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The Inertia

Six National Guardsmen in Vermont taking part in a winter training exercises received the education of their lives yesterday when an avalanche swept them 900 feet down a narrow mountain pass. The soldiers were taking part in an Army Mountain Warfare class when the avalanche hit on Smugglers Notch, a narrow, tree-lined pass on the north side of Mount Mansfield not far from Stowe, Vermont. Smugglers Notch Ski Resort operates in the area and had posted 23 inches of new snow in 24 hours.

According to reports, the soldiers were swept down the mountain about 900 feet but were not buried. Ironically, part of the class is avalanche education. Five of the guardsmen were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and one immediately went back to participating in drills. The avalanche occurred at approximately one in the afternoon.

Avalanches on the East Coast are rare, but they definitely do occur, especially with the amount of snow the area has received lately. Aaron Rice, a backcountry skier in the area, triggered a slide in a chute that he said ran for some 1,300 feet down the mountain.

Made the mistake of forgetting that avalanches can and do occur in Vermont. Today we triggered a 1-2’ thick slab that propagated across the chute we were dropping into. It proceeded to gain speed and energy through a few chokes as it pulled out more pockets and gouged deeper into old snow. It ran for 1300 vertical feet with an impressive powder cloud before pilling up 4-6’ deep in a large debris pile about 150 feet short of crossing rt. 108. (R3, D2) Many mistakes were made that led us to the top of the chute without any avy gear and without fully considering possible risks and consequences. I am super grateful that nobody was hurt from our group, that there were no other groups in the area that could have been hit, and that we were able to get a serious wake up call without injury. Looking back, had I been more aware of the avalanche hazard, I would have rated the day at high danger dropping to considerable through the afternoon. I skinned up the debris field just now and there were numerous natural slide debris piles in nearly every slide path in the Notch. Having taken the lift up in the morning we completely missed these obvious signs. #smugglersnotch #avalanche #avalanchevt #stoweavalanchecenter #sac #notathing #shouldbeathing #skitheeast #bcvt #skivermont

A post shared by Aaron Rice (@airandrice) on

Search and Rescue officials in Vermont, a centerpiece for snowsports on the East Coast, told local media it has seen some 30 skiers and riders rescued in the state over the last month.

The Army Mountain Warfare School is based in Jericho, Vermont and trains military personnel from around the country in winter warfare tactics.

 
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