How do we keep going

[sledneck_03]

Im going west from sask like ive done since 09. This tragedy at mcbride is nothing new but hits harder than ever. As a 29 year old with a 3 year old and 2 month old the wife didnt want me going before and specially not now. My parents keep heckling me on it as well.

No matter how much i reassure them and how much they know my groups safe and experienced, the fact it can happen to anyone isnt reassuring.

The way i look at it is the highways are so dangerous and no one stops using them. A few weeks ago a young family like mine got killed (parents and kids) at a notoriously dangerous intersection that we use often. Has my family and wife stopped going that way? No. Makes me more nervous thinking of my family using it more than going west but i suppose as them never going to the mountains they will never understand...

 

[Mike270412]

I'll let Bogger research the statistics but I'm pretty sure your chances of dying on the hiway on your way to the mountains are way higher than your chances of dying on the hill.

 

[Caper11]

The snowpack in the backcountry is very unstable right now, but can be managed and enjoyed by choosing riding terrain carefully and most important choosing that terrain as a group.

Accidents do happen but IMO and I mean no disrespect, your comment about it can happen to anyone is not a reassuring one to me either.





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[ferniesnow]

The snowpack in the backcountry is very unstable right now, but can be managed and enjoyed by choosing riding terrain carefully and most important choosing that terrain as a group.

Accidents do happen but IMO and I mean no disrespect, your comment about it can happen to anyone is not a reassuring one to me either.





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I respect and understand what you are saying but.............

It depends which back-country you are riding as to the stability. Some areas in the province are much better than others. One can't generalize!

Education is the key. When the conditions are dicey, one has to make choices (no reflection on the McBride incident). To the OP, loved ones need to know the conditions and where you ride. My advice to the OP would be to take the wife for a ride and show her where you ride and how you ride. She will be much more understanding with her newly found knowledge of the back-country. I ride with my better half more than half of my riding days and she totally understands the conditions and way we ride.

If we stayed out of the back-country when the conditions, as posted by Avalanche Canada were Considerable, we would be couch potatoes. The danger rating is Considerable nearly all winter. Even higher postings (High and Extreme) are not reason enough to stay out of the back-country. I have said it for years, it is not whether I ride but rather where I ride that the bulletins and my daily experiences will point me. There are a lot of fun places where the avalanche danger is zero.

 

[moyiesledhead]

How do we keep going? I hate to say it, but this has been happening so often the last ten years that I've almost become.....I dunno.....jaded?......immune?....(not sure what word I'm looking for) to giving these tragedies more than momentary thought. Not really too proud of that fact either. My immediate reaction about 2 weeks ago when the first special avalanche bulletin was issued was.... "Someones gonna die again". Damn I hate being right. After 47 years of snowmobiling I'm pretty confident I can find a safe place to ride when the avy hazard is high. Does that make me invincible? I've been in an avy, so obviously not. Shouldn't have been necessary for that incident to make me smarter, but it is what it is. In the end all we have is to trust our own abilities, or get more training if we don't.

Not sure Fernie's idea of taking the wife out and showing her where you go and what you do is a good idea though. Might be the end of your trips!

 

[Foxstar45]

It doesn't matter that driving kills more people than sledding. Sledding in the back country is a million times more risky. I don't care what anyone says. If you juggle knives, wrestle bears, etc your more likely to die than someone who doesn't. Pretty simple.

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[pano-dude]

More often than not its poor judgment that ends up in tragedy.
Yesterday there was a group high marking in an avy chute, it is one of a few called the fingers. 2 have come down this year, the one they were climbing has not. They got away lucky.

 

[css]

Im going west from sask like ive done since 09. This tragedy at mcbride is nothing new but hits harder than ever. As a 29 year old with a 3 year old and 2 month old the wife didnt want me going before and specially not now. My parents keep heckling me on it as well.

No matter how much i reassure them and how much they know my groups safe and experienced, the fact it can happen to anyone isnt reassuring.

The way i look at it is the highways are so dangerous and no one stops using them. A few weeks ago a young family like mine got killed (parents and kids) at a notoriously dangerous intersection that we use often. Has my family and wife stopped going that way? No. Makes me more nervous thinking of my family using it more than going west but i suppose as them never going to the mountains they will never understand...

