2016 / 2017 Valemount Conditions and Updates

[GregW]

That's some nice iron you got to test drive, throwing the turbo out of the mix cause that's cheatin, which of the litter was your favourite?

 

[dragonweld28]

I really liked the power of the 850. It needs to be a 172 tho. Wheelies everywhere. I alos found it unstable, i prefer the stability of my Axys. Its real close between the 850 and my axys. If were comparing completely stock, the 850 is the way to go. But they do seem to be having a bunch of problems this year. My axys has been excellent. The jaws pipe and 174 really make it a wicked climbing and boondocking sled. The mountian cat is a very smooth sled and handles well. I felt that it didnt have as much power as my Axys or the 850. The Shocks are excelent, and if it was a 174 it might make it closer to the Doo and Axys. It did run strong but just felt a little behind. Its a big step up from any of the older year cats.

 

[crossfire879]

I wasn't going to post this as its a little embarassing being "those guys" bbuuttt.. last night me and another guy had to spend the night on the hill. long story but we got into a spot we could not get out of. we tried for hours and we finally ran out of daylight and energy. managed to get a hold of SAR but were told we had to spend the night. so we dug a cave and built a fire. keeping that fire going was a full time job for both of us. we had saved a bit of food and Gatorade. we cut some.spruce branches to sit on to keep us up off the snow. I'm not sure what the temp was but told it was around -25. keeping each other spirits up and constsntly moving to cut wood helped a lot with the cold. needless to say a little pre planning and being prepared literally is the difference between life and death. and thank you to the guys who stopped to wish us well in the clemina parking lot after doing our walk of shame off the chopper lol.


Where in clemina did you drop in that you couldn't get out?

it was a ravine in the back of keyhole, not clemina.

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[iceman5689]

I think you mean drainage, three nasty ones in keyhole! Good to hear you were able to make it out unscathed.

 

[crossfire879]

I think you mean drainage, three nasty ones in keyhole! Good to hear you were able to make it out unscathed.

Yeah it was beautiful day and we did some exploring sinxe visibility was excellent. once we went down, we knew going out the way we went in was going to be very tough so we thought we would side hill down and follow the creek since we knew it would come out on the trail or lead us to a spot to poke out into the switchback. well it got very steep and we managed to stick the side hill going down until it closed off and the creek disappeared. going forward would mean cutting down trees and facing the unknown. so we got turned around and started going back up hill. we got stuck many times and only went a few hundred yards in hours. eventually we ran out of daylight and energy. the next morning we had to hike down the creek about 3km to where the chopper could land safely to pick us up. after doing that hike and seeing what was below us, there was no way we were coming down there on a sled. all in all it was a lesson learned and a neat story to tell.

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[adamg]

You left out the part about what happened with the sleds.

 

[crossfire879]

You left out the part about what happened with the sleds.

they are still in there. the weather will be our biggest concern getting them out right now.

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[crossfire879]

heard a rumour that a chopper was seen at clemina with a sled hanging off it today though. haven't heard what kind of sled it was or haven't heard from yellowhead.

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[crossfire879]

just spoke to the pilot. they got one sled out so far. going to try again tomorrow

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[brian h]

glad you guys are ok,and getting sleds recovered. with spending the night if you dont mind what equipment did you find to be nescassity and what do you wish you had.i pack what i think i would need but first hand experience may put a different item added to the list

 

[crossfire879]

glad you guys are ok,and getting sleds recovered. with spending the night if you dont mind what equipment did you find to be nescassity and what do you wish you had.i pack what i think i would need but first hand experience may put a different item added to the list

matches, Jerry can of gas, saw, shovel, flashlight, gps, phone, some kind of food and water were necessities. we rationed our food and drinks so we didn't eat much only had small portions to keep our energy up and only.drank when we felt we absolutely needed it. we also had things like a multi tool, tool.kits from the sleds, zip ties, pocket knife, screwdrivers that we didn't actually use but I wouldn't go without. also changed into dry gloves before we started building the fire. anything bigger than say 2" wouldnt burn so we literally were cutting branches and very small trees all night. we were layered up.pretty good because it's been cold.lately. if there's one thing that I wish we had was a.sat phone lol. other than that maybe a bivy sack or some kind of blanket in case one of got hurt. but basically common sense and doing what you need to survive is what got us through it.

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[brian h]

thanks im covered with all that plus,only thing i think i might pack is a heavy pair of gloves for emergency only,i figure hands and feet might be the hardest to keep warm

 

[crossfire879]

yes feet and hands definitely need to stay warm. my feet were soaked but never got cold thankfully. I actually have calices on the balls of my feet from being so wet. whenever my hands felt cold I got them warm by the fire. wet gloves were set up next to the fire to dry up. as long as you keep a fire going and keep yourself out of the wind it's bearable. like I've been telling everyone all things considered I don't think we had a bad night, it was just long. neither of us felt cold to the point where we couldn't stop shivering or couldn't warm up. and just keeping each in high spirits talking about other things and cutting wood to pass the time.

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[Dooitorbust]

thanks im covered with all that plus,only thing i think i might pack is a heavy pair of gloves for emergency only,i figure hands and feet might be the hardest to keep warm

Tons of things a guy could bring. If you're a bigger guy like me and sweat, I recommend a complete change of base layer clothing. Haven't spent the night on the mountain, but if I did, I would want to be as dry as possible.
Also, a Jet boil is very handy and efficient to make something hot to drink. A handful of tea bags and you're good to go.

 

[dwight3566]

I carry a small 8" Gerber axe that is amazing. I'm sure it would have came in handy trying to keep the fire going.

 

[crossfire879]

well yellowhead managed to get both sleds out yesterday without needing guys on the ground! said they had a bit of a hard time finding one as it was next to the tree line and covered in snow. big shout out to the boys at yellowhead!!

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[Thoeg]

how you getting them back from valemount ? gonna make a trip down to pick em up or get them sent up

 

[T9000]

Anybody have an update on the snow conditions? Planning on heading up Thursday or Friday.

Thanks

 

[dgjordan]

Rode allen sunday.found pretty decent snow just have to get off the goat path.

supposed to snow on the weekend and ill be back!

 

[dano30]

what is that worth now a days?