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Blue Lake incident (Sun 17 AUG 08)


Capt_mulch

18-Aug-2008
11:27:41 AM

Ads, I think we'll be banging pitons in the quarry on Friday rather than going to Blue Lake again - let me know if you're still on.

Yep, it was a bit harrowing for Salome - she drank all the Coopers that I had left in the fridge. I can't believe how fast the news got out. I didn't even get back into mobile range until about 6pm and my family had been going nuts on the phone. Luckily Zac Zeharias got on the phone and did a bit of anti bullsh*t management and got up one of the reporters for ringing Salome before anything was confirmed. My mum also got onto the NSW cops and confirmed it wasn't me.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Aug-2008
11:39:16 AM

>and got up one of the reporters for ringing Salome before anything was confirmed.

Far out.

It is also interesting that the media automatically thought the person involved was an ice climber.

(Warning the following extract is a cross-thread contamination from the NZ incident).

Interesting media quotes of group member David Freeland;
>He said their ordeal was a "luck of the draw" and "there's no such thing as safe mountaineering".

New Zealand Land Search and Rescue spokesman Phil Melchior told the Southland Times.
The six Australian tourists were trapped for 36 hours by a blizzard which triggered avalanches and threatened to sweep them away.
They had no guide, avalanche beacons or probes, snow shoes or skis and only one shovel between them.
>"They are extremely lucky to be alive in the circumstances, the chances of the rescue party finding six corpses were at least as high as finding six live people."

It sounds like no matter how well prepared (or not), people are for these kinds of exploits, that the media will milk all angles and feelings of the relatives involved are sidelined in the process.

Does 'paparazzi' have any positive connotations?


Capt_mulch

18-Aug-2008
11:56:46 AM

Interesting to see that they have now become tourists instead of climbers.

I think the outcome of the NZ incident and the Blue Lake accident is that here in Australia were not used to having the conditions so extreme, and it seems like such a hoot when they are (if you like that sort of thing). Be careful in the back country everyone when the conditions are way different to what you are used to - also, just stay away from cornices and the slopes underneath them. You could have been 30 m away from the bottom of the slope, out on the flat of the frozen part of the lake and still been whacked by this avalanche. It was shocking to see just how much volume there was in debris field. Have a look at this photo - all the debris in the sunlight is actually on the surface of the (frozen) lake. My ski is circled on the left to show the scale.

All photos in my posts are copyright Nick Reese - any commercial news services that want to use these must do so with my permission.


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
11:59:36 AM

On 18/08/2008 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:

>
>It sounds like no matter how well prepared (or not), people are for these
>kinds of exploits, that the media will milk all angles and feelings of
>the relatives involved are sidelined in the process.

The media were reporting the very strongly expressed opinions of a spokesman for New Zealand rescue services. What's wrong with that?


IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Aug-2008
12:22:55 PM

>What's wrong with that?

Nothing.

The link I was making is that media may or may not get things right, depending on the source of their information, and that one of the 'collateral damage' components of (mis)information is the relatives of those involved in the incident/s being reported on.


Sabu

18-Aug-2008
12:23:50 PM

Speaking of media look whats on the front page:

"Brave effort: doomed skier tried to ride avalanche" a tad sensationalist don't you think...

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=616119

climberman

18-Aug-2008
12:24:49 PM

On 18/08/2008 Capt_mulch wrote:
>No avo gear, I don't think you expect it to happen in Australia. He did
>have an EPIRB though. We usually don't have enough snow to warrant taking
>avo transceivers - the main thing is to avoid the areas where there is
>the potential for avalanche. Also, from what I have heard, most avalanches
>in Australia are cornice avalanches, not the big slabby hill ones that
>they get in Europe / North America.

this season has seen a few classic slab avvies both in NSW and Vic. Continued snow, low temps, lack of bonding, clear days, mid-steepness slopes, increased popularity.

