Through November 25, 1967, 39 inches of snow had fallen in the area, 25 of which fell in the last 5 days. On November 26, the weather was cold (-2 to 14°F) and windy. During sweep, Earl Gentry noticed a pair of tracks going into a gladed area. He and his partner split up, with him investigating the tracks, and her going down to meet above midway.
When he did not meet her at the agreed location, she continued down hoping he had gone down ahead of her. He was not at the patrol room at the bottom.
Super-sweep (two patrollers at the top patrol hut responsible for emergency response during sweep) was notified. They found tracks leading into a fresh avalanche. They found Gentry buried under about 1.5 feet of snow and attempted resuscitation. This was unsuccessful.
See the full writeup of the incident for more details: Incident Report.
While this run is rated Blue by Arapahoe Basin, you need to be a solid intermediate skier at minimum to safely approach and exit the cache area. This would be quite a hike from the base area in the summer. If the Black Mountain Express lift is running in the summer, it would be a relatively short hike.
This cache description is not intended to scare anyone. Rather, it is intended to encourage respect. Respect for the mountain (Most of A-Basin, if not controlled from first snow on, is natural avalanche terrain. High speed lifts and grooming tend to make us forget that), and respect for the Professional and Volunteer Ski Patrollers who do everything possible to make a safe and enjoyable ski experience.
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