A terrible tragedy, beautifully reconstructed and presented in an unique multimedia format. This is the future of journalism. I cannot wait to see more articles in this style.
With that being said, it was difficult to not become emotional during parts of this story and the interviews were absolutely gut wrenching. I wonder how much gopro footage was not shown in respect to those lost. In fact, I don't even want to know. I found it interesting that the "least experienced" person, the lifty, went off on her own because she trusted her gut despite the expert group. It also seems odd that there was no plan for the decent. Something like, "Okay everybody, you need to make a hard left about 700 feet down so you don't get caught in the gully...". I thought this would be the first thing discussed, especially with bringing so many new people to the area.
I also encourage you to read through the comments on the NYT website. Comments from non-skiers really makes you think about how lucky we are to experience nature in such an intimate manner and how what we do is considered "extreme" to the majority of the world. What other activity lets you experience nature so closely? Surfing?...
Being a novice backcountry skier, I always try to remind myself that the mountains do not care about my skiing skill level, amount of safety equipment, my partners, the weather report, etc. It's quite humbling and this article has made me think about consequences and safety even more.
RIP to those lost and thanks to the survivors and NYT for sharing this tragic story.
I hope everyone has a safe, powder-filled winter.
