Alberta avalanche victims left avi gear in the car

It seems the two people killed in Alberta last weekend were not wearing their transceiver and had not avi gear as they decided to leave it in their car instead - even though the rating was high. Not sure I fully understand this thinking? The article below gives more details:

Before heading out on an ill-fated day of backcountry skiing, two Calgary area brothers who died in a snow slide decided to leave their avalanche gear in the car.

But Ed Glaser said while his brothers Rob Glaser, 53, of Bragg Creek and Mark Glaser, 54, of Calgary were planning on skiing in safe areas, an error of judgment combined with bad luck contributed to their tragic and untimely deaths.

"There were 20 cars in the parking lot -- a lot of people go up there, but you have to stay to the right spots," he said.

Rob, a Calgary fire captain, and Mark, who worked in the oil industry, were skiing in the Burstall Pass area of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country Saturday when they were swept up by the slide.

Despite the avalanche risk being high, neither was wearing avalanche beacons and by the time emergency crews arrived it was too late.

"They knew it was a high-risk day -- they even brought avalanche gear but left it in the car," Glaser said.

But while they left their beacons behind with plans to venture to safe areas, they decided at the end of the day to go somewhere that proved more dangerous.

"In retrospect, it's easy to say they shouldn't have gone, but I know they would have thought about it before they did," he said.

"I think they thought it was safe to go out and it wasn't."

He said they did check the avalanche bulletins before heading out as well.

"And it turned out to be a slight error of judgment and bad luck and that's how accidents happen," he said.

"But you have to live your life -- they lived with gusto."