R.I.P.
Thoughts: In re; to some responses regarding Avy training and equipment. Of course this wont save you every time and is not a bullet proof vest with a Superman logo on the front...however as a former US Navy dive team member I will tell you that the beter your equipment is and the better your knoiwledge is and the better your training is the better your odds. The harder you sweat in training the less you will bleed in combat!
For those few that want to silence others here for talking about having equipment and training..give it a break as their point is valid!
As far as Government regulations..well I dont always get along with the big brother mentality but in light of the ease of buying a snow machine/snowmobile that with current techknowledgy can get you to places where you probably should not be, just maybe it has room for its purpose.
WASSA and others take note!
IDEA 1.With the purchase/registration of any sled some minimal training of rules and skills would not hurt anyone.
I have seen first hand riders with riding skills that dont have mountain savvy do some piss poor crapola. I have had some cut sidehills above me while I was helping someone get a stuck sled out of the botom of a ravine...he saw me and I had a come to Jesus meeting with the young man..he understands now. This is just one example. As a former mountain rescue team member I have scraped up two young guys after they had a head on, helmet to helmet in the snopark. Hotrodding in a snopark..WTF over!They both lived with serious head trauma...hill climbers dead after going down hill with no runout and splattering the 16year old brain on a tree. Extreme speed and dead after going under a fallen tree on a groomed trail and forgetting about it on the way out. BTW..this was all in the same month the same year...these are the medical emergencies that you dont hear about in the news.
IDEA two(if no. 1 isnt inplace): As a industry we can self police ourselves...Personally if you dont have basic equipment for survival I wont ride with you and dont need you around me or my people! If you have a friend that wants to ride with you but doesnt have the basics let him stay at home. You are not helping him if you dont and you are not much of a friend to show disregard for the lives of those you call friends. If you are a parent and have a son or daughter that rides a snowmobile in any mountain terrain find out what they have for gear..I dont give a rats arse how old they are...they are still you kids! No gear yank the sled!
. READ this report http://www.nwac.us/text_version/Revised_Blewett_Pass_Avalanche_12_17_03.htm
I was on this rescue/recovery call out. 1 His Friends all had beacons he didnt..2 his parents were going to get him one for Christmas. 3. He rode up a known Avy chute. All avoidable!
The beacon should have been a requirement. His friends should have not let him ride there. He should have NOT went up that chute. With the right equipment his chances for survival would have been better..maybe not..but if you go into a combat situation the better your weapons are and the better your training the better your odds at survival period!
With the purchase of any new sled...with the price of a new sled the dealers could take some responsibility and add in at dealer COST a beacon pack probe and shovel. Or maybe some other way to get basic gear with out someone making a huge profit on basic stuff. Maybe WASSA and other state snowmobile organizations can get together as a group and do a big group buy on beacons and shovels sell them at cost. lets get the damn tools out there.
Dont pack your stuff only in your sled...your sled gets buried and your shovel is in it doesnt help anybody. Have it in your backpack with some extra gloves and your probe.
We need more ideas how to better equip and prepare our mountain riders. If you leave it to the individual it will be a cluster f*&%
Snowest Administrators: Have a perment write locked heading at the top of each state heading and the top of heach snowmobile heading with the direct link to the coresponding states AVALANCHE REPORTS.
WASSA and others...Large AVY Reports posted at trail heads with the trail maps and rescue radio frequencies. Maybe something simple..we shur know how to do it for fire danger! Large sign that just says AVY danger High or moderate or Extreme..keep it simple
These are just ideas and they all can be improved on..we have to get something started somehow.
