B.C. backcountry snowmobile ban

[sledcrashlandski]

I just heard a rumor that a few years ago Mike Weigle was guiding some heli skiers and there was an avalanche. There were deaths. He was the guide. He then blamed his guides and they all quit. Just a rumor but a person could track down some of the old guard and ask questions. Also, has his company and associated company's had other accidents?

 

[drew562]

Regaurding my good friend who spent the night on the mountain. yes the animals got to him, very sad but it happened I was there and survived that slide with my brother and 4 great friends. As far as mike mentioning the state of the victim the next morning, shame on him. f@*king dick. We were so tierd and scared and confused. The emt said he would have to spend the night till the coroner could clear him to come down. They new this often happened to victims but there was protocal that stated it must be that way. I would have rode him down on my lap if i even thought that was possible. Since the incident the laws have been changed and the victim can be moved by emt. As far as the # of deaths yes its a lot of sleders but there are also more sleders and quaders then ever. Every yr the parking lots get busier than the last year. you increase the use the odds go up that someone can get hurt.

Andrew


rip RYAN!!!

 

[Summiteer]

I just heard a rumor that a few years ago Mike Weigle was guiding some heli skiers and there was an avalanche. There were deaths. He was the guide. He then blamed his guides and they all quit. Just a rumor but a person could track down some of the old guard and ask questions. Also, has his company and associated company's had other accidents?

Spreading rumors does no good.......

 

[OLIVE DRAB DEAN]

Regaurding my good friend who spent the night on the mountain. yes the animals got to him, very sad but it happened I was there and survived that slide with my brother and 4 great friends. As far as mike mentioning the state of the victim the next morning, shame on him. f@*king dick. We were so tierd and scared and confused. The emt said he would have to spend the night till the coroner could clear him to come down. They new this often happened to victims but there was protocal that stated it must be that way. I would have rode him down on my lap if i even thought that was possible. Since the incident the laws have been changed and the victim can be moved by emt. As far as the # of deaths yes its a lot of sleders but there are also more sleders and quaders then ever. Every yr the parking lots get busier than the last year. you increase the use the odds go up that someone can get hurt.

Andrew


rip RYAN!!!

Andrew, sorry this had to resurface, man that sucks. Hang in there!

 

[SHREK1]

Really, what network?

And in defense for the ASA and BCSF, currently there is a big 1 week convention and seminar in Pentictin for the CAC,Canadian Avalanche Association, and most of them are there. Im sure Mike has planned to make his big stink while this is all going on there. I think the newspaper reporter seems a little one sided or just not to educated on this entire subject and should get his facts straight.
I am working on something for them now as well, and any ideas are appreciated.

it was on ctv @ 11;30

 

[CUSO]

There is an offensive to this saga, and also a defensive.

I think that as RESPONSIBLE SNOWMOBILERS, we have to also be aware of our shortfalls, and one is, Backcountry awareness.

Anyone these days, can purchase a sled, gear, gas and the mods to shoot up any hill that is in sight.

Perhaps the dealers should step up and offer (even if it is included in the price) an AST-1 approved Avalanche awareness course.

I know many have been victims to the White Death, and I am so sorry for that, BUT....

There are way too many careless riders out there, and they are taking stupid chances. I have seen it, YOU have also witnessed it.

Yes, Write your letters, and rant your rants.... BUT

We have been branded a bunch of uneducated rednecks unfortunately, and it it time to change that!!!

Wiegele does not support the local community, that is a given. He shall fail in his efforts to stop OUR passion....

It is up to us to make sure it does not happen again.

 

[rknight111]

Heres a CBC Radio interview with mike, you can only open this with real player

 

[Summiteer]

Heres a CBC Radio interview with mike, you can only open this with real player

So what I understand from his interview is that each individual snowmobiler should have the same degree of training as a commercial Heli Ski or guiding outfit.....sounds reasonable

 

[Summiteer]

Can one of the mods start a poll to see how many on this site have some level of avy training?

 

[Mike270412]

Really, what network?

