MAMMOTH TRAGEDY: Three patrollers die on mountain

Tragedy has struck the Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol all too soon after patroller Johanna Carlsen was killed in a backcountry avalanche on February 1st. Three ski patrollers, James Juarez John McAndrews and Walt Rosenthal died yesterday after falling into hidden, gas-filled snow cave that had been created by a blocked vent. Seven other mountain employees were transported to Mammoth Hospital for observation/treatment with symptoms of fume inhalation.

McAndrews and Juarez were in the process of digging out the safety fence that surrounds a fumarole, or volcanic steam vent, that sits in a very prominent area just above the Mid-Gondola station. Under normal circumstances the vent is innocuous- the gas it emits is to easily dissipated in the open air to do anything more than smell like sulfur. Thousands of people ski right by it every day.

This winter in Mammoth has been anything but normal circumstances. The ski area is on track to set an all-time snowfall record, and the vent was buried by well over 20 feet of snow, including 80 inches of ultra-dense stuff that had just fallen two days previously. With the vent blocked the steam created a hollow pocket in the deep snowpack, a cave approximately 20 feet deep and 15 feet in diameter filled with toxic gasses.

The chamber collapsed under Juarez and McAndrews as they dug out the buried fence. The two other patrollers on the scene, Rosenthal and Jeff Bridges, immediately and heroically went into the vent to aid Juarez and McAndrews. All four were reportedly almost immediately overcome by symptoms of asphyxiation or poisonous gas inhalation. A massive rescue effort was quickly organized with dozens of employees digging frantically and performing CPR on the victims, including Bridges, who was conscious and breathing when he arrived at the hospital. Six other employees were also treated overnight at Mammoth Hospital for inhalation.

The press is already swarming, the mountain has brought in a crisis mediation team to handle the press, the second-guessing has begun, and the recriminations and lawsuits are just around the corner. As a local, I’d just like to get a few things out in the open:

There will be lessons learned from this, but it is ultimately a freak accident, one that could have only happened under a one-in-a-million set of circumstances- a record winter and a huge wet storm. Mammoth Mountain is an incredibly wild and dynamic environment- it’s the most wind-loaded and avalanche-prone mountain in California and it’s part of an active volcano and experiences frequent earthquakes. Yesterday there were huge overhanging cornices, massive avalanche fractures, and life-threatening hazards galore- ultimately controlling Mammoth Mountain and making totally safe is about like trying to control the ocean, or the wind.

Here in Mammoth, we consider our ski patrollers heroes.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has established memorial funds for the three Ski Patrollers who died on April 6, 2006. Three individual funds have been established at Union Bank of Mammoth Lakes in each persons name; The Scott McAndrews Memorial Fund, The Walter Rosenthal Memorial Fund, and The James Juarez Memorial Fund.

If you wish to donate to any of the funds, you may send a check addressed to the fund of your choice to Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol, Director, Bobby Hoyt, PO Box 24, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546. Contributions may also be delivered directly to Union Bank, or mailed to Union Bank, PO Box 2729, Mammoth Lakes, California 93546.