{"id":22828,"date":"2017-12-15T16:50:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T00:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=22828"},"modified":"2018-11-11T22:25:51","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T06:25:51","slug":"keepers-of-the-outdoors-the-life-of-an-eastern-sierra-avalanche-forecaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/keepers-of-the-outdoors-the-life-of-an-eastern-sierra-avalanche-forecaster","title":{"rendered":"The Life of an Eastern Sierra Avalanche Forecaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through our Keepers of the Outdoors series<\/a>, we’ll introduce you to people who protect and care for our wild places.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Josh Feinberg knows that decision making in the backcountry can be life-and-death. That’s why he’s made it his job to give others the tools needed to make sound judgments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On February 1, 2006, three skiers\u2019 lives changed forever in one group decision. They were Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers skiing in the Eastern Sierra backcountry on a day off from work. The sky was blue. The wind was light. They intended to summit and ski Mount Walt, an 11,580-foot peak in the Blacksmith Creek drainage, near Bridgeport, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt, we saw wind loading\u2014we knew that was the spot we gotta watch out for,\u201d Josh Feinberg said. \u201cWe figured we could handle it. We can go through the trees; we can go one at a time. We can do it reasonably safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group assessed the conditions and the terrain near the top of a glade. They were highly experienced backcountry skiers with extensive training in avalanche control work. To gain the ridge, they had to cross a shallow wind-loaded gulley above a whitebark pine glade.<\/p>\n

They decided to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an error in judgment for sure,\u201d Feinberg said.<\/p>\n

Johanna Carlsson, a Swedish native and seven-year veteran of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol, did not survive the trauma of the avalanche. She was 31.<\/p>\n

Today, Feinberg, 42, is a forecaster for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center<\/a> (ESAC) in Mammoth Lakes, California. Drawing on his passion for backcountry skiing and experience with an avalanche fatality, Feinberg hopes he can help other backcountry users recognize danger so they can make informed decisions to mitigate risk.<\/p>\n

According to the ESAC incident report<\/a>, Feinberg triggered a small slab avalanche and was carried a short distance before a deeper slab avalanche released and propagated above and below all three of them. All three skiers were caught in the slide. The avalanche ran 1,600 feet long, 900-vertical feet, and was 50 feet across. There was between 8 and 10 feet of debris. The slope failed on a 2-centimeter-thick wind crust of knife hardness.<\/p>\n

A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter flew Carlsson to a hospital in Fresno where she died of her injuries. Feinberg may have also died had C.J. Pearson not held on to a tree while the avalanche swept past him. He then dug Feinberg out and cleared his airway. Feinberg had a gash in his jaw, a head injury with symptoms that lasted for months and a lifetime of grieving ahead of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing a friend and being buried is pretty traumatic,\u201d Feinberg said. \u201cI don’t know, if that hadn\u2019t happened … I might not be in the forecasting job right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though he is motivated to help others avoid a similar mistake, it was a natural progression from ski patroller to avalanche forecaster for Feinberg. Years of dedication to learning the backcountry and studying landed him the job, which he considers a dream even on the cold, snowy, wet and windy days when he is spending more time digging pits than skiing powder. (He does get to ski a lot of powder, though.)<\/p>\n

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CT tests failing on propagation during early morning Sherwin investigation. Deep heavy snow, more slaby, less sloughy today, Avy danger on the rise throughout day as more snow accumulates and winds are projected to pick up. Click to link. #mammothgear<\/a><\/p>\n

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