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Mt Hood - Avalanche - Cooper Spur
Dec 2001
The following is taken from the website of the "Oregon Cascades Avalanche Center" -A pair of climbers from OSU attempted the Cooper Spur in December. At least one of the two had recently taken an avalanche course through the OSU Outdoor Recreation Center. December was a month of heavy snowfalls and the Cooper Spur is well-known for its avalanche potential. All information is second-hand, but a posting on cascadeclimbers.com claims: "She was very lucky and didn't follow the normal fall line over the elliot glacier. It was a small slide but she went down over a thousand feet and she was gagged on the snow." Apparently she was fully buried but able to at least partially (and perhaps fully) get herself out by the time her partner got down to her. These two were very, very lucky given the nature and history of falls on the Cooper Spur.
This incident reflects a very poor choice of route and certainly reflects very poorly on whatever avalanche education these folks may have had.