Folks like Meesh are not “keeping risk constant.”  They are taking risk to ridiculous levels and its ridiculous that BCA is peddling this spin of what really happened.

What BCA conveniently avoids in making these points is that folks like Meesh are not just putting herself and her group at extreme risk, but also putting others at risk who have not made the choice to take risk to that extreme level, whether it be groups touring in the same area or search and rescue folks.  It boggles me that BCA can still defend Meesh and her group as taking acceptable risks.  There is a difference between acceptable risk and sheer stupidity.  From what BCA is saying here, sounds like they would support folks doing the most avy-prone BC lines with no avy ed, no beacon, no shovel, no probe, no airbag or avalung, and no partner so long as they made the personal decision to accept that risk to aggressively seek additional reward.  The BC does not exist in a vacuum, and risky behavior by some can seriously endanger others who never signed up for that level of risk….or stupidity.      

I’m just glad that youtube and POVs weren’t around to capture all the dumb stuff I did when I was 21.  The product saved a life or prevented more serious injury.  It’s a good example of the product working correctly, whether you agree with the girl’s actions or not.  

Every year there are more self proclaimed experts who MMQB every avalanche and how stupid the victims were.  It used to be pretty bad, but the internet, coupled with a high avy danger year, is causing this phenomenon to increase exponentially.  If you’ve been around a while, you realize that you just go out, do your thing, and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing out there.BTW  I wonder how many drunk drivers have been saved by airbags in cars?  Kind of a similar situation…

Sounds like Froto is better than the rest of us.  

Thanks Bruce, once again, you’ve proven to be one of the cool people in the outdoor industry. We’ve met personally met many times, and I know how much you and BCA invest in education and avie awareness classes. I appreciate your stance on all of this, and I encourage you and BCA to keep up the great work!

Just as long as BCA does not reward this type of behavior with a sponsorship, I will continue to support BCA with my consumerism.  I say this because I firmly believe that this was a stunt completed to attain more attention for a little-known rider.  I too have ridden the exact same line up Dear Creek, but did so on a day with low avalanche hazard, not high hazard as was seen on the 25th.  Had her actions not ended up as she and her group had planned, then an entire crew of local avalanche professionals would have been dispatched to recover her body.  These professionals, who also use BCA products, would have been placed in a dangerous position and risked their lives just to bring her family back her BODY; this is something people in the back country do not understand fully.  By the way, the most recent avalanche in the side country outside of Telluride could give a glimpse of how the Montezuma snowboarder could have turned out.  While BCA produces amazing products,  nothing is ever 100%.  Just as the inflatable pack is one piece of the safety gear, so is a person’s head!