Inbounds avalanches at Mammoth and Squaw Valley temporarily halted operations at the ski resorts over the weekend. At Mammoth, “The powder cloud from the avalanche extended about 100 meters into an area open to the public, where two guests were partially caught,” explained the resort on Instagram. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A winter storm that dropped 2-4 feet of snow in the Sierra prompted inbounds avalanches in two California ski resorts over the weekend. Shortly after reports of several skiers and snowboarders buried in a slide at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows in the Lake Tahoe region on Saturday, news broke of an inbounds slide at Mammoth Mountain Resort.
“At approximately 10:15 AM on March 3, 2018, Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol was performing routine avalanche mitigation work in a closed area when a large avalanche released on the Climax ski run,” wrote Mammoth Resort in an Instagram post. “The avalanche traveled down Upper Dry Creek and terminated at the bottom lift terminal of High Five Express [Chair 5]. The powder cloud from the avalanche extended about 100 meters into an area open to the public, where two guests were partially caught. Both were able to immediately free themselves without serious injury. Additionally, six employees working at the bottom of the closed lift were partially caught, but freed themselves quickly, suffering only minor injuries. Ski Patrol was on scene with initial rescue efforts within moments, and search operations began immediately. Ski Patrol led a 6-hour search, which included the use of transceivers, RECCO, avalanche rescue dogs, and a manual probe search, all with no results reported. Nearly 200 employees, first responders and guests contributed to the effort on-hill.
“Within minutes of the call, Mammoth initiated its emergency response protocols, and multiple agencies and resources responded. Mammoth extends a sincere thank you to all the guests, employees, and other first responders who immediately responded to the scene, as well as to the Mono County Sheriff’s Office, Mammoth Lakes Police Department, Mammoth Lakes Fire Department, Mono County Search and Rescue, Mono County Paramedics, California Highway Patrol, Mammoth Lakes CERT and Inyo County Search and Rescue, all of whom assisted with an overwhelming response.
“We are not aware of any missing persons. If members of the public are aware of missing friends or family, please call 760-934-0611.”
Both inbounds slides that temporarily halted operations at Mammoth and Squaw Valley serve as reminders that while skiing or snowboarding within ski area boundaries certainly reduces avalanche risk, it doesn’t eliminate it. Particularly when a big storm drops a significant amount of snow on top of older icier snow. According to the resort, the incident remains under investigation.
