Its about time I said something..

[PINandPRAY]

I joined this site about a year ago and in that time I have gained endless amount of great info from you guys, possibly some info that could save my life or someone elses life that i ride with.
I started mountain sledding last year and i found a passion for this sport that cannot be explained. honestly friends and family are scared to to talk to me if sledding becomes a topic because i dont shut up and can talk about it for hours.NO JK

In one year of mountain sledding i have already encountered an eye opening experience i will never forget. It was about last march me and my buddy were heading out to Corbin where we do most of our riding, that morning at around 6am i checked avalanche.ca for conditions before leaving. Avelanche.ca said for the area that i was riding in the conditions were moderate. On our drive out to mountains(1hr30min) we noticed that conditions had changed drastically from about -15 to +2 or 3 by the time we got there and unloaded. In the past week there had been high risk avey warnings, Being that me or my buddy dont have avalanche training we decided to play in the flats and in the creek beds to be safe. We staged with another group of 7 people that followed us out until the trail came to a Y we went right and they went left, we looked back wondered where they went and assumed they turned off. Me and my buddy went and played out in the flats for the rest of day, then decided to head back to the truck. On our way back we found a young kid on foot where we last saw the group from this morning. Long story short the group had been involved in an avalanche later that day and the young kid had resulted on foot. The young kid told us that one of the guys in there group did not make it, he had pasted away. We gave the young kid a ride back to his truck because some of his group had left to truck to get a cell phone to call stars. It was an eye opening experience because that morning we were all alive and healthy in the parking lot prior to riding that day.

Just because Avalanche.ca says the conditions are moderate first thing in the morning doesnt mean they can't change during the day. This year i will not touch the mountains until i have atleast level 1 avey training and maybe a survival course under my belt.

Based on the information given on this site and the people that take time out of there day to share there knowledge on S&M might be part of the reason why me and my buddy decided to take a right that day instead of a left. My heart goes out to the family of the guy that past away that day. In no way, shape or form is this threads purpose to point the finger at the other groups decision making or end result, but i have a family that needs me at home at the end of the day and so do you. The information that i have been given on this site has helped me out in a hundred different situations already. I just want to say thanks and share a story with you guys.



Thanks again

 

[the_real_wild1]

It is a tough thing to deal with. Some people don't get it.

 

[deaner]

Thanks for sharing man. Yup, a person has to always be watching for signs. Checking conditions is a great starting point, but a person should always be watching for instability whereever you are. Ive seen it where one bowl is perfectly fine, and then the next one over is different. Or even different slopes in the same bowl. Ill tell you my first avalanche training course REALLY opened my eyes. Understanding the snowpack and what affects it is key.

 

[SledMamma]

Thank you for sharing your story: gave me goosebumps. I can't imagine how that kid on foot must have felt walking out of there... I'm sorry that you had this experience, and grateful that you were smart enough to recognize the signs and take the turn towards life. There are a lot of BS threads on S&M, but when it comes to awareness and promoting safety I think the members of S&M can be pretty proud of doing a good job as advocates and informers in the sport. I hope that you and others will use your experience as a reminder to keep vigilant, to help educate others, and always choose the life path...

 

[thunder44]

Thank you for sharing your story. I agree , I have learned so much from S&M about safety. I always thought I knew everything to bring , had all the training, etc but just about everytime I come on here I learn something new. Again thank for sharing, perhaps this will make someone think about their choices.

 

[RocroM8]

Great Story. It's hard to share something like that. I have been in a similar situation and still have problems opening up about it. Glad you shared it!!!

 

[PINandPRAY]

Thank guys

I didnt want to get into much detail about the other group because i dont feel its my place to speak of what happened out there. But the look on the young kids face when we pulled up, is enough for me to never forget that day. I felt really bad for him being that he was maybe 15 years old and his first mountain experience.

What really bothered me as well was the reaction of people after hearing this on the news. I did follow up on calgary news website and attached was about 150 comments of people more worried about the tax payers paying for the rescue and how the family should have paid for it. How can people be so numb to other peoples feelings. If i was a family member and seen those comments, there no telln how i would react.

 

[OOC ZigZag]

Thank guys

I didnt want to get into much detail about the other group because i dont feel its my place to speak of what happened out there. But the look on the young kids face when we pulled up, is enough for me to never forget that day. I felt really bad for him being that he was maybe 15 years old and his first mountain experience.


What really bothered me as well was the reaction of people after hearing this on the news. I did follow up on calgary news website and attached was about 150 comments of people more worried about the tax payers paying for the rescue and how the family should have paid for it. How can people be so numb to other peoples feelings. If i was a family member and seen those comments, there no telln how i would react.

The media has damaged mtn sledders rep in a huge way and Wiggles and the tree huggin granola crunchers added to that rep. All we can doo is increase our backcountry knowledge kept brushed up on our snow science and know how to react to the given situations that can be encountered in the backcountry and reduce our inncident rates that will gain us back some ground.

 

[jpgmtech]

Thank guys

I didnt want to get into much detail about the other group because i dont feel its my place to speak of what happened out there. But the look on the young kids face when we pulled up, is enough for me to never forget that day. I felt really bad for him being that he was maybe 15 years old and his first mountain experience.

What really bothered me as well was the reaction of people after hearing this on the news. I did follow up on calgary news website and attached was about 150 comments of people more worried about the tax payers paying for the rescue and how the family should have paid for it. How can people be so numb to other peoples feelings. If i was a family member and seen those comments, there no telln how i would react.

Thanks for sharing! I have always found the news reports regarding backcountry avalanches to be inaccurate, to put it nicely. And many people's reactions are calloused. For public news agencies, "if it bleeds, it leads."

Avalanche and terrain awareness is crucial. Your choice to play safe, even without training or experience, deserves commendation. Better to be over safe than buried!