do fruits know about weather? We鈥檝e never met a persimmon that passed a third-grade science class. For sure weird.

4. A Desert Tortoise

No weather-telling groundhogs live in Palm Springs, California. There is, however, a highly respected tortoise. Every year, Mojave Maxine emerges from her burrow sometime in February, and her sighting heralds warmer weather to come. Like the Nenana Ice Classic, this one , though the gamblers are mainly children, and there鈥檚 no money involved.

Our take: She鈥檚 cute, but, like the persimmon, not likely to possess knowledge of basic math. Plus, she鈥檚 been asleep all winter. What could she possibly know? Real weird.

3. Wooly Worm Caterpillars

In the town of Banner Elk, North Carolina, thousands of people gather every year to . The strongest, fastest caterpillar is used to predict the weather. As the legend goes, each segment of the caterpillar corresponds to a different week of winter. The color of that segment tells you what the weather will be for that week. Every year, the festival鈥檚 official worm reader (which has, for years, been ex-NBA basketball player Tommy Burleson) hands down the forecast. He claims his predictions are up to 90-percent accurate.

Our take: We admire the organizers鈥� ability to get thousands of people excited about keeping worms as pets. But still pretty dang weird.

2. Pig Spleens

For decades, a family in Saskatchewan, Canada, has butchered a pig every six months and . The organ is split into six different segments, and sections of thickened tissue are said to correlate to spells of colder weather. Some years, Jeff Woodward, the current 鈥減ig spleen prognosticator,鈥� analyzes several spleens and . He鈥檚 not the only such prognosticator in Canada, but he has among the largest followings.

Our take: The amount of training this requires is admirable. But the amount of dead animal handling is significantly more than that of the stuffed groundhog phenomenon. And again, there鈥檚 no scientific basis. We鈥檙e calling this one pretty out-there.

1. A 93-Year-Old Alligator聽

In Texas there lives a named Al. Every spring, handlers offer Al a large piece of chicken. If Al swallows the chicken, spring has arrived. If Al refuses the chicken or spits it out, six more weeks of winter are to follow. Al has now clocked about 18 years of service in his current role, but there鈥檚 no evidence that he has any idea what he鈥檚 doing.

Our take: No big decisions should be based upon a geriatric gator鈥檚 indigestion. Most weird.

The post 8 Weird Things We’re Still Using to Predict the Weather鈥擨ncluding Some That Actually Work appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The wall of snow struck Loren Ennis on his heelside, punched his snowboard forward, and sent him sliding down the mountain on his back. The impact happened so suddenly that Ennis struggled to understand what was going on, even as his body began to sink into the churning debris.

鈥淚 thought that maybe somebody had run into me,鈥� Ennis, 32, said. 鈥淭he next thing I know I鈥檓 up to my neck and it鈥檚 like 鈥極h shit, this is an avalanche.鈥欌赌�

Ennis fought against the river of snow. He frantically tried to remember avalanche lessons he鈥檇 learned in a backcountry safety class he鈥檇 taken in 2018. Try to swim above it. Keep your lungs as full as possible. Make a passageway for air.

The thoughts pierced the joy that Ennis had felt just seconds before the violent impact. He and his longtime friend, Ben Erskin, had just dropped into G.S. Bowl, one of the experts-only zones at California鈥檚 Palisades Tahoe Resort. The steep bowl is often pockmarked with moguls, its 1,000-foot face bisected by a band of cliffs halfway down. They had been giddy to shred the six or so inches of untracked powder that had flitted down overnight and throughout the morning. Ski patrol had opened the KT-22 chairlift for the first time that season, and as the two rode it upward, they had seen skiers bobbing down the untracked slope. They were silent as they departed the lift and strapped into their boards. They knew that bottomless snow awaited.

Those first heavenly turns seemed like eons ago as Ennis felt the debris squeeze his chest and abdomen. A blanket of powder sloughed over his head, blotting out the sky. As Ennis sunk down deeper, a series of new thoughts came to his mind: I hope that dying this way doesn鈥檛 hurt. Will anyone find my body? Why didn鈥檛 I bring my gear?