I have been riding out west for the last 7 years going 5-8 times a season and am always getting flack from the family, more so this season then ever. Its getting to the point where there starting to ruin the only sport I do with all the negative comments etc. I honestly don't know how much longer I am gonna continue going west just cause I am so sick of getting grief over going.

 

[scotts]

I think the best thing we can do when facing these issues is to arm ourselves with the best training and knowledge that is available. I feel it's crucial that we try to up our game substantially if we are going to continue to push the boundaries in the backcountry! There are some amazing learning opertunity's and incredible teachers available!
i hear far to often "we have the training and experience" but in all reality an AST 1 course is about as basic as you can get!
i fully agree with the importance of these courses but I really feel that they should just be the beginning of a persons backcountry training!
Im was as guilty as anyone in this regard as I rode for more than 20 years without any formal training at all, hell a lot of that time was without a transciever or probe, spot, airbag or any of these other modern advancements that we all take for granted!
i guess it's fully possible that I will make a mistake or an error in judgement and find myself in an Avy situation but I think I've done as much as possible to manage that risk and I feel that I can covey that to my sons so that they are a little less worried when I head to the hills!

 

[gasman]

I have wondered the same thing but as I have gotten older it's more why do we keep going over how. Seems every year there is a tragedy somewhere and the comment is far that you are more likely to have something bad happen to you on the way to the mountain over riding. I had a close call a few years ago in renshaw when I got a little to close to an over hanging cornice. Thought I was still safe as I could see rocks but as I turned out luckily to the right I seen a huge crack and the slab come off. The sled went with it I jumped off to safety. A few hundred bucks and with the help of Barry and a couple others we retrieved the sled. Still bothers me today and I know I am not the only one who's had close calls out there. I think it is a game of chance sometimes we win, sometimes the bad guys win.

 

[bingo1010]

i think this is about the best way to sum it all up, over the years the hills have claimed some of the best most experienced people there are, whether it is sledding, quading , horseback, hunting, it is Mother Nature letting us know that we are not the boss. And for a lot of us that is part of the draw to it, to do stuff that most can only dream of and for those that return we have stories/memories to last a lifetime........ However long that may be.............It truly is the last frontier on this planet and we are blessed to have it in our back yard.

 

[Rotax_Kid]

Im going west from sask like ive done since 09. This tragedy at mcbride is nothing new but hits harder than ever. As a 29 year old with a 3 year old and 2 month old the wife didnt want me going before and specially not now. My parents keep heckling me on it as well.

No matter how much i reassure them and how much they know my groups safe and experienced, the fact it can happen to anyone isnt reassuring.

The way i look at it is the highways are so dangerous and no one stops using them. A few weeks ago a young family like mine got killed (parents and kids) at a notoriously dangerous intersection that we use often. Has my family and wife stopped going that way? No. Makes me more nervous thinking of my family using it more than going west but i suppose as them never going to the mountains they will never understand...

I've been in the same situation. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. My wife, my family, etc all try to blow on the fire asking why. I understand nd respect that they are concerned. The problem is the media has shown them too many chutes, climbs, big country, etc. All they think we do is climb the daylights out of anything. I've told them before (and Ferniesnow can prob attest) "I have trouble getting out of the parking lot sometimes never mind a hill!"

I took my wife riding with me over the Christmas holidays this year. She was completely blown away that at how nice the country was and how she never realized that we kept going up until we came to clearing and looked down. Positive she kept wondering when we are going to get to all the big climbs, chutes, wind lips, etc....they never came...that was a month ago and she still talks about how nice of a ride that was. Sure changed her opinion.

 

[Newmanater90]

Just reading a few comments on facebook after CBC news or global put this situation on there and it makes me want to punch half the people in the mouth! Wow did it piss me off last night. Im going to quote the one that really got me going. "Of course they won't stop, highmarking is a deadly sport! They know it, they don't care about anything... Friends, rescuers, FAMILY! Kinda Selfish!!!" First of all no one says highmarking anymore. From my knowledge of just chatting with fellow sledders at least 80% of them strictly ride trees now a days. Seems like any snowmobile media is bad media.

 

[tex78]

Im going west from sask like ive done since 09. This tragedy at mcbride is nothing new but hits harder than ever. As a 29 year old with a 3 year old and 2 month old the wife didnt want me going before and specially not now. My parents keep heckling me on it as well.

