Avalanche Incident, February 22, 2024, Gulmarg, Kashmir
Avalanches with casualties are quite rare, but are usually high profile and poorly investigated. As a result, the average rider may feel that while it can happen to anyone, it won’t happen to them, and certainly "not today".
This report is about that "today", a day in which seven people got caught in an avalanche. They are skiing enthusiasts who had been freeriding in all corners of the world for more than a decade, who regularly train with transceivers, and who have expensive equipment and use guides. How did it happen? We'll try to answer that question too. But, spoiler alert, it's a truism that the more you ride, the higher your chances of getting caught out.
Nevertheless, we have attempted to reconstruct the events surrounding the avalanche. We have little objective information about what happened, so some aspects of our analysis or resulting conclusions may be erroneous. Why we do this? It’s all very simple – we hope that our terrible experience will prevent others from getting caught up in a similar situation.
The official report states that, "On 22 February in a South Apharwat couloir, a group of 7 Russian skiers accompanied by a local guide triggered a D3 avalanche. As a result, the entire group was trapped in the avalanche. Three were partially buried, but were rescued with minor injuries. One rider was completely buried and died".
Morning
It was a normal day and there was little to portend the upcoming disaster. The sky was dotted with small clouds, the Avalanche Officer was due to open a Second Phase. A classic powder day in Gulmarg: one or two descents under the gondola, then everyone goes into backcountry, that’s how it’s been done for years.
Yulia "It was a cool morning, Indian TV did a report on us. Everyone was laughing. We shared our feelings about the place".
Slava "Some have it tough, others not so much. I was courageously battling Indian rotavirus, but so far it was winning. In all seriousness, I decided to rest for another day, in any case it would be a sluggish skiing day under the gondola. While tomorrow would be a day of thrilling, steep lines, and I decided to save myself for that. A local guide called Suhil went with the group, he seemed knowledgeable. The avalanche forecast was 2 out of 5, which means not the safest conditions, but quite ok".
Sasha "In the middle of the night, I was woken up by the thought that I had not charged my backpack, ‘What’s the rush, I’ll get up in the morning’, I thought, ‘If I don't forget, I will charge it, if I forget, it's no big deal, there are so many people out there, there won’t be any avalanches’. 15 minutes before the alarm clock went off, I opened my eyes again with thoughts of charging my backpack. I got up and immediately put it on the charger”.
Before the Avalanche
The group made two descents under the gondola with the guide, and that was the end of the normal snow. The guide suggested that they go out behind the markers and head for the neighbouring couloir, which had not yet been rolled out. After reaching the ridge, the group entered the clouds and visibility fell to a few meters.
Yulia "We climbed up to the ridge. When we started to descend we entered a cloud. Visibility was 10 meters max. We met at some rocks, somewhere high on the ridge. I heard voices and tried to point out that there were two other groups somewhere, and that they weren't imaginary voices in my head. Suddenly the cloud dispersed and we saw that there were two other groups".
Sasha "...we needed to make our way over the cliff, ‘What cliff, why?’ I'm freaking out, but I don't tell anyone. Every step up the hill is like torture. The others still want to take pictures. OK, that’s enough, let’s get down. I'm afraid of every movement, and we haven't even gone down yet!"
After this, judging by the gps track and the skiers’ accounts, the group started to descend as follows:
Alex "The approach to point X had two stages. First, one by one, we carefully followed the guide down to the first point. Then he said that no more than half the group at a time should head for the start at the second intermediate point. So we did. I was the last to descend when the whole group was already gathered at point X. When I got there, I stopped and looked around".
A track analysis shows where the group gathered. We looked at the terrain in gl.earth and fatmap, but could not see any landforms at this point. Some rocks in the middle of the slope, offering a semblance of safety. They may well have saved you from a 20 cm avalanche, but not one with a thickness of 2.5 meters.
