A day that changed my life forever!!!!!!

[tudizzle]

tragic fluke accident....find out what your group is made of real quick.

thanks for sharing...

Just a thought, but maybe we could get this message to cat and poo. All sleds need to come with tethers stock. You would think it would be a liability issue. Any suggestions?

Man there are so many dangerous things about the sport of sledding. To start throwing things out there like liability.? I get it...the tether would have prevented this accident. What next...limiting power.....larger tracks to dangerous....its a slippery slope. IMO





What a great attitude the injured person has...can't change what happened...just deal with the consequences.


Best of luck to all involved!

 

[snopro11]

Thanks for sharing. Good luck and prayers go out to your friend. Also thanks for the reminder on the tether usually everyone has it on but definately all the time now.

 

[EagleRiverDee]

I never wear my tether. I used to wear it all the time but as I was jumping from side to side one time it hooked in the bars and came off and I rolled my sled....figured what the hell, i dont need that thing !!! I WILL start wearing it again now....Thanks for making me smarter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This. Prior to reading this story, I also never wore my tether. It just seemed like a pain. I no longer think of it that way. I'm so sorry your buddy lost his arm. Thanks for sharing your story, you probably saved other people from injury.

 

[Jaynelson]

That is a crazy story....sounds like everyone kept there cool enough to make it all work. It always blows my mind how fast a day can go from great to disaster in about 2 seconds.

I don't have a tether on my sled.....and when I had a Doo with a tether, I never wore it to be honest. Makes me feel a little dumb and should definetly smarten up.

 

[paulharris]

wow, what a scary story. sounds like an amazing response from friends, glad he is doing ok.

 

[Ephratafarmer]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like you guys had your hands full and did an outstanding job. I pray your friend recovers fully, and rides with ya at least by next yr, if not sooner.

 

[Perk]

So many ways to get hurt out there. Lucky guy to have people like you in the group.
You mentioned a very important point. Keeping someone warm in a situation like this is critical....and close to impossible. I was in the snow for about 45 minutes waiting for life flight. I swear it took 2 days to get warm again. And I was lucky enough to have a couple of guys nearby working on a radar tower and had a sleeping bag to put under me.

Those paper thin survival blankets won't do the job. They make heavy duty ones. But even those are only going to do so much.

Shopping for crossbows..... awesome!

 

[Ryan-41]

Prayers go out to your friend and his family and friends!! That sounds very scary, but it sounds like you guys handled it very well!! Hope he has a very fast recovery!!

RYan!!

 

[2XM3]

i've seen a couple runaways without teather and its always bad, can't even imagine poor guys arm stuck in there...glad he came out of it.

I have always had teathers on all my sleds, just a good thing.

 

[modsledr]

Powderhound, thanks for sharing!!

For us, Tethers have become a preaching point just like Avy Education and First Aid Training. If you dont have all three, probably wont be riding with us.

Sleds are getting better and better, and able to get us into more and more situations that have the potential for disaster...these also happen to be the situations many backcountry riders crave.

Every year, we see at least one stuck throttle situation that would have been avoided with a tether.

Thanks again for posting...sounds like the message is getting through to be prepared!!

 

[hotshot]

tragic fluke accident....find out what your group is made of real quick.

thanks for sharing...




Man there are so many dangerous things about the sport of sledding. To start throwing things out there like liability.? I get it...the tether would have prevented this accident. What next...limiting power.....larger tracks to dangerous....its a slippery slope. IMO




What a great attitude the injured person has...can't change what happened...just deal with the consequences.


Best of luck to all involved!

Sorry man, I gotta disagree with you on this one. I think its a matter of safety rather than horsepower. Just like watercraft, it should come as standard equipment.

 

[CoyoteGirl]

First, thank you for sharing this story. SO SORRY your buddy had to go through this, I can't imagine what that was like. You are good people. Send your buddy lots of Coyote JuJu and well wishes!!!

2nd, thanks for sharing this story so that I can turn around and share. I've been pushing for tethers and sometimes feel like a nag. Things go wrong so fast out there, minimizing the hazards is a must. Many of those who I've been preaching at read this story... and are happy they have a tether.

They talk of prothetics that have robotic features. He is planning on riding next year and we are not to sell his sled. ... May all of us learn from this and be safe !!!!!!

Not to be morbid, but this is cool and I hope that he will (or you) will keep us updated on his progress. I wish for him to have this be a success!

For years I have been busting my friend's balls about wearing their tethers, they are soo easy to install and wear. Loop it around the wrist.

