Mammoth ski and snowboard team learns avalanche safety
A year ago almost to the day, the U.S. Ski Team was shaken by the deaths of two of its young athletes, Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, in an avalanche at a resort in the Austrian Alps.
Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard Team (MMSST) Director of Athletics Pete Korfiatis recalled Berlack and Astle’s deaths and how hard they hit MMSST.
“Our community of competitive snow sport athletes is very small, and when unfortunate events happen like that one, it hits hard,” he said. “I’ve coached both of these guys; Mammoth ski team had two male and three female athletes training either with or right beside them just before they left to Europe.”
This year Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA) and the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation put together an avalanche awareness class for MMSST members from the U14s and up, to hopefully prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the future.
The three-hour class, which took place on Dec. 30, educated participants on how avalanches form and release, the differences in the backcountry and inbounds skiing, and Mammoth Mountain’s closures and procedures.
“There’s a whole generation of kids that don’t know quite how dangerous the Eastern Sierra can get,” Korfiatis said, referring to the past four years of drought. He noted the Mountain’s December snowpack included a layer of light snow topped by heavy snow. “That’s a super dangerous snowpack.”
MMSST members are encouraged to ski for pleasure, not just for training and competition, and that’s where kids can potentially get into trouble. Berlack and Astle, for instance, skied off-piste in spite of an avalanche risk level of 3 out of 5. Both young men were not wearing avalanche beacons.
Neil Satterfield of Sierra Mountain Guides and Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol taught the avalanche awareness class to 72 participants. Glen Plake and his wife Kimberly were also in attendance to inspire the young athletes.
For those older MMSST members interested in a full Avalanche Level 1 certification, Korfiatis said Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation has set aside funds for a 50 percent reimbursement.
“With the older guys, the goal will be to actually go analyze the snow and do full beacon training,” Korfiatis said.
In the future, Korfiatis said MMSA may support avalanche education programs not just for MMSST athletes, but for any kids involved in MMSA winter programs.
“With the advent of tools to get us out there in the backcountry further and further, and a new generation of 30 second edits, young athletes are getting more extreme to get the shot so they grab a few more ‘likes’ and views on their social media pages,” he said. “I don’t foresee this changing, so rather than fighting it, I believe the positive approach is to educate them, teach them to respect their surroundings and understand the power of mother nature and what she throws at us daily.”