No matter how much i reassure them and how much they know my groups safe and experienced, the fact it can happen to anyone isnt reassuring.

The way i look at it is the highways are so dangerous and no one stops using them. A few weeks ago a young family like mine got killed (parents and kids) at a notoriously dangerous intersection that we use often. Has my family and wife stopped going that way? No. Makes me more nervous thinking of my family using it more than going west but i suppose as them never going to the mountains they will never understand...

Dude up till we moved to sicamous from Alberta, my family was the same way and I'm sure there's lots that just don't get what we explain... The sights , lack of sounds, and the terrain


Yes driving out to sled, driving to work ect is by far more risk than sledding

Because unless u come onto a group of other idiots sledding that causes issues, u have no control on every single vehicle u go past



Since moving out, and taking my wife up, now she's hooked, the views ect push her to buck up being scared to see what's on the other side of that hill

She now See's, 99% of the terrain is safe, and the trees we ride is the reason we ride them


U may take ur wife, scare the crap outa her and she never goes again, but that's a chance u have to take

Make sure she's not pre pms or on pms lol

And u need to take her to easy ride first day, then bump it up next day

Biggest thing u don't want is a tired, pissed off, shut down, fighting wife in the middle of nowhere

Trust me I know after one ride last year

 

[sledneck_03]

Just reading a few comments on facebook after CBC news or global put this situation on there and it makes me want to punch half the people in the mouth! Wow did it piss me off last night. Im going to quote the one that really got me going. "Of course they won't stop, highmarking is a deadly sport! They know it, they don't care about anything... Friends, rescuers, FAMILY! Kinda Selfish!!!" First of all no one says highmarking anymore. From my knowledge of just chatting with fellow sledders at least 80% of them strictly ride trees now a days. Seems like any snowmobile media is bad media.

To be fair any news good or bad the news comments go places you didnt know they could go. Key board tough guys, not alot would say anything like that to anyones face.

 

[Beels]

Just reading a few comments on facebook after CBC news or global put this situation on there and it makes me want to punch half the people in the mouth! Wow did it piss me off last night. Im going to quote the one that really got me going. "Of course they won't stop, highmarking is a deadly sport! They know it, they don't care about anything... Friends, rescuers, FAMILY! Kinda Selfish!!!" First of all no one says highmarking anymore. From my knowledge of just chatting with fellow sledders at least 80% of them strictly ride trees now a days. Seems like any snowmobile media is bad media.

The comments section on CBC's website has to be the world's largest collection of dipchits, half-wits and lefty idiots.

 

[Cat401]

More often than not its poor judgment that ends up in tragedy.
Yesterday there was a group high marking in an avy chute, it is one of a few called the fingers. 2 have come down this year, the one they were climbing has not. They got away lucky.

Did you approach them and advise them of the risk they are taking or just watch.

 

[ferniesnow]

....................

Not sure Fernie's idea of taking the wife out and showing her where you go and what you do is a good idea though. Might be the end of your trips!

She rides with me 50% of the time and if it weren't for her still working that percentage would be a lot higher. The best thing that ever happened was taking her out and then buying her a machine that could get her to the places we go. When we went on a dealer demo ride to Kuster's in 2013 (the first year of the T-motion and at that point in time she was on a 2010 Summit 163"), I had to buy two sleds...........one for her and one for myself!

She knows the terrain and understands the snow conditions from the pits we dig. We don't take chances and as the hazard climbs, we stay to more mellow terrain or just plain, no-risk, meadows. I am a happy dude because my better half understands the hazards and the joys of being out there.

Will we keep going?......................as long as we are not ready for the rocking chair!

 

[pano-dude]

Did you approach them and advise them of the risk they are taking or just watch.

Did not watch or stop, I'm not the back country police. I worry about myself and my group.

 

[Cat401]

Did not watch or stop, I'm not the back country police. I worry about myself and my group.

No disrespect to you but that's part of the problem in our community....

you see someone doing something unsafe.....let them know....if they tell you to f-off....so what, at least you tried. Chances are also they might thank you for seeing something (a danger) that they didn't and move to a safer spot. We all need to get involved to make our sport safer