Would you sled with someone that doesn't have an avy bag?

[OOC ZigZag]

This is another one of those laws that dosent entirly make sense.....There has to be a coast guard approved life vest "visible/accessible"in the boat for every person. But you dont have to wear it.....so not stowed under a seat or in a ski locker....

Laws that don't make sense plenty of those out there. Visable under the bow filler cushions. We got checked out 2 yrs ago on Kook they checked for all the safety gear and were done with their check when I said don't you want to see the pleasure craft operatior card. After showing that they asked if we could hang for a bit until their boat started again I did and funny thing was we were never checked again on Kook. Pays to help them out.

 

[catinthehat]

" chance favors the prepared "
if you can afford the bag, get one. If you can't afford it, dont. We all have our own reasons to get back home safely. So we owe it to ourselves and our families to be as prepared as we can be should the unthinkable ever happen.
Personally i've deployed my bag 5 times, All of them as I was ducking under a branch or while lifting/heaving on a stuck sled. I wont ride without it. You on the other hand, as long as you have the basic gear and knowledge to find and dig me out, can wear a pink thong and tutu for all I care.
cheers

This begs the question, "what do you do when your bag deploys accidently", don't know of very many people able to recharge them on the trail. Do you continue to ride your regular style that has become habit thinking you have the extra protection or do you make a change in where and how you ride?
I guess this is where Rowdy's friend would say you can't ride with me anymore see you later.

 

[pano-dude]

yup....... I know 2 people including a friend that died in an avy, and have heard of several others, that were deployed and several that weren't deployed....... I don't wear an avy bag[/QUOTE

Are you F*^!ing serious pull ur head out of ur azz. If they died chances are it was terrain trap bag doesn't lift you from underneath 20 feet of snow. The bag statistics are proven and to be a mod of the site and not vindicate them as a good addition to your safety gear I gotta think your an idiot. You have definatly shaken my faith in good advice on S&M. Definatly thought you were smarter than that, People and terrain can be misjudged happens all the time even to the pro's. Fact have had quite a few buddies caught in sluffs and slides and have lost a good friend on Hall Mtn. Hrt Offraod is a wicked rider and 2 seasons ago was buried alive and survived. If you think for 1 second you can call the hill satability every time your sadly mistaken, When you rider backcountry there is risk doo your best to minimize it and if that includes spending $ 600 to $ 1200 bucks on a bag your a fool not to.

wow this is one of the most ignorant posts I've seen in a long time! not everyone has $ coming out there a$$ to buy the latest and greatest toys that market themselves as a must have.

bags are all hype, you don't see many back country skiers wearing them(greg hill ski toured 2,000,000' verticle last year without one). if you need to pull the handle you or someone else have already made mistakes.

if it makes you feel safe wearing one great, but don't piss on someone who chooses not to.

 

[Trashy]

air bag dont save ya from broken arms and legs ! just sayin

Ian????????????

 

[Trashy]

I have jumped out of enough, perfectly good planes to know that practice makes close to perfect. Meaning....... If you don't know when to pull the cord, or the fail safe, chances are you never will!!! Not trying to be an ass, just being honest from exprience. Just like trying to do a catwalk on a bike or quad, and not knowing when to spike the back brake, beyond point of balance???

Would I NOT ride with someone who doesn't wear an avi bag??? Of course not!!! Have the proper gear for what your doing, but if you don't look back....... Then I won't ride with you.

jmo

 

[Trashy]

Ian ???????????

Ummmmmmm............... Ya.................... Good reply

 

[linksys]

i dont speak Ian ????????????????????????? what language is that ?

Ian???/ you mean Bogger???

 

[snopro]

[
wow this is one of the most ignorant posts I've seen in a long time! not everyone has $ coming out there a$$ to buy the latest and greatest toys that market themselves as a must have.

bags are all hype, you don't see many back country skiers wearing them(greg hill ski toured 2,000,000' verticle last year without one). if you need to pull the handle you or someone else have already made mistakes.

if it makes you feel safe wearing one great, but don't piss on someone who chooses not to.

To wear one or not is your choice. Like I said before it is just another tool in your arsenal if an accident happens. To say that if you have to pull the handle means you have made a poor choice on snow already is really the ignorant post I feel. Are you 100% sure of the snow everytime you go across it Pano? If you are then you don't understand snow very well. Alot of people ride in dangerous snow and alot ride in safe snow every weekend. To say all snow is 100% safe is abit of a laugher to me.

 

[OOC ZigZag]

To wear one or not is your choice. Like I said before it is just another tool in your arsenal if an accident happens. To say that if you have to pull the handle means you have made a poor choice on snow already is really the ignorant post I feel. Are you 100% sure of the snow everytime you go across it Pano? If you are then you don't understand snow very well. Alot of people ride in dangerous snow and alot ride in safe snow every weekend. To say all snow is 100% safe is abit of a laugher to me.

Yeah we're hooking for the soda walls this winter LOL. Couldn't agree more If you think you can predict every hill you ride won't be long till your a statistic. Chit happens and like I said back in this thread it happens to the best that ride more times a year than most of us. I got 45 days in last season and the guys I ride with are locals in Fernie Revy ect had way more than that and everyone can make a sketchy call. Chit happens thats why I have the Avy bag, Just one more thing that may save my life along with my beacon probe and shovel and proper decision making.

 

[OOC ZigZag]

wow this is one of the most ignorant posts I've seen in a long time! not everyone has $ coming out there a$$ to buy the latest and greatest toys that market themselves as a must have.

bags are all hype, you don't see many back country skiers wearing them(greg hill ski toured 2,000,000' verticle last year without one). if you need to pull the handle you or someone else have already made mistakes.

if it makes you feel safe wearing one great, but don't piss on someone who chooses not to.