And in defense for the ASA and BCSF, currently there is a big 1 week convention and seminar in Pentictin for the CAC,Canadian Avalanche Association, and most of them are there. Im sure Mike has planned to make his big stink while this is all going on there. I think the newspaper reporter seems a little one sided or just not to educated on this entire subject and should get his facts straight.
I am working on something for them now as well, and any ideas are appreciated.

Must have been on every network.I saw the d@#khead on Global.

 

[bbtoys]

We are working on a sound and reasonable response. First we need to get all of our facts and also make sure that some of his statements can be proven incorrect.
Most all of you have noticed that there has been no response from some of us that are sitting on his doorstep. Before we talk we like to make sure we know what we are talking about or it will come back to bite us in the a**.
It looks like he is standing alone on his views so that is good news.
Bashing him on this site will do no good but to help all vent, you can be sure he will never look in here to see the reaction from the sled community. Wanting action and to join together is a start, that is why this site is here.

 

[kjb]

RE cbc intervew with Weigleworld

It sounds like Weigle is pissed that sledders have been going into his tenured area. He does not have exclusive rights to the tenured area though, only exclusive rights to run a commercial operation in that area. He does have a very large tenure. I can see there being a conflict there though if more and more sledders are ridding in his tenure.
I definatly think sledders need to be more educated though. I am surprised at what I have seen sledders do out there. I remember some of the stupid things we did when we were first learning about backcountry travel. Unfortunately there are only few simple courses out there designed for sledders. It is difficult at best to assess hazard when you are out sledding. As far as being as qualified as an ACMG guide (association of canadian mountain guides) which is the industry standard for commercially guided backcountry trips, you can not expect the recreational user to be that qualified. It is unreasonable. That takes years of experience on your own, and years working in the industry as an assistant before you can challenge the guide’s exam. There really needs to be more thought given to designing courses to the average sledder. Sledders have to take it upon themselves to educate themselves too. If we want to keep accessing our backcountry we have to get organized and educated.

 

[ferniesnow]

RE cbc intervew with Weigleworld

....As far as being as qualified as an ACMG guide (association of canadian mountain guides) which is the industry standard for commercially guided backcountry trips, you can not expect the recreational user to be that qualified. It is unreasonable. That takes years of experience on your own, and years working in the industry as an assistant before you can challenge the guide’s exam. There really needs to be more thought given to designing courses to the average sledder. Sledders have to take it upon themselves to educate themselves too. If we want to keep accessing our backcountry we have to get organized and educated.

Yes, to be "qualified" in the back-country as Mr Weigle puts it, is not reasonable. After making that statement and some of the others that Mr. Weigle has made it is no wonder he is standing alone. But let's not rest on our morals; the squeaking wheel gets the grease!!

I am sure that common sense will rule the day and we will be fine. We need to work on the 3% of sledders that normally put us in situations that are bad for our image and IMO avi courses and experience in the back country (not just going there and riding) are some pre-requisites. Some sort of coarse would be alright also. Riders need to know and be concerned with wind loading, weak layers, cold weather occurences, various aspects, sun crusted snow, and the list goes on and on. We who live and ride here 2-5 times per week, generally have a feel for the situation because we pay attention to Mother Nature and relate the occurrences to the snow pack.

Another challenge; how do the beginning mountain riders get the necessary experience. Spend $12G on a sled and whoopy-ding I'm going to the mountains! Never been there before, wow; can you imagine the learning curve?

That's what we need to work on. Not wasting energy on Mr. Weigle....

 

[retiredpop]

I guess if any good comes out of this whole thing it is that avalanche awareness will increase in the general public. Hopefully more people will get some instructor led training. Zac's Tracs does a good job on snowmobile related avalanche training. Sign up if you haven't already taken a course from them.

 

[Pistonbroke]

I'm going to award Wiggly "Douche Bag of the Year" for 2009. Even though it's only May, I think he's got it locked up!


He lies outright in the last minute - calls our use of the back country "commercial"! Ummmmm hello??

 

[ZRrrr]

Here is just a though....

