Been sledding in the cooke city area now for approx. 30 years. never been in one, but never been looking for it, or been staying out of the bad areas. People are looking to get in trouble any more. Sleds got more power, better tracks, and a false sense of security with the beacons or detectors. Be careful and have fun.
how many of you have bben in an avalanche
- Thread starter rmk 700
- Start date
Set off 2 big ones and a few small ones. Seen several. The first was Early April and my buddies and I were joking before we started to ride sarcastically that we needed to make sure to bring out beacons. Basically it had not snowed in a few weeks, snow was "supposedly" set up and cold. I rode up a the face and just as I turned out it broke in front of me. I was on a turbo 700 at the time and figured my best option was to gun it. I did, jumped the front of the slide, flew about 20 ft in the air landed almost went over my handlebars but managed to hold on, guned it again and out ran it. It was about 2 ft where it broke 50 yards wide. Picture 1 and 2 are this slide.
The second big one was me following a buddy up a chute we had climbed a hundred times. I had never seen it slide. Avalanche conditions that day however were high. As I followed him up the face opend up to about 100 yards across. I was about 20 yards behind him and saw it starting to break. I started to go to the right of him and beat it before it got me and was able to do that. But I started slowing down and eventually got stuck. Problem was where I got stuck was exactly where the fracture line was just a few yards away from his break. I was on pins and needles just waiting for it to go. I had no choice but to try to turn my sled around and as I did it broke. Picture 3 shows my buddy taking a picture RIGHT when it broke and some how I was able to get above it without it taking me down. It was a 4 ft break and at the bottom probably 15 ft deep. Pictures 3-7 are of this slide.
I've learned a lot since then. The second slide really woke me up.
The second big one was me following a buddy up a chute we had climbed a hundred times. I had never seen it slide. Avalanche conditions that day however were high. As I followed him up the face opend up to about 100 yards across. I was about 20 yards behind him and saw it starting to break. I started to go to the right of him and beat it before it got me and was able to do that. But I started slowing down and eventually got stuck. Problem was where I got stuck was exactly where the fracture line was just a few yards away from his break. I was on pins and needles just waiting for it to go. I had no choice but to try to turn my sled around and as I did it broke. Picture 3 shows my buddy taking a picture RIGHT when it broke and some how I was able to get above it without it taking me down. It was a 4 ft break and at the bottom probably 15 ft deep. Pictures 3-7 are of this slide.
I've learned a lot since then. The second slide really woke me up.
Avalanche
Been in one or two, don't really want to talk about it!
Been in one or two, don't really want to talk about it!
Powderboy and myself got caught in 2 different ones the same day--He got hit in the first and on the way out--I got hit from behind.
Both of us were unscathed--but scared as he!! about it.
Amazing how much avy training I have taken and the study of changing conditions and how I watch weather conditions and where we ride now.
I took the HINT!!
H20SKE...
Both of us were unscathed--but scared as he!! about it.
Amazing how much avy training I have taken and the study of changing conditions and how I watch weather conditions and where we ride now.
I took the HINT!!
H20SKE...
Wow, that would have been a bad ride!
P
powderlites
Well-known member
Lost a close friend
Yes I have been in 3 and one we lost a good buddy and his wife was there with us. Nightmare and when you ride and see guys that won't listen to some good advice it's hard not to tell him he is a idiot for opening his mouth up about how he can out run it or something real stupit.
Every year this happens where someone dies and wish people would just have fun and repsect that your alive and don't drink or smoke your brains out and throw your garbage on our moutains.
Play safe, have fun and think ahead.
Yes I have been in 3 and one we lost a good buddy and his wife was there with us. Nightmare and when you ride and see guys that won't listen to some good advice it's hard not to tell him he is a idiot for opening his mouth up about how he can out run it or something real stupit.
Every year this happens where someone dies and wish people would just have fun and repsect that your alive and don't drink or smoke your brains out and throw your garbage on our moutains.
Play safe, have fun and think ahead.
I'm out in cooke city right now, and 2 days ago I got burried in bowl of the woods, I was sitting on the bottom of a meadow and it sounded like thunder and I looked up and someone was sidehilling crown butte, and it all slid, I had no time, to do anything, I started my sled and took off, but it caught me fast, and I was wearing an abs avy pack, I pulled the cord and nothing happened, the handle broke and ended up in my hand, I got extremely lucky, my boot was sticking out of the snow and I was upside down I guess. It barrel rolled me about 150 yards, and the snow was pilled up about 20 feet at the bottom, I'll post pics later. But I will it's an experiance I really hope you NEVER have to deal with.
V
Veedy
Well-known member
Sounds like this could have ended up bad, makes you take a step back and think. Glad your ok, and lived to tell / educate others about your experience.
