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The avalanche center was on vacation from Jan 4 until today. The news and incidents got a bit behind but have now been brought up to date.
Dane Gergovich, senior manager of communications at Whistler Blackcomb, says the incident is under investigation. "Whistler Blackcomb places the highest value on the safety of our guests and employees,” says Gergovich. He notes ski patrol regularly performs avalanche mitigation work, monitors snow conditions and weather forecasts, and evaluates terrain to the extent possible as conditions change. "The safety of guests and staff is our top priority. As the snow continues to fall and terrain expands, please obey all signage, respect others, and ski and ride with care,” says Gergovich.
More ... (Pique Newsmagazine)
On Tuesday, January 9, in the afternoon an avalanche occurred and slid into the Pizol Ski Area in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland. An extensive search was issued, but thankfully, nobody was found buried or injured. However, Swiss police still seek help identifying who was responsible for setting off the slide.
In Switzerland, if a skier or snowboarder triggers an avalanche in marked, off-piste terrain, they can face civil or criminal penalties, even if nobody is buried. The local police department in Bad Ragaz continues to ask anyone who sets off an avalanche to report it, hopefully preventing costly and expansive search and rescue efforts in the future.
More ... (Snowbrains)
Logan Canyon (Utah) was reopened shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday just hours after officials said it could remained closed until Jan. 15 following an avalanche that spilled over U.S. 89.
U.S. 89 was closed Friday morning after an avalanche left a mound of snow on the roadway. The estimated time of reopening was initially reported as roughly an hour after the roadway was closed, around 8 a.m. An update was later issued, stating that the canyon would remain closed until 4:55 p.m. Friday, and then another which listed the estimated time of reopening as midnight Saturday.
While avalanches can occasionally close Logan Canyon it is not a common occurrance and the road has no regular forcasting or mitigation.
More ... (KMYU)
Three Australians have survived an avalanche at a Californian ski resort that left one man dead. The avalanche at Palisades Tahoe, formerly known as Squaw Valley and the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, happened on Wednesday (local time). An injured skier was located hundreds of metres down the mountain with a dislocated knee and fractured tibia and fibula. He said the avalanche "boosted" him off cliffs and he thought he was going to die.
More ... (abc.net.au)
More ... (Avalanche-Center.org - will be updated as details come in)
Authorities in Idaho on Friday located and retrieved the body of a man who was caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing with two other men who were rescued the previous day. The two men were located after authorities received a GPS alert of a possible fatality in an avalanche near Stevens Peak close to the Montana border shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on social media.
More ... (Avalanche-Center.org - will be updated as details come in)