I'm currently heading to the funeral of a friend, neighbor, and fellow pilot who was just killed in an avalanche. As a pilot, and even in his work as a chemical applicator, flying a ground rig, he was extremely cautious and particular. Knowing how he was, I was very surprised that he had been caught unprepared, much less have been in such a dangerous situation. The story that is now circulating is that he had stopped his snowmobile and taken off his helmet and beacon while he was filming his friends sledding downhill from him and never saw it coming. If that is true, he must have been lulled into a sense of false security, and whatever avalanche training and gear he had was useless. As pilots, we are constantly reminded to be aware of our situations and surroundings. What happened to my neighbor is a good reminder that we should carry that same alertness into all other aspects of our lives, and if it becomes habit in our daily lives, maybe it will be even more present when we are in the air.

My day job is running a crane service, and having someone come up and interrupt me when I'm setting up is exactly like getting interrupted while your pre flighting. I take the same attitude, and I don't care if it's the head bossman on the job or a peon, "not now, let me finish what I'm doing." If they don't like it, too bad. Flying has definitely served me well in that respect. the drawback is, the best days for crane work are also the best flying weather!

I started pretty early. When my 16 year old buddies were doin stupid shit in cars I was flying airplanes. I certainly wasn’t superior to them as a person, but my decision making skills sure were.

Pilot, snowmobiler, and wildland fire fighter. Situational awareness, using checklists and safety equipment are critical to survival in all three.

For me it's the other way around. I bring the methods & practices for ensuring safety from my activities on the ground up into the air.

Aryana wrote:For me it's the other way around. I bring the methods & practices for ensuring safety from my activities on the ground up into the air.

Same here, raced dirt bikes professionally for 15 years, then started flying, applied, risk managing, thinking routes and risks thru my mind before every race or training, and since the beginning in my flying started to do this and also train as much as possible the handling of the airplane for challenging environments.

motoadve wrote:
Same here, raced dirt bikes professionally for 15 years, then started flying, applied, risk managing, thinking routes and risks thru my mind before every race or training, and since the beginning in my flying started to do this and also train as much as possible the handling of the airplane for challenging environments.

Right on! [emoji1360]

Getting loose there on the Husky.

Its been a really bad season for snow stability . Early snowfall, then a period of dry then lots of snow. Rotten Base for everything to build on. Sorry for the loss of your Buddy Quis.

FWIW, I have definitely noticed that decision making and risk assessment for backcountry skiing is very similar to the go/no-go decision making with flying.

Also, I do a pre-flight walkaround of my truck camper every time I go anywhere with it lest I rip off a slide I have forgotten to bring in lol.

Same here, raced with AFM for more than 10 years. Taught with Z2 for quite a few as well. Passed my check ride in October. Takes a lot to get me excited.

Watching Chunks of snow the size of a VW Bus rolling at you while the entire surface you were standing on turn to liquid is a bit more than exciting.
I had the humbling experience in the Abaroska Range in 2009 . Party of 10 (way too many people on tour in one group). We had been riding over old crowns , and while having lunch in a flat open field the entire snowpack settled 4-5 inches . We stopped smiling and laughing.
After lunch we split into two groups of five. I was the last guy skinning through small trees with a drainage to my right.
I saw a puff of powder rise up about 18 inches from the surface way above me. F*%K AVALANCHE !!! I started moving slowly downhill because I was in the trees . My Buddy was in the drainage in the middle of a kick turn and He disappeared in a flash. I grabbed branches to stay on top and the snow pinned me to a tree and the snow started rising towards my face. I let go of the branches before I got burried and that caused me to slide away from the tree at about the time the slide stopped.
BEACONS IN SEARCH MODE !! was being yelled across the slope. A minute later someone yelled up that two were burried, head above snow.
Luckily no injuries . Estimated slide of 800-1000 feet , two foot crown .
We gathered up, checked everyone out and tip-toed up out of that valley. Some of the scariest couple hours in my life.

We let our guard down too. We got involved in crowd stoke and really Fu&Ked Up. I am very lucky

But thats how it happens.


I have lost some great friends to Avalanches. I have one friend who died flying. No Comparisons because I have been into Backcountry Snowboarding much longer than flying. But as with flying, racing, snowmobiling, boating , climbing , ........its risky

Avalanches suck no doubt. Been there done that with my snowmobile. I'm now much more careful who I ride with, and watch more closely where I ride. We buried 2 great friends and their 2 youngest daughters after they passed away in a helicopter crash January first, and it has definitely weighed on my mind every time I've been up since. Took me a few weeks to go for a night flight after that...

Over 30 deaths in the inter-mountain states Idaho, Montana and Utah area already this year. As stated above a very bad set up for the year with the way the snow came. Will not be any better as the season progresses.