That's the second time I've heard of a handle malfunction. That isn't very reassuring considering the price of those packs and with your life on the line!
Thank god you came away okay.
^^^probably becasue he was so scaired! i have seen a buddy get cought in one and it was not fun! his ABS pack kept him from getting burried. i am extremely closterphobic(sp?) so i dont think it would be very fun lol.
I have been in a couple small ones and witness too a few big ones.A Friday night in Cooke City the boys roll into town. New snow, a weeks vacation and not a care in the world. A few beers that night at the local bar shooting pool and some good BS with some boys from Butte. The next day the group of three trigger a slide on a 38 degree slope. One got out and the other two not so lucky. All had beacons. The two that died were found within 10 minutes.One about 8-10 feet down, the other about a foot. The worst part was when we got back to the hotel and the sight of their families that will be forever burned into my mind.
I believe that sometimes we cant get out of the way of our own egos, and that is when we get into trouble. I have taken too many chances myself and have been lucky so far, but I know its only a matter of time. I have come to realize now that I have been in denial about avalanches, and that I have acted as if "it wont happen too me", but it will its just a matter of when. Training is important, but more important is heeding the warnings and not putting ourselves at risk in the first place.
I dont know what made me respond to this thread, but Im glad I did. I hope it helps someone else realize and accept the danger we face and not ignore it.
I believe that sometimes we cant get out of the way of our own egos, and that is when we get into trouble. I have taken too many chances myself and have been lucky so far, but I know its only a matter of time. I have come to realize now that I have been in denial about avalanches, and that I have acted as if "it wont happen too me", but it will its just a matter of when. Training is important, but more important is heeding the warnings and not putting ourselves at risk in the first place.
I dont know what made me respond to this thread, but Im glad I did. I hope it helps someone else realize and accept the danger we face and not ignore it.
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I was in one about the 20th of December 08' in Cooke City with 3 other buddies. We dropped down into a coolie ( ravine) and were sitting about halfway down and taking a little break. Just as we started to take off I saw snow dust out of the corner of my eye and turned to look uphill just to see it all coming and stood on my seat til the wave hit me and I threw my arm in the air and thats prolly all that saved me. Once it stopped I had just my hand above the snow and my head was 1-2 under the snow. Sleds were 10-12ft under. The Buddy right behind me got buried similar and the other 2 were buried waist deep or so. They got my head uncovered in 3-4 minutes and 15-20 min to completely dig me out. We walked 3 miles or so in the dark and were found at the end of a trail. This wasn't even a typical avalanche hill but there was no place for the snow to go. We all could use more caution and less ego when we are riding and be better off. Always Be prepared
slide
yes... one time.. scared the crap out of my wife and I (she was sitting on a ridge top and saw it all)... had no gear, missed all of the signs... NOW, we have the equipment, learned how to use it, and pay attention to the weather and conditions
yes... one time.. scared the crap out of my wife and I (she was sitting on a ridge top and saw it all)... had no gear, missed all of the signs... NOW, we have the equipment, learned how to use it, and pay attention to the weather and conditions
Avy
Posted by Ridgerat "Sad part was a guy that watched my ride down off the mountain (he was not in my group) was buried and died later that day not far from the same location."
NW Avalanche Center has summaries of many fatal incidents. A common thread is that the people involved saw other slides and evidence of unstable snow conditions before the fatal event.
One slide should be a sure clue you are in play and the time is now to exit in order to ride another day. "Mother nature is a B*tch and sides with the hidden flaw" to quote Murphy. And he was an optimist!
Posted by Ridgerat "Sad part was a guy that watched my ride down off the mountain (he was not in my group) was buried and died later that day not far from the same location."
NW Avalanche Center has summaries of many fatal incidents. A common thread is that the people involved saw other slides and evidence of unstable snow conditions before the fatal event.
One slide should be a sure clue you are in play and the time is now to exit in order to ride another day. "Mother nature is a B*tch and sides with the hidden flaw" to quote Murphy. And he was an optimist!
I have been in two. One about 7 miles from my house. I was climbing and another guy headed up the hill behind me, I arched out and he sidehilled across the top about 30 ft above my mark. The whole thing cut looss right on his line. Luckily we were both able to out run it and everyone at the bottom got out of the way.
The other one was over by West yellowstone ( not sure of the name maybe Sheep or Goat Mtn?) But my dad got caught in it and jumped off right at the top of the hill. He was able to hang on to the bare rocks where the snow slid and not get dragged through it. It weas a big enough one that it even broke ogg big shelves of rocks on the face of the hill. It took about 3 1/2 hours to dig his sled. It was under a chuk of cornice about the size of 2 houses. We had to leave his sled there that night and come get it the next day.