鈥淚 remember being really disappointed with myself,鈥� Ennis said. 鈥淚 had an avalanche beacon and a shovel and a bag full of backcountry stuff in my truck in the parking lot. It never even occurred to me to bring it.鈥�

The steep terrain in G.S. Bowl leveled out as the slide passed over a track for snowcats. Ennis felt his snowboard strike firmer ground, and the force propelled his body up through the snow column. His head broke through the surface, and for 30 more seconds slid down the bowl, a passenger in a river of white. And then the avalanche slowed down, grinding to a halt just above the cliffs. By Ennis鈥� approximation, the ordeal had lasted 45 agonizing seconds. Ennis turned to his left. There was Erskine, buried up to his waist, but alive.

鈥淵ou OK dude?鈥� Ennis called out.

Erskine, 35, was shaken but unhurt. He dug his legs out of the snow and yanked open his snowboard bindings. He looked downhill and saw the familiar rocky dropoff midway down the bowl, 250 feet closer to him than when the slide had started. Going over that would have killed us, he thought.

Like Ennis, Erskine had replayed his own avalanche training as the slide carried him downhill. Now that he was free, memories of the backcountry safety class he had taken in 2017 flooded his brain. One bit of wisdom echoed loudest: See if other people are buried. They may only have a few minutes to live.

Erskine heard a shout from further up the slope. He trudged through the debris field toward the voice and saw goggles and a black helmet protruding from a lump of snow. It was a man, and he was screaming. 鈥淗e was begging for help,鈥� Erskine said. 鈥淗e was buried with his arms down at his side. He kept yelling 鈥業 can鈥檛 move! I need you to dig me out!鈥�

Ennis hiked up to Erskine, and the two men clawed at the snow with their hands. Another skier stopped to help them, and then another. Others arrived nearby and began digging in the snow. At one point Erskine looked up and saw a skier moving slowly through the debris holding an avalanche beacon. The man yelled to anyone who would listen to switch their beacons to 鈥渟earch鈥� mode to avoid confusion.

With every scoop of snow they could see more of the buried man鈥檚 blue two-tone jacket. After a few minutes of furious work, Erskine and Ennis pulled him free. 鈥淗e looked petrified,鈥� Erskine said. 鈥淭he first thing he said was, 鈥楾his is my first time skiing KT-22.鈥欌赌�

Much-Needed Snow Raises the Danger

The avalanche that roared down G.S. Bowl beneath KT-22 on Wednesday, January 10 etched a new chapter into the history of winter sports in Lake Tahoe. It happened at approximately 9:30 A.M., half an hour after the ski patrol had dropped the rope on the slope and much of the surrounding terrain for the first time during the 2023-24 season.

The slide broke free just below the upper terminal of KT-22, leaving a crooked crown etched across the face of G.S. Bowl. As the snow cascaded down, it engulfed trees, rocks, and bewildered skiers and snowboarders who had come for a powder day after a dry early season. Debris and people tumbled down the slope, across a snowcat track, and through the rocky band of cliffs. When the slide finally stopped, at least four people were fully buried. One man, 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd of nearby Truckee, California, did not survive.

Why the avalanche broke loose is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Palisades Tahoe. The resort declined to make any ski patrol officials available for an interview.

What we do know about the avalanche comes from two concise statements, one issued by the Placer County Sheriff鈥檚 Department, and another by the Sierra Avalanche Center. The storm had dumped fresh powder on the region鈥攖hree inches accumulated overnight, with more piling up that morning. The fresh powder covering older snow that had fallen weeks before. According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, the from 鈥渓ow鈥� to 鈥渃onsiderable.鈥� The avalanche itself measured 450 feet long by 150 feet wide, at a depth of 10 feet. More than 100 resort officials eventually participated in the rescue, alongside members of the local fire department and police. 鈥淥ur thoughts and prayers are with the family members at this time,鈥� the sheriff鈥檚 report said.

These statements, however, fail to capture the frenetic scenes that unfolded in the moments immediately after the slide. Before rescue personnel arrived onsite, several regular skiers and snowboarders were thrust into a harrowing situation. They had to try and locate and then save those who were entombed by the snow.

