Whiteout conundrum…..

Hi,

Here's a situation I found myself in, and I was lucky to get out of, but I'd be interested to know what others might have done.

It was snowing heavily in thick cloud – a total whiteout. The sort where you can barely see your ski tips. It was blowing gusty. I was normally dressed for a whiteout – goggles etc, but did not have any special equipment with me such as a compass, mobile 'phone, length of rope……? I was skiing on normal skis with ski sticks.
There were very few people 'out skiing' but the mountain/pistes were open and I was skiing on a 'marked' piste although it was deep snow. The pistes in this location *normally* have orange poles marking the edges, however for reasons not too obvious – they were absent over the 200 metre section I was in.
The ground I was covering was a bowl shape with steep sides all round. Only the entry to the bowl and the exit to the bowl diagonally opposite each other was the way 'in/out'. I fell over somewhere towards the middle of the bowl, and when I sorted myself out and was on my feet – I could not tell which way to go. My tracks had already covered over. As I set off in any direction – I ended up going higher and higher and steeper and steeper up the bowl sides until I would realise that I had followed a 'bad route'. I'd turn around and allow myself to go straight to the centre – and then try another route – say – at 90 degrees to the one I'd just tried. This went on for ages and owing to disorientation, it was difficult to keep on trying new routes as I was not sure which ones I'd already tried.

Eventually – luckily – as I was doing another route – some people went whizzing past me in a straight line – so I followed them out.

In many years of skiing I'd never found myself in such a situation, a combination of factors leading me to a problem which only occurred because of the one final factor – falling over and losing my direction. Normally, you're in a more 'downhill orientated' position – so it sorts itself out.
I did not want to leave a ski stick as a pointer for fear of losing it to the wind/snow. There was no sense in placing anything on the ground – it would have been blown away/covered in no time. There was no hint of sun through the clouds. All directions were the 'same colour'. I had skied over this piece of ground maybe 500 times – but suddenly I might as well have been at the North pole.

Would a compass have helped? Maybe, but the problem is/was – the flat of the bowl was quite large – so you would have trouble knowing when you were in the centre and following a bearing from half way across the bowl represents a 45 degree error – so you could be about 90 degrees out of reckoning.
Anybody else been in this situation – and what did you do about it?

GPS maybe but I never ski without my phone or hip flask.

I'd have dug a snow hole bear grills style, and rode out the storm.

Or did what you did, and follow the next person to pass.

I ought to add - it was not a simple matter of going to the bowl rim - as it either did not exist for 500 feet upwards - or could be a lip over into oblivion or topographically impossible to climb. Going to 'a lip' and working around was not an optin either as you'd lose sense of where you were in relation to the bowl.

Not sure that a phone or hip flask would help solve the problem - but at least you could have a laugh with somebody about it...... :-)

Meercat wrote:I ought to add - it was not a simple matter of going to the bowl rim - as it either did not exist for 500 feet upwards - or could be a lip over into oblivion or topographically impossible to climb. Going to 'a lip' and working around was not an optin either as you'd lose sense of where you were in relation to the bowl.

Not sure that a phone or hip flask would help solve the problem - but at least you could have a laugh with somebody about it...... :-)

Phone will an app for everything......and the hip flask will contain a fine Cognac just to keep your pecker up 8)

I have to ask, did this weather suddenly just close in on you, or we're you already out in it and Chose to ski?

If your caught out in it then fair enough, not much you can do other than get down as quickly and safely as possible. Or try dig yourself in and let the storm pass enough until visibility becomes clearer. Maybe you should of been more prepared? I'm sure you will be in future....

Firstly, glad you got out of that!

Meercat wrote:Anybody else been in this situation

Yes, many years ago in Tignes. Very similar to what you describe and eventually spotted another skier in the gloom.

Meercat wrote:and what did you do about it?

Never ski alone in heavy snow and/or poor vis.

The first day of the new millennium in St Anton. Somewhere on the Schindlerkahr, no idea which way was up, down, or round-about! Stayed put for a very nervy 10 minutes or so, which felt like three hours, and eventually followed a group who were crawling along from piste marker to piste marker.

Very scary, called it a day, spent the rest of the afternoon in the Hospiz Alm!