Better check your facts Avy bags work. I understand you not being able to afford one try working somewhere other than Invermere and Pano say a little further east. Yeah I blasted him for being a Mod and not promoting safety equip like the Avy bag to bad to sad free world here still and freedom to speak our minds. Out of the 12 pages bet there will be a few picking them up next year. You don't have to buy new check out ebay little bro got one for $ 600.00 for a Snowpulse HM. Look back Pano I didn't pizz on him for not wearing I pissed on him for not supporting advancing safety gear. The majority in our group wear them and lots of the pros doo and I take my ques from them but I will ride with people that don't and give them no tude over it.

 

[snopro]

Well Willy likes to prob facing " up hill " ^ so he can see if another avy is on its waaaaaaaaaay down o.0

Your one queer duck Willy...

 

[OOC ZigZag]

Well Willy likes to prob facing " up hill " ^ so he can see if another avy is on its waaaaaaaaaay down o.0

Ahhh there's your smarts shining through. Better take a AST course.

 

[OOC ZigZag]

yep u would be left at the truck with all yer smarts lol

Your mag side wide open this winter beeotch and we'll see who's left behind. Shouldn't sign cheques with your keyboard your azz can't cash.

 

[imdoo'n]

I dont have a avy bag,,so i wouln't say hit the road to someone...I have a beacon,probe and shovel..and a brain.

hit the road medlar, no tea no ride with me. period.

 

[Modman]

These threads always make me laugh.

Saying that you can never predict the snow is logical of course, since no one can, but choosing to ride in an area where people are justifying the risks, even a "marginal" threat, is silly to me. I don't wear an avy bag, and have ridden BC all my life. I might one day if the prices come down, but sledding is not about being an elitist with the most safety gear and no brain. The more you use your head, the less safety gear you should need IMO. If you can afford an avy bag and you still ride safe, by all means, wear it and never look back, its one more tool in the toolbox to keep you safe. If you wear one and ride like a knob because you think its going to save you, your mindset is flawed from the start.

Always seems like people are trying to justify their actions by saying "well, you can't predict the snow conditions on every hill so that's why I wear my avy bag......". another excuse to justify why they are still riding the steeps if conditions are bad or haven't dug their snow pit, etc etc.

For me, the whole ability to trigger someone's bag remotely thing goes against we have been taught about backcountry safety....Self-Reliance. If you are relying on your buddy to trigger your bag in the event the slope fails behind you.... well first you are relying on someone else for your safety, second, now your life is potentially in someone else's hands (not a responsibility I want), and thirdly, the fact that you are in that situation to begin with means mistakes were made.

I know a lot of people here don't fit into the "box" of what I have described, but some others need to take a long look in the mirror and think about this next point, because lots of you do: I love these self-proclaimed, self-righteous "avy hero's" who won't ride with anyone who doesn't have AST 1 or avy gear or an avy bag or whatever is the flavour of the week. These are the same peeps that will drive 160 km/hr to the trail head in a snowstorm on summer (oops I mean all season) tires, passing people into oncoming traffic, while towing their 4 place loaded with 6 sleds held down with 3 ratchet straps, and a bungy cord for a safety chain. Safety doesn't just start at the trailhead folks, so don't go preaching safety from your soapbox to me or other sledders if you think we are "unsafe" for not having an avy bag. Anyone who (to me anyway) does will be told so directly. How a person generally conducts themselves regarding sledding as a whole is far more telling of what actions and risks they will take on the hill, avy bag attached or not. I can tell you who I will ride with, and who I won't ride with, usually long before my sled even starts.

 

[~Rowdy~]

Modman has the best posts and responses. Thank you for the excellent post. You are someone to look up to in the sport for sure.

 

[teeroy]

willy won't sled with anyone that doesn't have a bag...of weed!

 

[Taminator]

Bag or no bag...I'll ride with you!!

We do alot of riding with many different peeps in a season and not many have avy bags. Our preference would be not to ride with people who don't minimally have AST 1 but if we do, we adjust our plan accordingly as we ask everyone ahead of time who has what so we're prepared. In conversations with people who have them, there seem to be quite a few that have them but that don't have any formal avy training (not saying everyone, don't have a cow those of you who have both). IMO they are a valuable safety tool, however, it is more important to know about the terrain and why avalanches happen and how best to avoid them...for the safety of all members of your group as well as others on the mountain...and then to have a tool that improves your personal safety. While I support the use of avy bags for those who chose to use them, someone having an avy bag for their safety really means nothing to me...someone who takes time to educate, practice and update their avy education means alot to me.

You don't see many avy bags on the local mountain riders in general out here, not sure why, but it's not an affordability decision by most because let's face it, you can find deals and get one if you really wanted. And believe it or not zigzag, many make darn good livings out here in Invermere area. the good ol' Alberta money goes somewhere ya know. lol

 

[JaySimon]

And believe it or not zigzag, many make darn good livings out here in Invermere area. the good ol' Alberta money goes somewhere ya know. lol

Don't tell anyone.

We're all broke, and financing stuff to afford sledding. There is no money to be made around here. You wouldn't want to move here. Not at all.

 

[OOC ZigZag]

u know one thing i have never ever seen is a group of sledders doing a "probe line" search... why have the tool if u dont know how to use it ? and a 2 meter probe is not long enough for the BC back country .

Didn't you say you probe up hill WTF. You have a 10m probe little Willy? I'm so gonna leave track marks all over ya. Wear the Osama mask I'll get more traction that way.