Squash Head Avalanche (Santaquin) - lost gear

Yesterday (Sunday, Jan 16) we narrowly escaped being swallowed by a massive avalanche at the base of Squash Head in Santaquin Canyon. It was by far the biggest avalanche I’ve ever seen in my life, and we were lucky to escape with our lives. My partner was knocked down and partially buried, but managed to scramble out of the impact zone before being completely engulfed. I was directly in the impact zone when the slide was spotted coming from above, but had just enough time to run to the base of Martini and hide under the roof. The slide persisted for 1-2 minutes, and buried the base of the route to the road in at least 8 feet of dense snow (maybe more in places).
We lost quite a bit of gear, either from it being buried or from trying to flee the scene as quickly as possible (for fear of another slide). A blast of air preceding the slide blew most of our gear down slope and kept it from being buried, but we lost a few items:

•Pair of one of a kind, custom made ice tools. They’re I-beam in construction and silver colored aluminum with black handles.
•Stuff sack full of gloves and clothing
•Couple of ice screws
•10 quick draws on the mixed route, Martini. We didn’t want to hang around and retrieve the draws – please leave them fixed until we can get back and pull them down

This gear is going to melt out eventually – if you come across any of it please send me a PM.

Thanks,
Chris

Wow, glad you guys are ok, Chris.

Got hit by a similar slide years ago while in the middle of the upper pitch. Went over me, burying me into the ice, and past my partner who was belaying on the climber's left of the falls. Huge slide with a similar amount of debris at the base. Friggin' scary, which, is why when it warms up and rains, I stay away from Santaquin (and Provo, and...).

This is kind of a lesson for folks, especially out-of-towners and locals who "need" to get out this week and weekend. Take care, watch conditions and weather, and err on the side of caution. Bad things seem to happen during (and after) "the show".

Glad you escaped. When your nads come back out you might walk back in, poke around, and put a note up on a couple of the trees. One year lost I some keys and 4 months latter they melted out and were returned. So there is hope.

Hindsight is everything but given the rain and crap that has come down. Most everything in Provo and Santaquin is going to be a death trap. I bet the bowl above Bridal Veil is going to blow big this week. I'll wager it makes it across the river.

Here is The Fang's after blowing chunks:

utahavalanchecenter.org/ava…

Which as the scene of an any death in 1996.

I heard today that part of stairway came down yesterday (sunday) evening.

Part of stairway came down today(Monday, 1/17)--we couldn't see where it started, but it looked to be part of the 5th pitch. One party was coming up the second section of the first pitch, and another party of 5 was toproping at the base. We couldn't tell where the fall started, but it was big (re: microwave sized chunks of ice/rock). Thankfully, no one was hurt. I'm glad that you guys were okay--and ood luck getting your stuff back in Santaquin, Chris.

Christ, good to hear you and your partner walked away from that one!

that route is notorious for providing bowel-moving experiences and gobbling up gear.

a few season back we found ourselves in the same predicament only we were securely anchored-in atop the first pitch. just let me tell you that that protruding ear of rock seen 15 feet above and sligthly to the right, alone saved us from the inevitable. diverted just enough, the edge of that monstorous wet slab blasting out of the 2nd pitch gully was literally an arm length away. all we could do was hug the anchor and fight the enormous wind shear, all the while screaming and choking on avi spray. it ranked right up there with the longest and most terrifying 1-2 minutes of my life! that avi cone at the base was a few feet shy of matching the height of the bottom curtain and the runout went wall-to-creek. a thermos and puffy jacket was all that was lost in the carnage, everything else was secured to the trees on the right-side.

the tell-tale signs of why we shouldnt been there in the first place. our intial objective was to climb ACT. on approach, we watch from the road, as the ACT curtain detached. we then read the temp of 40*F from the zipper thermometer after witnessing the destruction of ACT. frozen cinamon rolls on the road from the previous days warming.

stay safe out there conditions heat up.

Glad to hear alls well. Same thing happened to me on the GWI 2 years ago. Same conditions and temps then as we've had the past few days. I learned my lesson. Let's hope that this thread will keep someone else from climbing when it's too warm.
Looks like our January thaw is almost over. The ice that survived should be good by the weekend.