gravelers lucky day!

[Sapling-Thrasher]

Well the day actually started the day before with graveler blasting me with texts that I needed to skip work and load up the sled...... Well he won out and I realigned my day to meet Fordman and graveler at an undisclosed location to throw my sled on his trailer...... Well the next text was that Fordy overslept... I mean he had battery problems..... I mean he was just plain late.... Can't remember which one it was but I sat and waited patiently...for at least a minute prior to busting his bells....

We met up in Sulton at the Bakery with W8tn4u, Vinnie, Modsledr, Snowbyrd, John P, Snowryder, and a couple others that I don't know there SW names or if they have any(Sorry I can't remember them all) In all there was 12 of us.

We headed for the hills..... can't remember cough cough were we turned off the hwy!

We headed up the "road" it was a bit interesting and could be bad if you didn't make iton a couple of the sidehill sections....

We got to a clear cut section and there came the first "special test" Only graveler, Fordman, John, and I think Snowryder went up through a little gully and all made it over and disappeard. Everyone else headed further up the trail to another open face and all but a couple made it up this one. I headed further up the valley and up into the trees to find my own way up. I noticed that I could hear a couple of guys following me. I headed up a pretty good incline and headed into the trees on the Mighty M6...... I made it within 20 feet of the top and had to turn out. I stopped level in a tree well and heard the others coming.......

Two of the others followed my tracks and got stuck...

I dropped back down and gave it another shot and went over the top with speed on the M6..... This is what happend over the next half hour on the same line....

Someone said find a stump..... This is the next best thing!

More to come...

 

[Sapling-Thrasher]

We then headed out to find the $100 dollar lake.... I found it first...

Then we headed deeper.... Fordy and gravy made this hill... I then proceeded to pound it for about 30 minutes but could not make the top part throught the trees on the M6

Trust me it is alot steeper than it looks!

I hear Fordy say they are heading deeper... decided to find another way around.

Rodger and I headed up first and made some wicked sidehilling. I got to the top and found the other guys that had made the first hill and they were eyeballing a huge chute headed down to the valley floor. We decided to head up instead of down.

We then just kept heading up......soon there were only 5 of us!! The rest were littered over the last couple miles of some serious do or else type terrain....

We hiked to the summit and took a look

John decided to park his turbo at the top...

 

[Sapling-Thrasher]

By then a couple of the other guys were starting to be visible in the distance.... Where is waldo?

I think this is the next $100 lake on the list....anyone??

How about this one???? anyone?

Is that a grizzly??

Now on to the part you have been waiting for...

 

[Sapling-Thrasher]

So W8tn4U decides to lead us over to some climbing..... This was bout 5 PM. I remember graveler saying that has been in the sun all day....Not safe so we moved further down the valley!

Well we made it down and messed around a bit. It was pretty soft and no matter were you went on the way down you would have a bit of slow moving company if you looked back. Nothing huge but there was alot of water in the snow.

Team orange decided that they needed to make the top since Snowryder had just done it on his XP.....Fordy zigged and zagged....graveler only zigged....for some reason he sidehilled all the way across and ended up in a spot that was above nothing but thick trees. We debated with him for a while on the radio and he decided on double ski brakes and was going to work his way straight down through the trees........

Here is the pick of the hill. Look at the upper right and you can see his track. As he approached the first clump of trees he was in a wave of slush. The clump of trees seamed to slow down the slush but as soon as he cleared the trees he picked up speed fast. He was now riding a huge wave of snow/slush that was no joke maybe 10 feet tall!!

As I lost sight of him in the trees the slush shot up the faces of the trees at least 10 feet above the trees...... I knew he was in trouble..... I tried him a couple times on the radio and no response. Everyone took off in different directions to get to him. I headed straight up the hill and though I would hike through the trees to the top to start looking. I climbed as far as the M6 and the trees would allow and started blazing through the trees trying him on the radio.

as I got half way through the trees I heard his voice on the radio... phewwwwww! He says I'm alright but the sled is totalled. I actually came out right were he was and he had already started to dig the sled out. the snow was still running down the hill at this point like water!!

By then the other guys were arriving on foot. Some had followed me through the trees and others had hiked up from the bottom picking up parts on the way.

Hood smashed, steering post broke, steering hoop broke, gas tank completly wasted with cap missing and splits all over, Snow packed in everything even the air plenum in the hood, gas tank full of snow, Track wouldn't even turn it was so loaded and pack in the tunnel. Skis were bent into 90 degree bends......on and on.....

We got it cleaned out and the guys started making a road to get it pulled over the hill so we could get it down to the bottom of the hill.

more to follow...

 

[Sapling-Thrasher]

Fordy says it will never run!!

Pushing it on the trail the guys built!! "road crew"

Finally into the open! Notice all the other sleds scattered everywhere!

graveler dead sticking it down the hill...

Now the trip out...

 

[SNOBI-WAN-KENOBI]

Great pics! Sucks about the sled damage. Was this up by Stevens Pass by any chance?

 

[waterdog]

WOW Good thing everyone was ok... great post and pics WOW Look at all the other sleds on the hill

 

[modsledr]

.......Was this up by Stevens Pass by any chance?

Stampede

 

[Comp 670]

Hmm..Don't wanna be a jerk here but alot of you that were there that day preach avy safety on a daily basis yet you still rode where you should not have been and look at the result....... Looks like this avy safety stuff is all talk and no actually heeding what you preach.

