Avalanche documentary now available for downloading
Coming in a season of snowpack that one avalanche expert calls "the most unstable I've seen in eight years," a new avalanche documentary featuring Hungry Horse native Sam Kavanagh now is available as a free online download.
Amber Seyler, a master's degree candidate in Montana State University's Science and Natural History Filmmaking program, makes her debut with "A Dozen More Turns," a 30-minute documentary.
It includes footage recovered from a video camera buried for months in the avalanche.
Seyler created it as an educational video for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
"What this film does so well is illustrate the human factor: How people make decisions in the backcountry," avalanche center director Doug Chabot said.
"What we see is people with a lot of backcountry experience who understand the science of avalanches, understand why avalanches form, why slopes are dangerous and know what to look for," Chabot said.
"Yet they still get in trouble. They get hungry for powder and don't look at the situation objectively. They want to ski the run. It's a common story."
Seyler's film tells the story of the Jan. 1, 2005, avalanche in the Centennial Mountains in which Kavanagh lost a leg, but his close friend Blake Morstad lost his life.
They were part of a group of five experienced backcountry skiers celebrating Morstad's final ski trip before beginning the duties of fatherhood. His wife, Addie, gave birth to their first child on Feb. 5, 2005.
"My motivation for getting involved with this project was that I did not want to see another group of close friends go through the pain and suffering that we did, only to wonder if we had shared our experience, could we have helped them avoid it?" said Kavanagh, who nearly bled to death during two days in a backcountry hut while waiting for medical help.
Today Kavanagh, a civil engineer, and his wife, Sara, live in Bozeman.
The documentary is available free, thanks to funding by Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
It can be downloaded or streamed on www.backpackinglight.com
A DVD of the film also can be ordered using a form on the Web site.
Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com