I'll never forget those 2 days. Especially the day I thought I was gonna lose my dad. There is no way i ever could have dug him out of that in time to save him. i thank god it happened the way it did and hope i never have to go through that ever again
The other one was over by West yellowstone ( not sure of the name maybe Sheep or Goat Mtn?) But my dad got caught in it and jumped off right at the top of the hill. He was able to hang on to the bare rocks where the snow slid and not get dragged through it. It weas a big enough one that it even broke ogg big shelves of rocks on the face of the hill. It took about 3 1/2 hours to dig his sled. It was under a chuk of cornice about the size of 2 houses. We had to leave his sled there that night and come get it the next day.
I'll never forget those 2 days. Especially the day I thought I was gonna lose my dad. There is no way i ever could have dug him out of that in time to save him. i thank god it happened the way it did and hope i never have to go through that ever again
C
CO_MapMaker
Well-known member
Set off a couple , but this one slid below me at Jones Pass. Had to ride through the wave which actually straightened me out as I hit it at a bad angle. The only comforting thing was I saw a buddy below and I knew he was watching were I was. Snow was funny that day, kept punching through, we should have taken the hint.
The crappy thing was, within 20 minutes two different groups of backcountry skiers skinned over to make sure everyone was OK and out of all the other groups other sledders, none came to check.
The crappy thing was, within 20 minutes two different groups of backcountry skiers skinned over to make sure everyone was OK and out of all the other groups other sledders, none came to check.
F
fassteddie
Well-known member
i was in a small slab off slide in 04. at mt st helens. slab broke just before i got to the crest i was still going up but the sled hit the ice that the snow slid off and threw me off. the sled went flipping down, i coudnt get any footing and just kept falling and turning. i was wearing the first type abs pack, it took me a few seconds to think about pulling the trigger and had my hand on it. then i could see that i was on top of the slab i just slid with it to a stop. the sled was sitting on a 12 foot snow ball the handle bars were pushed down to the gas tank. no other damage. the slab was 2 foot thick 100 yrds accross and 1/8 mile down with a 6foot wall at the bottom. (i dont have to climb everything to have fun anymore !) have fun and be safe. ed
been real close to being in a few, went sledding a few days after a huge snowfall in the northern rockies and the snow was so deep 'marking wasn't an option with the sleds we had so we stuck to the trees and meadows. we were in a large meadow when a guy came sledding over and said there was a huge avy just a mile away and it happened as he was about to drop in. went to look from the top of the drop in and were in awe....the crown was over 8 ft deep and 2-300 meters across, ran down about a kilometer and UP the adjacent hill a hundred meters or so.
as we sat there looking, a group of about 6 sleds came by us and went in, and proceeded to ride on the rest that hadn't yet broke free. we were aghast at this behaviour, and could only watch as the third sled went up, and the rest released. the crown wasn't as deep, and the fracture wasn't as high up but it was a lot wider than the previous slide and didn't run out as far. the guy on the slope sidehilled out, and the runout went to the side and missed his friends by less than a hundred meters as a few were frantically starting their sleds to get out of the way.
we decided to just get out of there and go back to where we were playing, on the way back the trail we had just taken was buried from a slide on a slope I would have thought was pretty safe. that shook me up pretty good, and really opened my eyes to the danger.
that was about 10 years ago, I took my first avy course that winter. haven't seen or been close to one since that I know of, and would like to keep it that way.
as we sat there looking, a group of about 6 sleds came by us and went in, and proceeded to ride on the rest that hadn't yet broke free. we were aghast at this behaviour, and could only watch as the third sled went up, and the rest released. the crown wasn't as deep, and the fracture wasn't as high up but it was a lot wider than the previous slide and didn't run out as far. the guy on the slope sidehilled out, and the runout went to the side and missed his friends by less than a hundred meters as a few were frantically starting their sleds to get out of the way.
we decided to just get out of there and go back to where we were playing, on the way back the trail we had just taken was buried from a slide on a slope I would have thought was pretty safe. that shook me up pretty good, and really opened my eyes to the danger.
that was about 10 years ago, I took my first avy course that winter. haven't seen or been close to one since that I know of, and would like to keep it that way.
G
Grizzly Adams
ACCOUNT CLOSED
Super bowl sunday 2008. Thought we'd head up for a little super bowling by myself. Running across the lower edge of a bowl and got smoked. Avy forecast was good so I just went for it. Small slide but I broke my pelvis. the sled was nailed and with broken pelvis and busted tie rod I rode down alone. Scarriest thing I've been through. Now I cut a rutschblock and do compression test on every risky area I cross. Also note that avy warnings are posted for general areas not specific hills etc. Not every mountain in any region gets similar snow to all others in that region. Peeps probes and the spot are only useful after you miss something. Please get your AST level 1. Knowledge is power! Lessons learned No sledding solo, Know before you go or educate and buy good life insurance for the families benefit. Hate learning the hard way. Peace grizz out
