Ken and Bee thanks.

Both seem to confirm my theory that a soft, unconsolidated spindrift-filled cavity could look safe or even be totally unsuspected. Then, when the innocent skier or boarder comes by too close to the tree, the black hole sucks him or her in. The unwitnessed event cannot be analyzed by their partner or SAR, both who assume the victim did something stupid.

Maybe there should be catchy (but not 100% guaranteed) rule for how many feet away one should pass from a tree in heavy snow ares, something like "Four is poor, eight is great." I imagine it should be more.

Edit: I now see there is more info on another thread here
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/9726/Skier_Missing_in_China_Peak#Post9726

PS: I just emailed these guys about my question:
http://treewelldeepsnowsafety.com/

Last edited by Harvey Lankford; 01/01/11 04:57 AM.