On January 14, 2005, Shane Maixner died in an avalanche. The 27-year-old and four of his friends drove to the Canyons ski resort outside Park City, Utah, rode the ski lift, hiked up to the backcountry gate outside the Dutch Draw area, went through the gate posted with warning signs, and started snowboarding.

On the second trip down the same slopes, someone in the party shouted, “Avalanche!” but Shane could not escape. Two days later, they dug his body out of the snow.

Some of the media severely criticized the “reckless out-of-bounds riders,” picturing Shane as a novice unaware of the possible dangers. But that isn’t the true story.

Maixner and two others in his party were “avalanche-certified backcountry guides.” The men owned special avalanche gear, but didn’t bring it with them when they went to Dutch Draw. This is not an unusual occurrence. In fact, “skiers with the most avalanche training are more likely to be seduced into faulty reasoning by factors like tracked slopes and group enthusiasm.

“Maixner didn’t die because he was a fool. Like his friends, he was lulled into letting his guard down.”