Ep 117 - Early Season Avalanche - Dominic Torro

About this episode

Dominic Torro shares his harrowing experience of triggering an avalanche and the subsequent recovery process.

On December 9th, 2023, Domimic triggered an avalanche in the great gulf on the North Eastern side of Mt Washington. The plan was to ski “Airplane Gully", which is one of the longer and more remote lines in the Presidentials. He ended up getting rescued and spent the next year and a half getting seven surgeries dealing with recovery after recovery. This is really the perfect episode to produce as we all roll into fall and start to think about the winter season approaching. What type of ski bindings are you going to invest in and why? What type of equipment will be in your backcountry pack? What type of skills will your backcountry partners have? I hope you learn something from this episode and of course, I hope you enjoy. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. This podcast is sponsored by Rocky Talkie, the American Alpine Institute and Desert Mountain Medicine. → 10% off Rocky Talkie radios at RockyTalkie.com/SharpEnd → 10% off any wilderness med course with Desert Mountain Medicine using code SHARPEND → Use code SHARPEND to waive the activation fee on ZOLEO → Global Rescue Insurance: https://partner.globalrescue.com/thesharpendpodcast/index.html → 10% off LIVSN clothes with…

People in this episode

Host: Ashley Saupe

Guest: Dominic Torro

Topics covered

• avalanche safety
• backcountry skiing
• equipment review
• winter preparation
• personal recovery

Keywords

• avalanche
• skiing
• recovery
• backcountry
• equipment

Sponsors

Rocky Talkie, Desert Mountain Medicine, ZOLEO, LIVSN, Swoop, MyMedic, American Alpine Club

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Global Rescue Insurance

Places: Mt Washington, Airplane Gully

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• Ep 122 - Surviving a Near Miss in Moonlight Basin Colorado - Garrett Vinoski · March 1, 2026 · 54 min
• Ep 121 - Pacific Crest Trail Through-Hike Tragedy - Trek For Trevor - Doug Laher · February 1, 2026 · 51 min
• Bonus Episode- Lessons from the Slopes- An Avalanche Experience - Rob and Mark · January 15, 2026 · 47 min