Slava "Choosing the wrong terrain is a typical mistake when visibility is low. In guide school we are taught about ‘White out navigation’. There should be a separate plan for such a case. In this case, in my opinion, they should have gone back to the couloir under the cable car, or continued further along the ridge. But the chosen line led the guide and the group into a trap. Taking short runs and meeting the group together on the slope is dangerous because of the risk of avalanches, but going in long runs is also dangerous, since the skiers will not be able to see where they are going".
Masha "On a couple of occasions the guide suggested we take some very long runs across the entire slope, but in such low visibility conditions it seemed like a bad idea. We would be just get lost, even our short runs had to be made towards of the outline of a landmark, and the actual meeting point became visible only when descending".
As a result, the entire group were meeting together in the middle of a fairly steep slope.
The Avalanche
Alex "That was when we heard a deafening sound, as if a large-caliber cannon had gone off. Straight away I felt danger, but it was not yet clear what was happening. In the next instant the surface beneath us shifted and it became clear that the slope had detonated."
Masha "I remember everything that then happened in slow motion. First, a very strong rumble could be heard from above, which I hoped was not for us. Then the slope gone down, to such a degree that my legs gave out. I looked up and saw the whole bowl from above starting to rupture. Then, of course, there was no doubt that it was our slope, and I looked at its sheer size, numb with horror".
As a result, all the skiers were swept away by the avalanche, except for the guide, who was on the move at that very moment, so was able to speed away from the danger zone.
Yulia "I sat and I was carried forward and downwards, and I immediately pulled the handle of my backpack. And then the snow hit me from behind. It started spinning, snow all around me, dark and silent. I tried to press my legs down so that I didn't get sucked lower. My hands were in front of my face, pushing the snow away. I vividly remember tumbling and falling. At some point, I put my arms out and slammed into something soft. And then I started spinning again. Then suddenly, everything came to a stop. I opened my eyes and realized that I was sitting somewhere on the edge of the avalanche in the snow".
Alex "The slope then gave out under me and I fell into a fissure about a meter and a half deep. At first there was a realization that I wasn't going anywhere. I put my hand on the backpack trigger. And then something heavy hit me from behind and only then did I yank it open. Next turned off the sound, and there was silence, deafening silence. I was being pulled down and span around. I can't say for sure, but it didn't feel like I was pulled upside down".
The Search and Rescue
Yulia, Nastya and Sasha were carried to the edge of the avalanche, practically uncovered by snow. They immediately joined the search and rescue.
Yulia "I saw Sasha and Nastya. For a moment I thought, ‘Everything seems OK’. And then, ‘But where are all the others?’ Silence reigned; I don't remember who spoke first. I then saw an open orange airbag below and skied down. I realized it was Masha. Sasha was already digging her out with his hands and I gave him my shovel".
Nastya "I switched the beeper to search, by that time Yulia had probably already reached the backpack airbag, which was 100 meters below us (later it turned out to be Masha). I started searching, caught a signal, took off my board and headed straight for it. It was not far away (10 meters or so max.), I made a cross, and pushed the probe into the snow. Other groups then came to my aid and we started digging. According to the probe, the depth was about 1.5 meters".
Sasha "... Then I saw Yulia, she was to my right, while Nastya was higher up. ‘So... there are survivors, and the others probably just escaped. Wait! Where the hell did they go? Where are the others? Where should we look, how should we do it?’ A thousand thoughts flew through my mind in one second... Whilst digging out Masha, I heard on the radio that they’d found Anton. I was so relieved, and believed that we would find the others and everything would be fine. But I didn’t know at the point that Anton was in fact dead. I had tears in my eyes and began to panic, where are the others? I can’t see them, what if they are buried like Masha? How can I find them and help them? It dawned on me that I didn't know what to do and that made me so frustrated and angry with myself".
Slava "Everyone did so well. Without any kind of centralized control, they took the right decision. Two of the survivors started digging out the person who was closest to the surface, while another searched for the others with the transceiver. By the time the target was found, other groups had arrived who helped to dig".