I'm always a bit wary about calling things 'just' cornice avvies. They are a bit more avoidable but still not something to get caught in (sorry to state the obvious).

no-one can escape the simple physics.

Much to be admired in your simple decision to avoid the area you considered risky.


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
12:30:24 PM

On 18/08/2008 Sabu wrote:
>Speaking of media look whats on the front page:
>
>"Brave effort: doomed skier tried to ride avalanche" a tad sensationalist
>don't you think...
>
>http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=616119
>

They appear to be directly reporting on the sensationalist statements by the police.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Aug-2008
12:39:00 PM

On 18/08/2008 BigMike wrote:
>They appear to be directly reporting on the sensationalist statements
>by the police.

Sensationalist?
... or factual?

I'd say the latter; but it is all in the reporting is it not?


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
12:40:22 PM

On 18/08/2008 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>On 18/08/2008 BigMike wrote:
>>They appear to be directly reporting on the sensationalist statements
>>by the police.
>
>Sensationalist?
>... or factual?
>
>I'd say the latter, but it is all in the reporting is it not?

I'd say the latter too.


Sabu

18-Aug-2008
12:44:30 PM

It just seems like a wierd way of reporting something. instead of using a word like tragic or accident they use "doomed".


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
12:55:04 PM

On 18/08/2008 Sabu wrote:
>It just seems like a wierd way of reporting something. instead of using
>a word like tragic or accident they use "doomed".

Well they must have heard you because the headline now reads:

"Skier tried to ride avalanche: police"

There's also an article saying that it was just bad luck that they were caught in an avalanche.

This seems to contradict statements in this thread by Captain Mulch, which could be reported as:

"Skiers' activities 'fricken dangerous' - eyewitness"


IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Aug-2008
1:05:00 PM

Must be difficult for reporters eh.

At any incident you will have at least four versions of the event.
The victim.
The offender.
The witness.
... and the ones who change their mind!


wallwombat

18-Aug-2008
1:10:17 PM

On 18/08/2008 Capt_mulch wrote:
>Ads, I think we'll be banging pitons in the quarry on Friday rather than
>going to Blue Lake again - let me know if you're still on.

That's understandable, mate. Count me in.


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
1:23:28 PM

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/he-just-skied-off-the-top/2008/08/18/1218911525869.html


Climboholic

18-Aug-2008
4:37:12 PM

On 18/08/2008 BigMike wrote:

>They appear to be directly reporting on the sensationalist statements
>by the police.
>
Reporting statements by the Police?!?! Did you read that article? Since when has looking up someones facebook profile been classed as reporting???

I'm sick of irrsponsible, sensationalist media crap! Like the whole Qantas maintenance thing that has been blown out of proportion. I had a friend fly from Canberra to Melbourne on Virgin this morning who was delayed 3 hours because of an engine fault. They ended up having to change aircraft. Bet you won't hear about that on the news!


Climboholic

18-Aug-2008
4:39:43 PM

>
>All photos in my posts are copyright Nick Reese - any commercial news
>services that want to use these must do so with my permission.
>

Too late! Or did they bother to contact you?

"How dangerous is that?" Is that the exact phrase you used?


BigMike

18-Aug-2008
4:53:59 PM

On 18/08/2008 Climboholic wrote:

>Bet you won't hear about that on the news!

Oh I dunno, Virgin has had a fair bit of recent coverage too...

http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/technical-problems-ground-virgin-blue-flight/2008/08/11/1218306741597.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24171091-5006785,00.html


Sabu

18-Aug-2008
4:57:09 PM

On 18/08/2008 BigMike wrote:
>There's also an article saying that it was just bad luck that they were
>caught in an avalanche.
>
>This seems to contradict statements in this thread by Captain Mulch, which
>could be reported as:
>
>"Skiers' activities 'fricken dangerous' - eyewitness"

I noticed that as well!


Climboholic

18-Aug-2008
5:04:53 PM

My point was more that the media has made a big deal out of routine maintenance issues.

There are 59 messages in this topic.