Here's a quite personal account of an avalanche on Outside Online; perfectly illustrating how good judgement can sometimes get crowded out... and the consequences.
What started as a glorious powder day ended in a desperate fight for survival after three skiers were buried by a killer avalanche in the backcountry of Stevens Pass, in Washington's Cascades. Megan Michelson lived to tell about it, but she can't shake off a haunting question: How did a group of expert skiers make such a deadly mistake?
It's well worth reading the full account :- Tunnel Vision
I think about Laurie bravely stepping into their RV to tell her daughters that their dad was gone, and Josie, looking up at her, saying, "Am I not going powder skiing with Dad?"
:(
p.s. thanks to fatbob on snowheads for pointing that up.