Danger hides beneath tempting layers of fresh powder

Temptation suddenly oozed into my life Sunday night — in the form of a Twinkies display at a South Sound supermarket.

Two boxes of Twinkies — those greasy, gooey yellow delights of my childhood — were on sale for $5. Twenty Twinkies for five bucks!

"That's just 25 cents per Twinkie," that all-too-familiar voice from the silliest part of my brain whispered.

Another voice — from a smarter place — told me that Twinkies are bad for me, that 20 Twinkies are really bad for me and that I always feel queasy for a day or two after eating just one Twinkie.

I pushed temptation away, but I started thinking of other temptations, such as going out of bounds at ski areas to wallow in the fluffy, tasty powder that has fallen in the Cascades since Christmas.

Tiana Enger at Crystal Mountain reports that 88 inches of snow — more than 7 feet — fell between Christmas Day and Jan. 3.

That's a lot of great snow, and there is plenty of untracked powder just outside the boundary ropes of any ski area these days.

And there is a lot of fluffy snow in Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks.

Trouble is, that snow is even more dangerous than 20 Twinkies for $5.

Avalanches — when layers of snow break away and rush downhill with the speed and power of several freight trains — are a big danger in the Cascades every winter, but they are a real hazard when a lot of snow falls all at once.

The new snow sits on the slippery, icy bed of old snow, and it's on a hair trigger to slide downhill.

Avalanches are killers.

I was in British Columbia over the weekend, and people were still mourning the loss of several snowmobile riders who died in recent avalanches.

I visited the mountains that ring the beautiful city of Vancouver, and it was easy to see the layers of snow along the roadside drifts, which were about 4 feet high and growing.

I nudged one drift, and a layer slid into a mini avalanche.

Yikes.

One death in Washington already

A snowmobile rider died in an avalanche in the North Cascades on Dec. 28.

Last winter was one of the deadliest in Washington history. According to the Northwest Avalanche Center, nine people died under raging walls of snow — and others were injured but survived.

This winter could be just as deadly — unless people start listening to the smart voices in their heads.

If you're within the boundaries of a patrolled ski area, the avalanche danger is very, very low.

Ski patrollers knock down potential avalanches before the lift bullwheels start turning each day.

I never worry about avalanches when I'm skiing or snowboarding within a ski area boundary. All that avalanche safety is one reason why I don't mind forking over cash for a lift ticket.

But there are a lot of gorgeous runs out there in the backcountry beyond ski areas — and none of that is patrolled.

If you must go out there, get the right training and the right equipment before you head out into the big, white world.

Backcountry explorers need avalanche beacons, poles, shovels, trustworthy partners, knowledge, common sense and the courage to tell companions when the conditions are too dangerous.

The Mountaineers often offer avalanche training.

Olympic Mountain Rescue and Olympic National Park is offering a free avalanche workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Port Angeles Library. For more information, call 360-830-4662, 360-565-3130 or 360-452-5144.

Learning to ski, snowboard, snowshoe or ride snow machines in avalanche country takes a lot of training and equipment.

This is not stuff that anyone can learn on their own or on the cheap.

For more information on avalanches, visit the U.S. Forest Service's Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center website at www.nwac.us/

The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center also has a telephone hotline for avalanche conditions at 1-206-526-6677.

More temptation

Turn on just about any snowboarding or skiing video these days, and you'll see some crazy person triggering an backcountry avalanche — or getting away from a slide.

Don't think that this is cool. It's dumb.

That untracked, fluffy backcountry snow is tempting, but remember the Twinkies. They're fluffy and tempting and sweet — but they're not good for you.

And an avalanche will kill you faster than a railroad car load of Twinkies.

Chester Allen can be reached at 360-754-5426 or callen@theolympian.com.