Yes,I was not there and don't know the conditions first hand.But it was posted that snow was following everybody down the hills and it was very water loaded.Art even pointed out it was in the sun all day and not safe.So you knew but still went.

Just wondering when people are gonna start to actually do what they keep telling others to do?

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this but someone has to bring this up.

 

[graveler]

no you are totally correct!!!! really screwed myself cutting across to the top and when I started down to a shelf where I could go back across and down it turned to sh!T.... bad choice all around for sure... the only good choice I made was not riding the sled down that chute!!!! This was one of those times when the trees turned out to be a blessing!!!

 

[H20SKE]

Thanks for the story Sapling Thrasher--great looking ride!!


AA/AT---You are dead right on this---But we will blame Fordman for the pressure!!! Bad call for sure--especially when you say that is a bad hill

Art--glad you are okay--Sled--insurance I hope.

Looks like a great day till the end--happy riding and be careful folks!!

H20SKE...

 

[modsledr]

Mark, nobody should flame you for bringing up the topic of safety.

If you look at the first pic in Sap's 2:32 posting, the hill is divided into 3 sections by avy chutes...The chute Art came down is on the very far right of the pic, and we were just to the left of where Art went. The snow was slouging off and coming down slow...the hill came down to the flats at the bottom. If I had to do it over again, we would have had several of us go to the top where Andrew went, and cut a trail for Art to come back over. He got over to the right and could not get back...only route was down the chute...bad decision on all of our parts.

As for overall avy danger on the day, except for the very steep hills and avy chutes (which we avoided) the sloughing throughout the day was very slow and wet.

 

[skooter]

looks like alot of work ,is the red dragon a 2010

 

[2Thetopp]

Gravelers lucky day

Great thread, just goes to show how quickly a good day can go bad. Glad to see everyones alright , it's nice to have buddies to get you out after an episode like that. We can all learn from your mistakes thanks for posting, and Art, you'll be re-living that one for a while, quite the birthday present live to ride another day.

 

[Snowbyrd]

Hmm..Don't wanna be a jerk here but alot of you that were there that day preach avy safety on a daily basis yet you still rode where you should not have been and look at the result....... Looks like this avy safety stuff is all talk and no actually heeding what you preach.

Yes,I was not there and don't know the conditions first hand.But it was posted that snow was following everybody down the hills and it was very water loaded.Art even pointed out it was in the sun all day and not safe.So you knew but still went.

Just wondering when people are gonna start to actually do what they keep telling others to do?

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this but someone has to bring this up.

I knew it wouldn't take long for the 1 negative of the day to take over. The terrain we were in all day was pretty stable and we were not riding in extreme avy danger. There was typical avy debris from the last few weeks that you would expect to see riding this time of year but there was NOT any human triggered slides prior to this one area where there were verry slow moving slough type slides from the tracks. There wasn't a problem untill Art couldn't make it back over to the down path and had to try a different path down....Nothing to kick him around for, In Hindsight it is always easier to say what would have been a better way, knowing the outcome wasn't ideal.
Bottom line it was a great day where all riders were aware of the conditions, not a bunch of reckless fools running amuck, yes alot of us Preach safety and that won't change, the more you know about what causes them the better prepared you are to avoid them, BUT the only way to absolutely insure you will never be in danger from an avalanche would be to stay behind your keyboard!
Rant over.

 

[Fordman]

Just loaded up my pics to Photobucket... I'll have may take on the whole day tomorrow with a ton of pics...

 

[Sapling-Thrasher]

Just loaded up my pics to Photobucket... I'll have may take on the whole day tomorrow with a ton of pics...

I can't wait! Your a much better story teller than I am!

 

[H20SKE]

I knew it wouldn't take long for the 1 negative of the day to take over. The terrain we were in all day was pretty stable and we were not riding in extreme avy danger. There was typical avy debris from the last few weeks that you would expect to see riding this time of year but there was NOT any human triggered slides prior to this one area where there were verry slow moving slough type slides from the tracks. There wasn't a problem untill Art couldn't make it back over to the down path and had to try a different path down....Nothing to kick him around for, In Hindsight it is always easier to say what would have been a better way, knowing the outcome wasn't ideal.
Bottom line it was a great day where all riders were aware of the conditions, not a bunch of reckless fools running amuck, yes alot of us Preach safety and that won't change, the more you know about what causes them the better prepared you are to avoid them, BUT the only way to absolutely insure you will never be in danger from an avalanche would be to stay behind your keyboard!
Rant over.

I do not think it was a take over--the ride looks awesome--But when he said--That does not look like a good hill---You need to listen--this was a good outcome for ART!! But it may not have been.
Fordman--we are waiting for the pictures for sure. Looks like a great area for sure!!

H20SKE...

 

[Powderboy]

What we have here is a group of riders that have created their own reality series. They go out and do as many crazy things as possible and then come back and post the pictures for the adoring audience. If your a regular on this WA section you'll notice the group keeps growing (everybody wants their picture and their crazy stunts posted) and the story's get more and more over the top. Somebody's going to get hurt before its all over. The Alcohol racer hit the nail on the head.

 

[Fordman]

Calm down everyone... It wasn't that bad... We don't need a bunch of preaching.