Masha "I grabbed the handle of the backpack and was almost immediately I tipped forward and upside down, it’s a good thing I had time to pull the trigger. As long as the snow was moving it was pretty easy to breathe. Then everything came to a stop, but not all layers of snow. Part of my body had come to a stop, but some layers were still moving, and with considerable force. There was nothing I could do and the snow slowly wrapped around my legs. I realized that I was in a very bad position, I was lying face down, there was a lot of pressure on my back, it was hard to breathe, but I had some air in front of my face. I managed to lift my head up a little more before the snow solidified. Then the blackout, as if I fell asleep. I did not feel any shortness of breath, but apparently passing out like this is an instinctive reaction. I woke up to the sound of voices, I could breathe, and talk, but I couldn't move. It felt exactly like sleep paralysis. I get that a lot, especially if I eat cheese at night. So I was glad there was no avalanche and it was all a dream. But even when they dug me out, I couldn't stand right away, and it took me a minute to walk, while leaning on my ski. In my head I had three thoughts, ‘What the hell happened to us? What a blessing it is that I am alive! We have to look for Borya right now!’ As soon as I could walk, I hobbled off in search of him, leaning on my ski. Although, I think I initially wandered around in a confused manner, and only then started to search more systematically".
The other groups helped Nastya dig up the target. It turned out to be Anton, but unfortunately he was already dead. They tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail. His airbag was unopened. Why? We don’t know, but presumably he didn't have time to pull the trigger.
Yulia "The Americans descended and someone said that Anton had not survived. I sat down in the snow. I felt empty and didn't know what to do or where to go. How long I sat like that I don't know".
Alex "When I got up, I heard Yulia say, ‘They dug out Anton, but he is not with us’. I didn't understand the meaning of what she said at first and asked stupidly, ‘What do you mean?’ She responded, ‘I don't know how to say it, but he's no longer with us...’ Then I understood. ‘Where is he?’ I said, and she pointed up the slope. I looked up but couldn’t see anything in the clouds..."
Sasha "... It was only then that I heard that Anton had died. I felt like I had been hit by a hammer. I think I lost the ground beneath my feet, and I thought, ‘Maybe it's not true? Maybe it's a mix-up. We'll find everyone now and return to the hotel. The main thing is to look! And everything will be OK. But fu*k.., where is Boris too! Where is he? It's been too long!’"
Slava "When Sasha called and said that Anton was dead, it was like a blow to my head. I grabbed it and kept repeating 'no, no, no' as if I wanted to teleport out of this universe into another one where none of this had happened".
Back to the other members of the group. Judging by the track, Alex was dragged about 350 meters in a straight line and about 200 meters vertically.
Alex " ...I could see light, I pushed a clump of snow off my face and was able to breathe. I remember the stories about avalanches where it rapidly turns into concrete after stopping. So I started to loosen the snow from around my chest, fortunately it was still quite soft. I freed the chest strap of my backpack and unzipped it. I realized that as long as there wasn’t a second avalanche, I would be able to climb out. And the drumbeat in my head said, ‘Come on! The sooner I get out, the higher the chance of finding and saving someone’. I started digging towards the waist strap of my backpack. The snow there was a little denser, but it was manageable. I threw off my mittens and dug with my gloves on. Having dug out the belt buckle, I unbuckled it and twisted my shoulders out of the straps, dragged the backpack to the side and pulled out the shovel. I continued to dig down, quicker now, to get to my feet..."
As a result, Alex was able to dig himself out.
Slava "It’s barely possible to believe that a man buried up to his head was able to dig himself out. It was clearly due to luck and persistence, but that is Alex in a nutshell). But really, it was a miracle".
Alex immediately joined the search and rescue operations.
