Originally posted by superskiaholic
[br]mazeGirl,
First, you have my deepest condolensces and I'm truly sorry this happened. I was one of the 7 Neve Traverse skiers leaving at about the same time (one of the 5 that camped on the lake Saturday night). I don't have much to add to your detailed account, but I do have a bit of info from our perspective that might help bring closure.
Our combined group of 7 Neve traversers left the cooking shelter for the parking lot just as your group started to arrive in the morning. At the start of the switchback descent, there were 2 or 3 ski tracks in the fresh snow ahead of us that must have come from Taylor Meadows. At the 2.5 km point, at least one of the tracks that had laid the trail went down to the creek. After a bit of momentary separation and not knowing each other's plans, it turns out 3 members of group dropped down to the creek while 2 stayed on the trail (including myself) and 2 hadn't arrived at that point yet. (Note that they dropped down to the creek quasi-intentionally; they knew the trail did not go down to the creek.. they were just up for a little more adventure and wanted to see if the open areas beside the creek would allow for more snow coverage and better skiing). The two of us that stayed on the trail left the area when we visually confirmed that there were at least 3 well-equipped members down at the creek. I'm guessing 15 minutes later the 2 remaining members of our group arrived at that switchback and, seeing that most tracks went down to the creek, figured we all went that way and followed suit.
Eventually the 5 people in the creek gully got stopped by some unpassable terrain. To the best of my knowledge, 1 person scrambled a bluff to get out of the gully, 2 others backtracked a bit and then made a very technical skin to get out, and the last 2 chose the saner option and skinned all the way back to where they entered the creek gully (aka the 2.5km point). These are the two that warned your group not to continue down the creek.
So like I said, not a lot of useful information, but a little bit from our perspective explaining why so many tracks led down into the creekbed. Again, I was horrified to learn about what happened and I hope the family and friends are comforted in their mourning.
I'm open to trying to answer questions if you have any.
Peter
lulululu
Rubble Creek Accident by lulu..........
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