"I didn't say anything. I'm not an expert and so I decided to trust the plan. Auzans, 37, and fellow survivor Jim Hamilton, 65, gave interviews to the Times, while two women and one man who survived the ordeal have declined to speak to the press and the other survivor who was one of four guides on the trip with Blackbird Mountain Guides has not been reached for comment."
"Questions have swirled in the last 10 days about what was discussed and how it was decided that the group of 15 would ski out when they did, at 11:30 am, in blizzard conditions when a rising avalanche risk had been widely publicized. Hamilton, and an unidentified guide who stayed with him, lagged well behind the rest of the group because of a ski binding that refused to latch on to his ski."
On February 17, a backcountry ski expedition near Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada Mountains resulted in a deadly avalanche. The group of 15 people, consisting of 11 clients and 4 guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides, departed at 11:30 am despite blizzard conditions and elevated avalanche risk. Two survivors, Anton Auzans and Jim Hamilton, revealed that sheltering at Frog Lake Backcountry Ski Huts until conditions improved was never discussed with the clients. Auzans stated he remained silent because he was not an expert and chose to trust the guide's plan. Hamilton lagged behind due to a faulty ski binding and avoided the avalanche's direct path. Five survivors have declined media interviews, and one guide remains unreachable.
Read at sfist.com
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