Alex "I descended in a zigzag pattern at about 30 degrees, as at this point the width of the avalanche was 80-100 meters. I was afraid to miss something, I thought we were all close by. If only I'd known we were a kilometer apart. I descended what I think was about 300 meters and not a single signal, nothing caught my eye. In one place I saw what looked like a big piece of cloth, but it turned out to be a large lump of moss, pulled off the rocks by the avalanche. I saw a group of local skiers down from me, near the right-hand edge of the avalanche (looking from above) and yelled to them that they should search at the bottom of the avalanche, and I ran back up".
Slava "Again, all the problems were due to the poor visibility. Alex was standing in the fog and didn't realize the scale of the avalanche, where it finished, or where the others were. He just couldn't see anything. I’m sure it was a terrible feeling, you have to save 6 people from your group, but you don't know where you are. Given this, I believe that Alex took the right decision. He saw the group below, gave them the command to search there and went back up to the top, where presumably everyone else was".
Alex "I climbed up and saw our guide. He waved at me and shouted that someone was calling on the radio in Russian. I climbed up as fast as I could and took the radio, ‘Who's speaking?!’ I got the answer, ‘Sanya!’ I felt a lump in my throat... ‘You’re lucky!’ I said. ‘Who's with you?! Sanya shouted into the radio, ‘Alex!!!! (and a volley of swear words) Yulia, Nastya is fine, Masha was rescued, Anton was dug out, Borya doesn’t know where he is, but he's on the radio. What should we do?’ I replied, ‘As we were taught, beeper in search mode, probe extended, shovel in hand, and search for Borya in a zigzag pattern further up, and then I’ll come up to you’".
Slava "Yes, with hindsight, of course, it is clear that it would have been better if all the rescuers had headed down the hill. The others to Alex, and Alexdown to the end of the avalanche, then Borya would have been found faster. But it was an emergency situation, and if you can do anything, that is already an achievement. You've done well just to survive. So the fact that they fought to the last in their search for Borya, albeit not in the most optimal way, makes them heroes, at least for me".
Borya
Borya was carried to the very end of the avalanche, and of course it was difficult for the group to know that he had been carried down so far.
Borya "There was snow in front of my eyes, but I could see glimmers of light. My left arm was twisted under my body, I couldn’t move it. My right arm could move freely above the elbow. I could barely breathe, not yet sure why, gasping for air.
I quickly cleared my face. I realized that my mouth was tightly packed with snow, but I felt no pain. I cleaned the snow from my mouth with my finger, but realizing that it didn’t help, threw off my glove and started pulling snow out of my throat with two fingers. I pulled out as much as I could, but was still breathing as if through a straw. I tried to cough, and the snow started to come out. I removed it with my fingers. In the end, I screamed and squeezed out the last bloody clod of snow, spat it out and started breathing. That’s when I realized that I had survived...."
As a result, Borya spent more than an hour in the snow. Statistics show that in an avalanche, most victims die of asphyxia (suffocation) within 15 to 35 minutes. After that, there is a relatively stable period of up to about 2 hours, meaning that a person can breathe and can survive for more time. But then the mortality rate starts to increase sharply again, this time from hypothermia.
Sasha "After another fifteen minutes, Borya shouted that he had been found and was being dug out. We all packed up and headed down towards the cable car. I didn’t understand where to go and if we should take the cable car or not. I felt an emptiness that penetrated my soul, I could not accept the loss of Anton. And I couldn't comprehend and believe that all this had happened to us. I think that at that moment those thoughts and feelings started to drive me crazy".
Borya "I started to push the snow away from my face with my right hand, and, turning my head, make more free space around my head. Then I completely freed up my right hand and reached for the radio on the backpack strap that side. I radioed out that I was alive, breathing, but that I needed help. I could hear chaos through the radio, a mix of Russian, English, and Indian.
The group were constantly in touch with me, they were yelling, I yelled as loudly as I could, but we couldn't hear each other at all. We didn't know at that point that I’d been carried so far down the slope from everyone else.
It started snowing and only then could I gather which way was up and which way was down. It turned out I was lying at a 30 degree angle with my head pointing downwards.
