Mountain Riding at night

[etecheaven]

Hey guys, looking forward to a new season and hopefully a new experience.

Ive been wanting to do some night riding for a few years now and last year i got lucky with a clear near full moon night up in frisby ridge. I waited till it got dark and headed out with a couple frankensled lights clipped to my helmet.

For the most part i stuck to the trees near the cabin in case things went sideways and i didn't go for to long as the crew was tired from riding all day. Iit was an experience that has me wanting to go again. I set the lights to just touch beams and it gave me a wide view that made navigating the trees fairly easy. Headlight on the sled was useless as there was a bunch of fresh that just piled up constantly. I was able to ride the entire time and only get stuck once which was really eerie when you shut off your sled. So incredibly quiet and calm that night. What a rush.

Does anyone have a bunch of experience doing a night ride that could help me plan the next go. Things i want to improve is overall safety planning tips for the crew, locations to ride that work well with night riding issues and gear to improve the experience. I understand riding at night brings additional risks but as with everything being prepared is key.

The only thing i know for next time i would want is 3 frankensled lights, as you can never have enough light if your trying to navigate with any speed and eliminate the tunnel vision problem.

Not enough daylight in the early season and this seems to be a great way to make the most of the weekend if the weather cor operates. I believe last season i had only 2 nights out of the 11 i was in the mountains that would have been clear enough to attempt it so you never know when to be ready. That said i would trade any socked in day for a clear night if i could after what i experienced.

Cheers

 

[LUCKY 7]

I did a few times up Coal creek but had a few too many and damaged my sled loading it back up on the trailer. The wife drove home and that was good except for the tongue lashing I got on the way home.

 

[Lem Lamb]

Check out your area in the day time. A couple of GPS's incase one goes down.

Watch for lite up control towers, and scope out the mountains as your land marks.

Learn the valleys you ride and try to plot what is North and South,,, every thing looks different at night, so adding reflective ribbons to trees will help you find your paths. Different colour ribbons for different areas.

Reflective Green is my exit to the door way, Blue is normally staging area, and red is areas I need to explore more.

These coloured ribbons change as the year progresses. About 10 kms by sled before changing colours,,, that way I know that 4 different colours means I'm back there about 40 ish kms to the exit point.

Keep the group together with in the zone before departing to the next area.

Night riding is awesome since we can see better when it's foggy,,, so we track in using the safest path, allowing wide berth of drop offs and steep Cliff edges,,, this is a must since we can look at our GPS tracks while pinning the throttle to get out of areas.

Nothing worse than having to run a shoot thst is narrow and fogged in.

Night riding is the best when you know the area by 100%,,, and packing the over night camp incase things get cross threaded and side ways. Ha.

3 per group is nice,,, you'll figure this out over time. Play safe and be wize since the group needs to work "together" as a whole.

You will travel alot of ground if you push your limits, not so much if OCD sets in.

We all have some forum of it, the trick is knowing how far you and your crew can push those limits.

The Lem took many chances in his life,,, only lucky to share on what doesn't work in wild cat adventures.

Today I tap it kool as I have many miles of boots on the ground wounded.
10 miles on foot is along ways,,, I have a few 20+++ mile hikes under my belt.

I got pinned down by my own sled one day,,, some on this forum and in Revy know my long time friend Kevin,,, I'm still thankfull to this day as he saved my Azz.

Good thing he knows the difference between old and fresh fresh tracks.

Be wize.

Don

 

[oler1234]

At night... So what do you do when your riding buddy gets buried in a avy and his sled tether is kicked killing all the lights that marked that individual.

please note saying you ride trees and there’s no avys in trees is as naive as saying you cannot ride sleds in October, it’s happened on both fronts.

 

[etecheaven]

At night... So what do you do when your riding buddy gets buried in a avy and his sled tether is kicked killing all the lights that marked that individual.

please note saying you ride trees and there’s no avys in trees is as naive as saying you cannot ride sleds in October, it’s happened on both fronts.

knowing there terrain and the conditions is a good place to start before you ride at night or anytime for that matter. I would never take the same risks or terrain at night that i do during the day. I would think overall night riding would be safer due to this.

We all know if your in an avalanche, its you own dam fault for being there. Get the training and understand the risks.

Thanks for the tips Lem.

 

[chickenman]

Done quite a bit of night ridding back in the day. Though I feel it was more touring than anything. I rate it just slightly better than being socked in

 

[Longhairfreak]

Night riding in the mountains is for fools.

 

[etecheaven]

Done quite a bit of night ridding back in the day. Though I feel it was more touring than anything. I rate it just slightly better than being socked in

I think the technology has improved a lot since back in the day... depending how far back your talking. You don't need the momentum that you used to meaning slower travel speeds to pick your lines that work well at night. Also with 2 bright LED lights on my helmet i thought i could see really well. Defiantly an adjustment with all the moving shadows though.

Not saying i plan to ride all night, but looking to extend the shorter days and hour or 2 we see early on each season. Scope a nice safe play area during the day, save it for later and go back to rip it up when it gets dark.

 

[ferniesnow]

The early season riding is iffy at best. That is when the shorter days are a problem. Lots of carnage during the day due to rocks, stumps, and wandering trees. Can't imagine night riding in iffy conditions!

I wouldn't mind a trail ride in an area with no avalanche hazards but as far as off trail, I'm thinking it would be a crap shoot. I like to be able to know what is happening with the weather; alpine winds loading the slopes for example. Very difficult in night time riding. It is not for me but to each their own.