Instead of Wiegele going out on his negative campaign against sledders and his personal agenda, maybe he should be the one offering his services. Yes, that's right, maybe he should offer his lodging, his helicopters, his guides and put on avalanche awareness courses for backcountry sledders and skiers alike. It would also give him an opportunity to stand on his soapbox and voice his personal opinion directly the crowd he wants to change the behaviour of. Instead of biotching through media sources, take the time to use his resources and educate us. Wow...what a concept, what a way to get the sledders to cooperate with you when you can speak with them directly in a positive environment.

Then again, my idea might be too radical. It's obviously more fun to talk about dead sledders with faces chewed off.

 

[snochuk]

Never happen ZRrrr, his agenda is to block access. He wants to help no one but his back pocket.

 

[TomKat72]

There is an offensive to this saga, and also a defensive.

I think that as RESPONSIBLE SNOWMOBILERS, we have to also be aware of our shortfalls, and one is, Backcountry awareness.

Anyone these days, can purchase a sled, gear, gas and the mods to shoot up any hill that is in sight.

Perhaps the dealers should step up and offer (even if it is included in the price) an AST-1 approved Avalanche awareness course.

I know many have been victims to the White Death, and I am so sorry for that, BUT....

There are way too many careless riders out there, and they are taking stupid chances. I have seen it, YOU have also witnessed it.

Yes, Write your letters, and rant your rants.... BUT

We have been branded a bunch of uneducated rednecks unfortunately, and it it time to change that!!!

Wiegele does not support the local community, that is a given. He shall fail in his efforts to stop OUR passion....

It is up to us to make sure it does not happen again.

I'm not sure that the local dealers are the answer. I know that when I purchased my wheeler, Kawasaki gave me a coupon that not only rewarded me with $$$ but also paid for the riding safety course. It may be in the best interest of the big four to work together to ensure the survival of thier industry by offering something similar.
OBTW....this Mike character sounds like a real piece of work!!

 

[snoqueen]

I'm still waiting for some sort of rebuttal statement from the B.C. Snowmobile Federation on the damaging media coverage that Wiegele is responsible for. At least just a short statement, to let joe public know this is a truly one-sided argument on the whole matter. We all know the 19 deaths this winter happened to be sledders that were riding in the backcountry, and perished in avalanches. But a number of skiers also perished in avalanches too!

The general population can make their own opinions about whether or not the taxpayers should be responsible for rescues when sledders may or may not know the inherent risks. If one group cries BAN....then they all should be banned. No more heli-skiing, cat-skiing, mountain biking, quading, snowshoing, crosscountry skiing, etc....because we all use the backcountry. There are risks in all these activities and that's the chance we take.

I have to say that sledders need to get more educated, and mountain savvy. I have been sledding for 15 + yrs in the mountains and have seen our sport evolve from sleds that would never make it into the places that we see sleds go now. Turbo sleds are making it easier and easier to reach all the highest places imaginable, and it seems that more and more inexperienced guys are riding these high powered machines without a second thought to the dangers out there. I believe there needs to be some sort of standard set in place....like a mandatory AST level 1 course at a MINIMUM.

This year I witnessed some VERY unsafe chit going on out there (more than any other year) and also a lot of recklessness like leaving behind whole sleds out in the mtns after crashing them, leaving blown tracks, and other garbage left behind. That Clemina Avalanche Video pretty much explains the stupidity that goes on out there. Sledding in closed areas is another big no-no, even thought we may not agree with the closures they are in place for a reason. These guys that are sledding in the closed areas for that untouched powder may not realize that they will get ALL the areas taken away if they continue doing it. There needs to be more sledders that are on the same page here.

Take an avalanche course, join your local club, be an ambassador for your sport, and even though some may not like it, they need to be told once in awhile what they're doing wrong

 

[snoqueen]

I guess if any good comes out of this whole thing it is that avalanche awareness will increase in the general public. Hopefully more people will get some instructor led training. Zac's Tracs does a good job on snowmobile related avalanche training. Sign up if you haven't already taken a course from them.

I just have to mention this.....me and my family were signed up for the April 18 & 19th AST level 1 course in Valemount. It had to be canceled due to LOW ENROLLMENT. This in light of all the avalanche deaths this year you'd think it would have had a waiting list!! I really believe there is negligence on the part of education here. Although I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Wiegele that there should be tighter regulations.