Lake island lodge fernie

[FernieHawk]

K to clarify some of your guys questions the shoot we where running was not likely to slide, according to te cac avalanche guide that briefed us before we went on the hill, second I have a shovel and I could of used it the crust of the snow was soft as you can see my handle bars are still on my sled and fine, third I'm not a idiot I have a probe, shovel extra shovel, ortovox beacon and abs pack and who ever would run at something like that without those things should be riding on the short bus, and the tether is tied to the bars because if I would of fallen off the sled and it went down the hill it wouldn't of mattered if it was on or off it would of been in a million pieces, and on my handle bars less chance of me being able to accidentally pull it out and not be able to barry it thanks for watching, good criticism next time I'll use my shovel.

Thanks for the response about the tether. I was asking, because sometimes i forget to hook my tether to my jacket.

I think tethers are a great safety tool, not just to save your sled from a runaway, but to save yourself from injury. There are a few stories out there of peoples body parts jammed in the tunnel with the throttle stuck at full...some gruesome outcomes. Before I installed my tether I was pinned between my sled and a tree and the sled was still running...wasn’t a super critical situation, but it could have been. I have also witnessed a few runaways with the throttle wide open...most of them related to frozen left hand throttles.

Anyways, glad you all had fun. Our group had an awesome ride in Revy last weekend.

 

[tstams]

ya i usually have my tether hooked up but seen some guys run at some big chutes sled dies halfway up and nothing you can do but hope you can hang on, and the polaris tether is really touchy one movement it shuts down and comes on again, just gotta pick and choose where i use it hope to see you riding fernie next year great place to ride and great club!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ferniesnow]

You handled all the criticism well and some guys just like to pick, eh!

In defence of the slope and perceived avi trouble from the point of view of the guy looking from the big easy chair, this is a CatSki area and what we are looking at in the video is a "gladed" area where the trees are cut out for more open skiing. It would look a lot different in the summer and you may even find quite a few trees when the snow is gone as that snow could easily be 30' deep or more. So the tops of the trees that were evident could be in the neighbourhood of 30-50' tall (I haven't seen that particular slope in the summer but you get the idea.) As tstams has said, there was a well qualified avi guy hired by the club to doo an assessment for the weekend (cost the club $600) and that slope was deemed safe at that time.

I still think you should have got the shovel out to dig a little flat spot where you were initially stuck, hahaha

One more ride this year?

 

[Summitric]

It was a good vid i thought, and that kinda snow, i would have pushed mine over too......

i agree, shoulda had a tether on ........

At least you had a good chance to inspect the track for any damage

and seems like the skiis were in the air a little too high, quite a bit? Loose traction/speed when that happens...........

 

[tstams]

hows the snow up in elkford??????????? ya and i looked at my track for clearence for a new track haha if my tether wasnt so touchy i would of had it on for sure!!!!

 

[ferniesnow]

hows the snow up in elkford??????????? ya and i looked at my track for clearence for a new track haha if my tether wasnt so touchy i would of had it on for sure!!!!

I'm going out tomorrow so I'll see. It's been in the 20's and been raining so I'm thinking the rain will be to the top. I'll let you know tomorrow.

 

[ferniesnow]

I'm going out tomorrow so I'll see. It's been in the 20's and been raining so I'm thinking the rain will be to the top. I'll let you know tomorrow.

It didn't rain to the top. 2" of fresh in the Rolling Hills. It was all untracked until yesterday; 3 die hards from the "old country" where out and tracked up the Hills pretty good. They had a ball.

I was cutting trees and low hanging branches on the new Rolling Hills trail; making it more SnowCat friendly so we are not bending the radio antenna. There is 6' of packed snow on that new trail......wow! Being mostly in the shade, it will be quite awhile before that melts.

 

[Trax 2 Treadz]

How far up the road did you have to go to find rideable snow?

 

[ferniesnow]

How far up the road did you have to go to find rideable snow?

On Friday, I staged just past the first bridge above the Matheson turnoff. On Saturday, there were a few trucks/decks about 1/2 km further. There was room to turn the trailers (there were 4 4-place trailers, 2 enclosed and 2 open) around just after the bridge. I wouldn't pull the trailer any further yet. A little more road to ride after Saturday but still not very much.

There were 13 vehicles staged on Saturday; it was busy.