 

[cattechsummitrider]

Ahh night riding!
It can be awesome,,,, We do lots of it,,, Some for fun some for search and rescue,, You have those days when you cant see your hand in front of your face during the day,, but at night the moon is shining and it is clear, even if it isn't the lights of your sled and your helmet light give you way more definition at night than in a socked in day, ( you see the dips and washouts that on a flat light day you cant)
For the people who say that night riding is for fools haven't done it right Get yourself a good helmet light ( light then looks where you look and is out of the snow) I am not big on the battery powered lights ( have had some trouble)
Some people will say what if there is a avy you are harder to find,, If you know how to use your beacon ( back lit ) probe and shovel it is the same then as it is in a snowstorm..
GO OUT PREPARED!!!!!!! I find that most people who go night sledding are WAY more prepared than day sledders,,,
The biggest problem is getting food when you are back down,,, ( we carry lots of food on the hill day or night) and have a slow cooker in the room so that when we come down we have a hot meal.
Go with a experienced group and you will have a awesome time.
BRAPPPP

 

[pano-dude]

If you have enough energy to ride at night you didn't ride hard enough during the day.... lol, but the stars are freaking amazing when you're on the on top of the world on a clear night.

 

[revbyu]

If i was ever to ride at night in the mountain it would be a casual ride up the trail to the cabin - beyond that would be a little iffy ! Couple years back unfortunately was searching for a lost sledder at night - even if your familiar with an area the surroundings are pitch black - its a very uneasy feeling ! My suggestions - sledding in the daylight is a better option !

 

[Scrambled]

We ride at night fairly often, mainly we do it to get away from the crowds,on our trips to sicamous we usually have a sleep in day,take it easy till early afternoon then head up owls,we tend not wonder to far from the cabin but we do go aways,no not over skinny.theres usually 6 of us,safety in numbers,we ride in groups of 3 once up there,we all don't have radios so at least one per group,large glow stick are cool to have, easy to find each other when lights out plus cool to see bombing around,on a nice clear night nothing beats it if ya ask me,get a fire going, couple of refreshing beverages, Smokies and lots of laughs,some of my favorite rides ever.

 

[mountainsledmania]

Riding up to anything more then the cabin to await sunrise to me is the purest form of stupidity. And to top is off when something happens, eventually it will taking risks like this.They shut that riding area down to the rest of the people that drove a minimum of 3 or 4 hours to get away and ride their machines. Please do not ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[cattechsummitrider]

Anyone doing anything stupid reflects badly on all of us and can get riding areas shut down
But just because riding at night isn't your thing does not make it stupid.
You go out in the middle of a stormy/ cloudy / foggy day and get lost or hit something or someone because you can not make out the terrain.
If you are prepared riding at night can be Way safer than riding in the day. I sometimes ride at night for pleasure, sometimes for search and rescue ( rescuing day riders )

 

[X-it]

In powder your headlights are not that great at night, you need a good headlamp for sure. Not sure what happens if you get buried. Of coarse nothing is worse that snow and fog in the mountains.

 

[Jorgy]

Riding up to anything more then the cabin to await sunrise to me is the purest form of stupidity. And to top is off when something happens, eventually it will taking risks like this.They shut that riding area down to the rest of the people that drove a minimum of 3 or 4 hours to get away and ride their machines. Please do not ruin it for the rest of us.

Take your negativity else where. How many times a year do you hear of guys getting lost at night and have S&R called ( I cant recall many if any the past 3-5 years) compared to the amount of rookie cabin cruisers that go adventuring where they shouldnt and have S&R called in because they had poor planning, werent experienced or too cheap to hire a guide. The peeps who ride at night are prepared. I want to get a frankensled helmet lights for our group and start doing some night riding this year. Loving the thread :d

 

[cattechsummitrider]

I agree with you X-it But that's why you buy a really good helmet light and ride with people you can count on and trust ( Same as daytime riding) ride as a group. Have seen LOTS of people getting buried and the group can not find them. Always be aware where where the people in your group are.
Also at night the lights help you keep track of your group. Don't get me wrong I like riding in the day better but if the conditions during the day are poor we will go out at night.
Riding day or night is just awesome!
Brapppp

 

[mountainsledmania]

Take your negativity else where. How many times a year do you hear of guys getting lost at night and have S&R called ( I cant recall many if any the past 3-5 years) compared to the amount of rookie cabin cruisers that go adventuring where they shouldnt and have S&R called in because they had poor planning, werent experienced or too cheap to hire a guide. The peeps who ride at night are prepared. I want to get a frankensled helmet lights for our group and start doing some night riding this year. Loving the thread :d

There is no negativity, im just voicing my opinion and letting you know its stupidity. I have a frankensled head light and ive had a couple close calls where ive had to ride back in pitch black and i can tell say sure it helps get back to the truck but it wouldn't be a solution to actually riding at night unless you doing about 10km/h. But hey, your prepared.. more power to you.

 

[cattechsummitrider]

Take your negativity else where. How many times a year do you hear of guys getting lost at night and have S&R called ( I cant recall many if any the past 3-5 years) compared to the amount of rookie cabin cruisers that go adventuring where they shouldnt and have S&R called in because they had poor planning, werent experienced or too cheap to hire a guide. The peeps who ride at night are prepared. I want to get a frankensled helmet lights for our group and start doing some night riding this year. Loving the thread :d

Very well said!
Only i suggestion for you,,, If you use a battery powered light bring spare battery's with you, You will stay out way longer than your battery's last!