These resort patrons pulled survivors from the debris. They fashioned ad-hoc avalanche probes and organized probe lines, while others switched on their personal beacons to search for the buried. Others simply tore into snow piles with hands, skis, and whatever else, looking for signs of life.

鈥淚 was just digging and digging鈥擨 felt absolutely helpless,鈥� said Naomi Denayer, a pharmaceutical specialist from Vacaville, California, who arrived on the scene shortly after the slide. 鈥淭he mood was somber and we felt like we didn’t have enough resources or people to do any good but we just kept going.鈥�

Some, like Erskine and Ennis, had formal avalanche training. Others did not. As a whole, their efforts saved lives. And after resort personnel closed Palisades Tahoe for the day and sent everyone home, the patrons who had assisted with rescues were left to grapple with how to think about their own safety during a day at the slopes.

Resort Patrons Spring Into Action

Denayer was riding KT-22 when she heard multiple voices scream 鈥渁valanche!鈥� She swung around in the chair and saw waves of snow slough down G.S. Bowl. A longtime backcountry skier, Denayer completed a level 1 training course put on by the nonprofit American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. From her chairlift, she tried to spot people. Remember where they fall, she told herself. You might be able to find them later. She saw Erskin, Ennis, and two others sliding down the mountain. 鈥淚t looked like I was watching a movie,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 saw two guys trying to swim through it. Another guy was in the middle of it and I saw him get carried over the cliffs. It looked bad.鈥�

The skiers in the chairlift ahead of Denayer ran from the terminal to a nearby patrol house to alert safety personnel. Denayer, who has been skiing at Palisades Tahoe for 30 years, pulled out her phone and called a friend who was working a lift-operating shift at the base area. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楾here鈥檚 been an avalanche,鈥� Denayer said. 鈥溾�榊ou need to get people up here right now.鈥欌赌�

Other skiers and snowboarders hurriedly disembarked KT-22 and slid into G.S. Bowl to help. Some skied below the cliff band to where the avalanche debris field had created a deep pile. Others cut in above the cliffs to the area where Erskine, Ennis, and others were digging themselves out.

Darian Shirazi, 35, headed for the higher section of G.S. Bowl. A venture capitalist from San Francisco, Shirazi had taken avalanche training courses prior to heliskiing trips in Alaska and Canada. In 2012, while on a backcountry trip in Alaska, Shirazi was nearly trapped in an avalanche鈥攁fter that experience he vowed to only ski in-bounds. But he never thought his backcountry safety training would be useful at a resort.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥楴obody is going to know what to do,鈥欌�� Shirazi said. 鈥淚t was a full adrenaline rush. It just seemed obvious to go down there and try to help.鈥�

Thick cloud cover and falling snow meant that visibility was poor. But Shirazi could see multiple groups of people digging into the slope. The sheer size of the debris field was overwhelming鈥攊t was far too big for the few people on-site to scour by hand, he thought. Time is running out for anyone who is buried, he thought. 鈥淭here was an odd 鈥榳hat do we do?鈥� vibe,鈥� Shirazi said.

Shirazi looked at the slope鈥檚 edge and saw several dozen bamboo boundary poles that were marking obstacles. Those could work as probes, he thought. He yanked pole after pole from the snow and began shouting at others. 鈥淚 was like 鈥榚veryone, grab a stick!鈥欌�� Shirazi said. 鈥溾�榃e need to start a probe line!鈥� Everyone was like deer in the headlights.鈥�

Others joined him in probing the slope for survivors. There weren鈥檛 enough volunteers to stretch the line across the entire slope, so instead Shirazi asked eyewitnesses to point out areas where skiers had last been seen. A patrol member arrived approximately five minutes after Shirazi had begun probing, and within 15 minutes more safety personnel were on site, with shovels and probes. Shirazi stood aside and snapped a photo of the scene.

