SLEDHEADS
(^20)
had the sled stopped, assessed the
situation and thought I was ok.
Again, I was wrong. As I turned left,
I looked up to the top and that’s when
the three-foot crown let loose. At this
split second I deployed my BCA vest
and heard the air bag go off.
Once the wall of snow came
crashing down I knew I wasn’t going
to be sitting well because of all the
old growth trees I was headed for.
At this moment all I remember do-
ing is grabbing onto the handlebars
and hoping to ride the sled down
with the sled on its side. As I did this
I remember looking at a massive old
growth tree and aiming the skid for
the trunk of the tree. Once impact
happened I really don’t remember
what happened other than me tuck-
ing into a ball and seeing nothing
but darkness as I continued to slide
through more trees.
Once the slide stopped I popped
up on top of the snow bruised and
shaken with one leg on top of the
snow and the other buried. All I can
say is I was lucky to have walked away
with no major injuries. The sled was a
loss but I was grateful to have walked
away and have a good group of
friends with me that day to be there.
From my years of riding in the
backcountry I learned how to be a
safer rider but even experienced rid-
ers make mistakes. Here are a few
pointers that might help you.
- Go out and take an avalanche
course from a certified instructor.
- Buy the correct gear—avalanche
air bag, transceiver, probe, shovel and
some sort of communication.
- Spend some time using your
gear and practice with your riding
buddies.
- Learn to check avalanche fore-
casts and ride according to the fore-
cast. If the danger is extreme, stay
home. If the danger is considerable
think twice before trying to impress
your friends.
- Learn to let your ego say no. I’m
at fault many a time because I seem
to always want to push boundaries. In
all honesty, how long can we live on
luck? I was very lucky to have lived to
tell and write about my experience.
- If you don’t know the riding area
pay good money for a local guide
who can show you around safely and
maybe teach you a thing or two.
- I’m glad the highmarking days
are past us but with new sled designs
and riding abilities, people are now
riding a lot steeper terrain and using
sidehills to get into new areas. Make
sure to keep one sled on a sidehill at
a time and always use the riding style
of “bridges and islands.” That means
as one guy crosses a danger zone
have one guy stop, watch the rider
ride through the zone to a safe area
and then turn around and watch your
buddy cross the danger zone.
- Communication. I can’t stress
how important it is to have some sort
of radio communication with your
riding group. You never know when
someone is involved in a incident and
by the time you realize it, it’s too late.
- You might own all the correct
avalanche equipment but it’s worth
nothing if you don’t check it each ride.
- Be prepared for changing
conditions throughout the day of
your ride, especially when it gets
warmer. When you start seeing
snow falling out of the trees and
water dripping from pine needles
expect the conditions to worsen. If
you have a storm move in with fierce
winds, watch for storm slabs. SH