After about an hour and a half, I finally heard voices. I was found by a group of volunteers and guide Whitney Thurlow from New Zealand. After they dug me out, Whitney said that I was the luckiest guy he had ever seen in his life, and called it the best airbag commercial ever".
Whitney Thurlow "We scoured for several hundred meters before we reached the point where the couloir ended and the terrain began to level out. It was at this point that we realized the true scale of what had happened. Avalanche deposits, which were several meters deep in places, had scattered in all directions as far as the eye could see. We started zigzagging, trying to find a signal, but soon the search area increased to about 400 meters in width, and then some. And, of course, such a large area makes the search difficult. We had already covered about 2/3 of the avalanche debris when I saw the end of a snowboard sticking out of the snow. We were still quite a distance away, and I remember thinking that it was probably someone who had skied into the avalanche. For some reason, the idea that someone could have traveled all that distance from the starting point and end up where we found Boris seemed unlikely. Shortly afterward, I picked up his transceiver signal. It was about 50 meters from the end of the avalanche.
When I got close enough to see that it was indeed a man stuck in the avalanche, I assumed he was dead, or seriously injured. I was amazed to find that his head was on the surface and he was conscious and apparently unhurt. Tellingly, it took the three of us almost 10 minutes to dig him out of the snow.
Boris had been carried about 1.5 kilometers down the slope. The snow he was trapped in passed through a 20 meter wide couloir with enough force and volume to spread over a relatively flat surface for about 400 meters, leaving a 400x400-meter debris field. The avalanche traveled about 700 meters vertically. I have no idea what speed he was moving at, but it would have been very, very, VERY fast. The airbag undoubtedly saved his life, but even so, it's amazing that he didn't suffer more serious injuries".
Slava "We were almost finished writing the report when Whitney sent Borya an email. To be honest, after this email, and the photo of where Borya was, we all freaked out. Borya really was a kilometer further down than Alex. And he really was carried about 1.5 km with a 650-meter drop. To survive and not even get injured in such a situation... As Nastya noted, ‘Borya is a cat with nine lives...’".
Breakdown
This is where the main story ends. All the skiers had been found, but unfortunately not everyone survived. Let's try to understand what happened. We can't say that everything happened exactly this way, but based on the tracks, the guys' descriptions, and the photos, we ended up with the following picture:
The group gathered in the area marked with a red cross. The avalanche was very thick, up to 2.5 meters. It is almost impossible for a skier to make contact from such a depth. But, at the rocks where the group stood, it was less thick. They created a lot of pressure on the slope, and this was enough for the weak layer near the ground to crack and the whole slope to give way.
Why did the group and the guide think it was safe to ski there?
First of all, the poor visibility was to blame – it was difficult to make out the meeting point in the terrain. And with the flat terrain around the rocks it seemed like a safe spot. In the picture below, you can see that the mi in normal visibility will look more dangerous, and in bad visibility (visibility only inside the blue circle) it, on the contrary, will look safer.
Secondly, the safety of the terrain often depends on the amount of snow in the avalanche. This is especially evident on steep terrain above 30 degrees. A place that seems to offer safety will do so in the event of a 30 cm thick avalanche. But at a thickness of 1 meter, it will be swept away. To understand this you need to have a lot of experience and of course good visibility.
Now let's try to understand what happened to the skiers.
The blue line is where Yulia, Sasha, Nastya and Anton were carried.
Yulia "There is a precipice about 1.5 meters high, I see a layer of ice".
Nastya "It felt like it was carrying me slowly, there was one sharp drop and then another one, the rest was quite gentle".
According to their descriptions, they had two drops over rocks. The tracks show that they stopped almost immediately when the steepest part of the slope ended. And they came to a stop at a gully 1.5 meters deep, the depth at which Anton was found. As the photo shows, the avalanche crossed the couloir and stopped against the other wall of it. This means that the avalanche did not fall far here, but a lot of snow was accumulated, a typical terrain trap.