The first ski patrollers to arrive were met with an impossible scenario. 鈥淭he first one I saw was getting yelled at by so many people for help that he was having a hard time figuring out where to go,鈥� Erskine said. 鈥淚 have nothing but respect for the guy coming into something like that.鈥�

In some areas, patrollers tried to organize the resort patrons into ad-hoc rescue groups. Andy Hayes, 43, a professional skier from nearby Olympic Valley, saw this dynamic play out in the debris fields above and below the band of cliffs. Like Shirazi, Hayes had skied into the top of the bowl after seeing the slide鈥檚 aftermath from KT-22. He flipped his avalanche beacon into 鈥渟earch鈥� mode and skied into the debris field. He estimates he arrived on the scene ten or so minutes after the avalanche, and by then, ski patrol had organized approximately 50 skiers into a probe line.

鈥淭hey did a good job of bringing a bunch of just disparate people out of the scene and getting them into an actual organized search,鈥� said Hayes, who has also taken classes in backcountry avalanche safety. Hayes eventually skied down through the cliff band to help with rescue efforts further downhill. Below the cliffs, a dramatic scene was unfolding, as a group of skiers hurried to free three different people who had been pushed through the cliff band by the snow.

One was an Australian skier named Oliver Thompson, who had been skiing alongside his sister, Hannah Sugerman, and her partner, Callum Wishart. The slide had above the cliffs. But it had propelled Thompson over the rocks and down below, where he was buried. Ski patrol eventually freed him, but he suffered a badly broken leg.

When Hayes arrived, a group was digging Thompson out. 鈥淲hen I got down there was somebody who had been found,鈥� Hayes said. 鈥淗e was in a deep space but had the ability to yell, and the group was getting him out.鈥�

Hayes was probing through the snow in the area when another skier struck a body with his probe. Ski patrol and volunteers began digging. They found a ski, then another. 鈥淚t was the fatality,鈥� he said.

A short distance away, another group of probing rescuers had also struck something. It was Jason Parker, 52, a snowboarder from Reno, who had been buried beneath four feet of debris. Parker was alive. He had been on his second lap of G.S. Bowl that morning when the wall of snow caught him just above the cliffs. Somehow, Parker slid through the cliff band face first without slamming into the rocks.

Parker told his story to after the ordeal. As the snow pushed him downward, he yelled to two skiers nearby him to follow his location. 鈥淲atch me! Watch me!鈥� he screamed. He survived the cliffs, only to be buried by the debris at the bottom. He was entombed under four feet of snow, until a probe struck him in the back. On the surface, a group of skiers dug into the snow, eventually freeing him. Parker eventually credited his rescue to a snowboarder named Luke. 鈥淚t was locals,鈥� Parker told TV station . 鈥淧eople that know the area well and that saved me鈥擨 can鈥檛 thank them enough.鈥�

A skier named Jason Glickman, who had dropped into G.S. Bowl moments after the avalanche, was standing alongside the dramatic rescue, and filmed the moment when ski patrol pulled Parker from the slide. He checked his watch when Parker emerged from the snow. It read 9:40 A.M.

Gear Choices In-Bounds

Seventeen people died from inbounds avalanches at U.S. ski resorts between 2003 and 2023, according to a titled Characteristics of Inbounds Avalanche Fatalities at United States Ski Areas. The document, published last October by avalanche experts Paul Baugher, Scott Savage, and Karl W. Birkeland, lists the commonalities between 14 fatal inbounds slides that occurred during that period. Atop the report’s list is the bullet point: 鈥渢errain opened for the first time of the season with only a few hours of ski traffic.鈥� The Palisades Tahoe raised the total fatalities to 18.

The document was written as a set of guidelines for resorts, Baugher told me. But Baugher said he hopes the report educates skiers and snowboarders as well. 鈥淚f you think danger has been engineered out of skiing at a resort, you鈥檙e wrong,” he said.

Deaths by inbounds avalanches are less than 3 percent of all resort fatalities over the last two decades, according to data from the National Ski Areas Association. But these fatalities cast a different shadow than ones occurring from collisions or crashes. They erode the aura of invincibility that comes from skiing down a slope that鈥檚 been mitigated for avalanche danger.

