A more common problem is that people who are highly trained and experienced sometimes tend to cut their margins thinner and thinner. This may well be what happened in this case. Somewhat like those who buy a sports car that takes curves better.....then drive faster on winding roads.

Jill Fredston, a well known avalanche expert based here in Anchorage, once commented at an avalanche class I attended that one of the most frustrating things for her was that some people took the classes, and then skied more dangerous situations, thinking that they could fine tune their risk management. It can work....for awhile. Jill and her husband Doug Fesler have now retired from teaching avalanche classes, and no longer participate much with the local SAR community. One rumor I've heard is that they just got tired of recovering the bodies of friends and former students.