The green cross at the bottom is where Masha was dug out. She was carried a little to the right, where the avalanche was stronger. This spot is marked in the avalanche report, probably by the presence of a hole in the snow.
Orange showed Alex’s trajectory, judging by his GPS tracker. He fell into the same stream as Masha, but was a little to the left, and somehow was able to jump over the ledge. As a result, he was carried much further along the arc.
Borya’s trajectory is shown in lilac.
Borya "I jumped the board 45 degrees down the slope and began to accelerate. It’s hard to say how far I drove, hardly more than 10-15 meters, then I was hit."
Since he was able to gain speed, he ended up in the main part of the avalanche, which carried him a full 1.5 kilometers.
Who is to blame?
Usually in such situations, people far from freeride skiing try to understand who is to blame for what happened. But we have to disappoint them – in this case nobody is to blame. There was a so-called "cumulative failure," in which a chain of unlikely accidents leads to a major incident.
Slava "This slope was well within the avalanche forecast of 2 out of 5, its average steepness is <35 degrees. The ski resort had never experienced an avalanche on this slope even in more dangerous snow conditions, so the likelihood of it detonating at this point was very low. Deteriorating visibility caught the group out on the go, and it was difficult to change their course of action. It may have been possible to climb back to the ridge on foot, but with the conditions as they were, there was no urgent need for it. After all, this is not extreme terrain, where with one wrong turn you can drop for a kilometer down the rocks. The meeting point was bad from the point of view of avalanche danger, of course it is better not to gather together in such a place. But the alternative was to make long hops where the group would lose sight of each other. In my opinion, that would have been even worse. Therefore, under the circumstances, this choice was quite acceptable. Yes, I wouldn't go here – I don't like this line for many reasons, but that doesn't mean it should be off limits for skiing - they groom it all the time as soon as the Second Phase opens. It's a pretty run-of-the-mill route..."
The question remains why Anton's backpack didn't work. This type of backpack has to be turned on before it can be used, and only then it can be activated. The green LED on the side of the backpack lights up. The avalanche rescue officer who picked up the backpack from the scene said the light was on. We wanted to do an experiment and try to activate it, but unfortunately the backpack was given to us turned off, so there was no longer any point in doing the experiment.
Electric backpacks have been manufactured for quite a long time, and recently there have been no complaints about them, and the probability that it was a backpack problem is quite low. So the most likely scenario is that Anton couldn't pull the handle. Maybe he lost his balance, maybe he didn't decide to pull it right away, and then he couldn't. We'll never know.
What can we learn from this?
Each of us drew our own conclusions from this story.
Slava "You have to understand that freeride is a high-risk sport where there is a high probability of injury or death. The more difficult the terrain, the higher the risk, and the more difficult it is to reduce this risk. The terrain at Gulmarg makes it one of the riskiest places to ski in the world. This should be taken into consideration when planning a trip here.
Nevertheless, there are ways to reduce this risk. I have drawn the following conclusions in respect of skiing on terrain such as that found at Gulmarg:
• The entire group must be equipped with three-antenna transceivers.
• Ski on such terrain only after each member of the group has practiced searching for two targets, with probing, tagging, etc. The search algorithm must include switching off phones and other devices that may interfere with the transceivers.
• All members of the group must be equipped with charged radios and a transmitter. The radio should be kept in the backpack (so as not to interfere with the beeper), the transmitter should be easy to reach by hand so as to send a message.
• The whole group, including the guide, must have avalanche backpacks.
• In the morning, along with the beeper check, check your connectivity, and check that the backpacks and radios are charged.
• The whole group must have extreme sports travel insurance covering evacuation and repatriation.
Yes, this requires additional financial costs and time. But I hope that our story will show you that it is a paltry expense compared to the potential consequences".
