Poor Man's Heli

This video had been removed from Youtube when I wrote about Stephen Koch’s firing last week, probably due to any potential legal action.  However, noticed that it’s back now. So, here it is, the video that led to Stephen Koch getting fired from Exum.

Sad story from yesterday, Andrew Entin from Squaw Valley was caught in an avalanche and later died from his injuries. Stories here and here.  The crown was 4-9 feet!  Articles have pointed to an uphill release due to ski cut after explosives failure, however someone on the scene was quoted off the record as saying

There was no dud. A bomb released the avalanche. Andrew was standing where he should have been and in a freak class four avalanche the safe spot was not safe.

99.44% of the time Ski Patrol gets a bum rap from the younger park rat* crowd as for the most part the rats don’t comprehend that the alpine environment has been tamed by the Ski Patrol long before the rats woke up and had mom cook them breakfast and drop them off at the hill.  Long hours and lousy wages spent putting themselves in the line of fire so the typically underappreciative public can have their weekend of fun.  Next time you go up I urge you to stop into the Ski Patrol shack and say thanks or drop off a 6′er.

RIP Andrew Entin.

*I use the term park rat out of jealousy more than anything because I can’t ride park for shit.

UPDATE:  More info from same person as quoted above.  Not that any of this info can bring Andrew back, but it’s interesting to note as there was a lot of internet chatter (and sources from the Truckee Ranger District) claiming it slid on a December ice layer.

It went on the March 1-2 crust, so all new snow. It ripped out trees and sent debris to T1 to T5 Sibo, and then down to past Mambo Meadows, buring the snowmaking pumphouse and leaving 3m of snow on that, fucking up the top of Squaw One in the process. The crown was freakishly high and that was the reason the “safe” area Andrew was standing was not so safe.  The layer (Dec. ice layer) was another 6′ down.

Stephen Koch was fired from his 15 year guide gig at Exum this week for using a snowmobile to cut 12 miles of approach skiing from his tour for his day’s target, the Skillet Glacier on Mount Moran (article).  The story is compelling for a few reasons:

1. Snowmobiles are LEGAL in the Grand Teton NP for use by ice fisherman.
2. It’s Stephen Koch.  Not many people have snowboarded Everest.
3. He took responsibility for his action.  Doesn’t he know that personal responsibility went out of vogue in the 80s?

“In this instance, I failed to resist the temptation to snowmobile with friends over the lake to ease the approach on a one-day ascent and descent of this magnificent mountain.  For my selfishness, I must apologize first to the National Park Service, to my family and also to my friends, my clients and former associates at Exum Mountain Guides, my coworkers at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, my colleagues at Art Hazen Real Estate, to the Grand Teton Climbing Rangers, and to the climbing, skiing, and snowboarding communities in general.

As a mountain guide, and a longtime member of the Jackson community, I know well that observance of the regulations governing the use of public lands is important to preserve the qualities that make Jackson Hole so extraordinary…”