The sources who spoke to me for this story echoed this sentiment. In the days following the slide, Shirazi canceled a ski vacation to Whistler Blackcomb. When he finally did return to a ski resort three weeks later, he wore his backcountry airbag. Denayer vowed to bring her avalanche beacon with her, no matter the conditions, and has done so for every inbounds ski day since. Erskine said he now assesses resort terrain the way he would a backcountry slope. 鈥淚 look back on it and realize there were so many red flags that day that I never thought about because we were at a resort,鈥� Erskine says. 鈥淭here is this veil of protection that鈥檚 gone.鈥�

Ennis and Erskine skied Palisades Tahoe a few days after the avalanche. As he bombed down the runs below KT-22, Ennis thought about his own relationship to snow safety. He and Erskine regularly skin up backcountry slopes near their home in Reno. At the onset of each ski season, they practice beacon rescues to refresh their skills. Both men regularly read snow reports issued by regional avalanche safety centers before choosing which backcountry slope to skin up. But neither man ever brought beacons or other avy gear inbounds. In fact, Ennis said he and Erskine often poked fun at those who did.

鈥淲e used to laugh and say 鈥業 wonder if he鈥檚 gonna wear that beacon to the restaurant tonight,鈥欌�� Ennis said. 鈥淣ow I know it鈥檚 a pretty good idea to have it on.鈥�

For years, skiers have discussed the merits of bringing backcountry safety gear鈥攁irbags, shovels, probes鈥攚ith them to resorts. The discussion regularly pops up after a deadly inbounds slide. Stories in 国产吃瓜黑料 and elsewhere have promoted the merits of bringing safety gear to resorts. Whether or not more skiers are doing so is tough to say. Anecdotal evidence would point to yes鈥攊f only because so few did so in the past.

Baugher, who operated ski patrol at Washington鈥檚 Crystal Mountain Resort from 1987 until 2016, likened the slow shift to the ski industry鈥檚 adoption of other trends.

鈥淭he hope is that the cool skiers will start doing it, and then others will follow,鈥� Baugher said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 used to be cool to wear a helmet鈥攔emember?鈥�

Baugher said that high-profile inbounds slides like the one at Palisades show skiers that gear isn鈥檛 just for their own personal safety. Sure, skiers realize that a beacon or an airbag may help them get rescued. But after an avalanche, a collapsible probe or an inexpensive shovel can transform them into a lifesaver.

鈥淎 resort can do everything it can to keep an avalanche from happening,鈥� Baugher said. 鈥淏ut when it happens, who is in the best position to make a recovery? It鈥檚 usually someone who happens to be skiing the same run.鈥�

A Heart-Stopping Rescue

As Erskine tugged at the man鈥檚 blue jacket to pry him from the snow, Ennis scanned the rest of the slope. More skiers had arrived to help dig鈥擠enayer was among them. She recorded a video of the scene between digs.

Ennis looked across the slope and saw a speck of black protruding from the white. It was a glove, and it was waving side to side. He ran across the 150-foot center of the debris field, passing huge chunks of snow. After reaching the glove, Ennis began to dig. The glove was on an outstretched hand that disappeared into the snow. Ennis estimated where a head might be and dug straight down to create a passageway for air. He heard a voice murmur from the hole. It was from a woman.

鈥淚 remember yelling 鈥業 got you! I got you!鈥� Ennis says. 鈥淚 got her face uncovered and could hear her asking for help.鈥�

Ennis worried that the woman might still suffocate, so he told her to puff out her ribs. Talking or exhaling, he thought, may cause the weight of the snow to squeeze the air out of her lungs.

Ennis dug at her neck and chest, eventually clearing enough snow off of her back to pry her out. The woman, Janet He, had been skiing with her husband, Joseph Lu, when the slide had hit. Lu was able to stay upright, but the debris had buried He and pushed her 200 feet down the mountain.

He鈥檚 phone rang as Ennis pulled her free. It was Lu, and he was ecstatic to learn that she was OK. She thanked Ennis and hugged him. Then she lifted her phone, framed the two of them, and snapped the perfect selfie.

A woman who was buried under an avalanche at Palisades Tahoe on Wednesday was saved by a stranger and escaped with no injuries.

— CBS News (@CBSNews)

国产吃瓜黑料 digital editor Jake Stern contributed reporting.聽

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