Masha "Overall I agree with Slava. I would like to add that do not give up, fight hard while it carries you, and breathe deeply. When the avalanche stops, try to dig yourself out, at least move your head while the snow is still soft. I would also like to note that searching on such avalanche debris in such visibility is complete chaos. Individual groups are walking around, looking for something somewhere, but it is impossible to know where they have searched and where they are going. That's why it took so long to find Borya."
Yulia "The whole group should take out insurance and send it to the guide. If you suffer injuries that cannot be treated (and in India this is a real experiment), then at least repatriation should be paid for. Yes, it sounds very negative, but it's a given that you have to accept. Even with insurance, the process is very complicated and drawn out, and without insurance I can't imagine what it would be like."
Alex "I agree with the conclusions and recommendations of Slava and the rest. I will add what I believe to be important. When being carried by an avalanche, try (it seems optimistic, but it’s doable) not to panic. Panic is the enemy. You consume more oxygen. Mistakes are inevitable, such as opening your mouth and taking in snow. I don't know how I thought of it, but I breathed through my teeth and nose. Keep your eyes open, or at least open them more often to see where the light is. When you feel the avalanche come to a stop (and you will feel it if you are conscious and not fatally injured), take in as much air as you can and hold your breath – the snow will become compact and squeeze the air out of your lungs – the more that remains, the more space your body will occupy. After all, you don't know if you'll be able to get out on your own or not. And this can give you seconds or minutes before help arrives".
Nastya "Don't think about pulling the handle or not. Pull it! You may not get another chance..."
Borya "I survived by a miracle. If I had stopped face down (like Masha) or didn't have a free hand, there is no way I would have lasted two hours.
• Avalanche backpacks save lives. Six backpacks opened, six survivors. You have to pull it right away, don't wait. If you drop it, you'll be upside down, and you won’t be able to pull it.
• It was very scary. I hope that never happens to me again. But if it does happen to you, you have to fight against it. We were very lucky in that through our actions and good equipment, we were able to survive.
• Risk assessment in such places and at such moments is critical. This is exactly when ‘it is better to overdo it’. We did not overdo it that day. Sometimes you have to turn around and go back, or take the cable car to the piste, or even better, to a bar".
Sasha "Words can't describe what I experienced that day. It was a really, very scary day, a day in which you face death, a day in which your friend dies. A day when you wonder what you could have done to avoid this tragedy. I think it was a normal day and a normal route. We're not some idiots who went where we shouldn’t have. But what happened is what happened. And you have to realize that at any moment it could happen to you. And you have to be ready for it! Both mentally and technically! There is no guaranteed way to avoid it, but there are a lot of ways to reduce the consequences and increase your chances of being rescued".
Summary
It was a really big avalanche, and the fact that 6 people survived it was the Lord working 6 miracles. Unfortunately, the 7th miracle didn't happen, and in an avalanche of this magnitude it's only natural. We are all adults, we understand what we are doing when we freeride. And yes, we all think it's worth it. We will move on from this incident and soon we will put on our beepers and backpacks and go freeriding again, because it is a big and important part of our lives. So, please refrain from comments like "Idiots, what were they doing there, and the likes".
We didn't write this report to tell you, "Don't be like us!". On the contrary, we want to say to passionate freeride skiers like ourselves, "Be like us. And be better than us. Check your backpacks, your radios, practice using your transceivers more often, talk to your guide about their plans. Do what you love to do – freeride skiing. Just use our story and our conclusions to find ways to do it safer. And remember, people who love you are waiting for you at home.
P.S. I'd like to say a special word to people who get hyped up by such stories. Look, think about the people who will read your post. "One person died" – why post a close-up photo? So that his wife on the computer faints because her husband is dead in the snow? We’d no doubt all want to hear such news from our loved ones. "One missing person," – wait till tonight. Maybe he's not gone yet. Be kinder.
UPD: On March 16, we said our farewell to Anton. In loving memory to you, our friend🙏 Your heart stayed in the mountains, but the memory of you will always be in our hearts.