I've seen people in various situations where they are literally hanging from their tether wrapped around their wrist as the cord was wrapped around the handlebars and couldn't pop loose. PAINFUL. IMO, attach to your clothing.

 

[MPS]

Not to be morbid, but this is cool and I hope that he will (or you) will keep us updated on his progress. I wish for him to have this be a success!



I've seen people in various situations where they are literally hanging from their tether wrapped around their wrist as the cord was wrapped around the handlebars and couldn't pop loose. PAINFUL. IMO, attach to your clothing.

Ya it is cool he is so positive about this...he is a great example. It will be cool to follow his future success.

That is very good advice about the tether Brandy!

 

[Rockpicker]

Wishing your friend a speedy recovery.

It was not mentioned if the injured arm was his dominant one or not. That will make a huge difference in his ability to adjust. Not to say that loosing part of either is insignificant in any way.

 

[winter brew]

WOW, what an ordeal....nothing to criticize there, it sounds like your group handled it very well!!
I am another non-tether wearer but this definatly gets me thinking of some scenarios where things could have gone real bad fast and a tether would save the day. Thank you for sharing.

 

[MPS]

Sorry man, I gotta disagree with you on this one. I think its a matter of safety rather than horsepower. Just like watercraft, it should come as standard equipment.

There are arguments against and for the tether regarding safety. I think it should stay a personal decision and manufacturers don't need to be mandated by an already intrusive government. I think the manufacturers know people won't be happy if they put tethers on the sleds. They are cheap and I think it needs to stay a personal decision...and if if sleds do come with tethers I have no doubt people will just take them off. Ya can't force people to wear them.

This is just my opinion, don't flame me.

 

[hotshot]

It was not mentioned if the injured arm was his dominant one or not. That will make a huge difference in his ability to adjust. Not to say that loosing part of either is insignificant in any way.

It was his left arm and he is right handed.

The last few days I have put a lot of thought into his situation. We do a lot together....but I know he will bounce back. We ride horses together all the time, so throwing a saddle on a horse may be a little tricky, but Im sure that wont stop him. He is already shopping for crossbows to hunt with.

One of the bright spots that I have been able to see is that there is now a small possibility that I may be able to keep up with his sorry azz! Probably not though!

 

[Demo250]

First of all, I'm glad to see your buddy is okay and he seems to have an amazing outlook on life. I downhill mountain bike and I've seen some crazy guys. A legally blind man who rides with people in front and behind shouting what is coming next on the trail... and a guy with 1 arm riding. (And riding hard) I'm sure your friend will get back on the sled!

And wow, your story reminds me of an incident that happened to me. We were going up towards our main riding area and the trail went straight up between 2 trees. (There wasn't really any way around it, everyone had to go up right there) There was a deep trench that was super hard packed and icy from everyone going up.

I hit it on a bit of an angle and my right ski fell into the trench. I didn't have time to turn out because I was inches away from the 2 trees at that point, so I pulled it back the other way to get my ski back out of the trench and keep going up. As the ski was going back up the other edge it caught on something and I flew over the bars into the trench. The sled fell on its side and the throttle pinned itself against the side of the trench. I'm inches above the sled in this steep icy trench with nothing to grab. I slide backwards into the track which is spinning about 100 MPH and it absolutely CATAPULTS me down the hill. Literally threw me flying all the way down the hill. Luckily I tucked my arms and legs into a ball and slid down with my back facing the spinning track. The only damage was some track marks on my shovel and the stretchy cords on my pack that hold my shovel in were ripped to shreds, oh and I was pretty sore the next day. lol. Glad I had a backpack on...

Then to make things worse I had to run up the hill as fast as possible to turn my sled off as it was still pinned wide open. Never rode without my tether after that. Now I bought a Pro and it doesn't even have one so I'm back to riding without. I should probably install one...

 

[Powderhound]

It was not mentioned if the injured arm was his dominant one or not. That will make a huge difference in his ability to adjust. Not to say that loosing part of either is insignificant in any way.

Nope it was his left arm. Another blessing He can still run a throttle. I will put him in front of e and run the brake If we had too. A couple of years ago my buddy burnt down early on the rude. SHAWN the guy in the accident rode all day 2 up. Shawn on the gas and Palmer on the brake. Both of them having a great memorible day. That's Shawn. You are never alone in the truck... We will ride again together...

 

[Teth-Air]

If you guys knew how many guys came up to me at the sled shows and said

"I have been riding for years and never needed a tether, and never will"

Wear it.