How to Keep Track Of Riders in Your Group?

[KFD070]

Just wondering what techniques, rules or methods you guys use for keeping track of riders in your group. Do you set a meeting place? Do you try to keep a visual? Radios? Stop, wait and go back if no one shows?
I'm curious because when riding as group we frequently lose track of each other in the hills and meadows and spend sometime a few tense moments searching. If it's just the wife and I we carry the FRS radios and if we get separated we stop and turn on our radios. If no contact we go back to the spot where we last were together. Just a personal rule between the two of us.
Also, the wife and I were out for a casual ride this weekend when we came across another couple where the woman had lost control of her sled going into a corner. She knew the sled was going over an embankment so she bailed. The sled goes over about 35 ft. drop lands upside down on a couple of logs and up against a tree. I knew this couple riding with another couple because before we left the parking lot I helped them with a screwed up carbide on the sled soon to be involved in the crash. The other couple in this foursome were no where to be seen. We stop of course and start working at getting the sled out. It took nearly 30 minutes for the other couple to come back and start helping out. This sorta ticked me off as I was thinking, what if there were injuries and someone had to go for help. Anyway, about 90 minutes later plus 6 to 8 toppled trees the sled was out, it was ride able and away we went. Thank goodness no injuries or major damage, just a ton of sweat!
Any feedback on how you keep track of each other would be appreciated.

 

[Brotha NOS]

On the trail the rider in front always checks for the person behind them. If they are not there in a reasonable amount of time they use a radio try a call. If you get no response they are out of radio range or moving. Backtracking may be required. That should cause a chain reaction with your group, and everybody should either wait or backtrack. Maintain radio contact with the rest of the group. In the hills we are all equiped with Garmin GPS Radios. When you talk to someone on the radio they appear on your map and you can drive right to them. We also set up a central meeting spot when playing in trees or meadows.

 

[Himark]

I am not for big group rides but have been running 8-10 guys all winter it seems.

-2 guys have radios and designate a lead and rear person

-Always check group at all possible junctions where someone may go another way.

-Never ever move on from an area thinking they will catch up.

-If seperated rule of thumb is to always go back to LAST known visual location and find em!

-Another thing is its tuff to see peeps in the trees so it helps if they would throw a pack or something bright out in open area. I have literally driven right past a guy several times without seeing them.

 

[cpatts2000]

We always couple up, from the time we leave the snowpark. Small groups of 2 or 3, but still always riding in the vicinity of the whole group. We usually just use who you rode to the snowpark with. And we all carry radios and whistles in case of emergency you can blow the whistle.

 

[ibdoon]

the easiest way is with a garmin rino radio and GPS. when looking for your riding group you pol the other riders to get a gps fix on them and you can also talk back and forth, they are a little spendy but worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[foxyrmk]

For us we have usually 8-10 peeps anymore than that, yes it can be a pain.
1. Front and rear person.
2. On the trail, if the person is not behind you, stop and wait till the person in front comes back to you. (90% of the time it's mechanical problem)
3. 80-90% in the group has a radio, before we leave sno-park make sure which channel.
4. Regroup at turn off/intersection
5. Partner up. (my favorite, less people to count)
6. At sno-park we know what direction we are going.
7. We will have one person or two go back to last location seen.

The whistle is a good idea, I'll have to bring that up in our group, we use them in rafting too.

 

[JHG]

For us we have usually 8-10 peeps anymore than that, yes it can be a pain.

8-10 people

I hate groups over about 4, 3 or 4 people is a perfect size group, there's enough people to help if needed but not so many you are always waiting. We carry radios and if we lose someone in the trees we give them a couple minutes then start calling on the radio. The GPS radios are the way to go.

 

[Weekday Warrior]

on the big group rides it's always funner to have 'mini' groups within the bigger group. Join similar skilled riders together


If you have Turbos in the group then the meeting places for the whole group will always be at the next bottom of a large hill lol

 

[farwest]

8-10 people

I hate groups over about 4, 3 or 4 people is a perfect size group, there's enough people to help if needed but not so many you are always waiting. We carry radios and if we lose someone in the trees we give them a couple minutes then start calling on the radio. The GPS radios are the way to go.

What he said.The whistle thing is a good Idea!!!

 

[Ex-Member]

IMO everyone should pack a radio. They're cheap, almost disposable now. Don't just turn it on when you need it either; leave it on.

Usually just glance back every now and then, make sure we haven't lost anyone. Stop and regroup when a trail tees or heading to a different play area.

 

[m_beeson]

positioning always changes so the person who takes the lead is responsible to make sure that everyone makes it through transitions.

Everybody has to be aware of the person who is near them. It is easier to spot 2 - 3 people missing from the front, than spotting 1 person missing.

When I lead; I stop at transitions, and count sleds.



If you have somebody that is lost the rule of thumb is to stay where you last saw everybody, and the group will backtrack. If you go looking for them, then you may end up missing them.

 

[WFO or go home]

I typically keep track of the people the rode in my vehicle only. If everyone does this then nobody has to keep track of the whole group.

This also eliminates the need for phrases like, "I thought you were keeping track."

 

[xrated]

on the big group rides it's always funner to have 'mini' groups within the bigger group. Join similar skilled riders together


If you have Turbos in the group then the meeting places for the whole group will always be at the next bottom of a large hill lol

No doubt on the mini groups. It seemed everyone did this for the X-Ride. And we had 10-20 in the large group. Trucks kinda stayed together, we always had a meeting point and if you were seperated just head back to the last stopping point. Plus everyone was watching me to keep tabs on me(while I say that, it was more to see what dumby move I would pull next)

 

[KFD070]

Some good tips guys. Thanks.
The trail stuff like waiting at transitions so everyone knows which direction you went and doubling back if visual is lost should be common sense for most people but obviously not to everyone. I do carry a whistle as does the wife. Partnering up is a good plan too.
I like the Garmin Radio/GPS idea. How is the range on them? I find even with the new FRS radios which claim 20 mile range they can be questionable at times depending on terrain. Keeping them on all the time is probably a good practice too. I just found I always forgot to turn them off at the end of the day. (Gettin old!)

An idea a buddy of mine had was for snowmobile clubs to establish a channel for S&R or emergency communications. Whether the channel be on the FRS systems or Garmin could be determined. If you wind up lost you go to this channel and hope that someone looking for you may be able to make contact and establish your location.

 

[skidooboy]

we use helmet communicators (collett's), and the rule you are responsible for the rider behind you. you lose the headlamp behind you, you stop, wait a few minutes with no contact, you go back till you find them. as a back up we all carry frs radio's. if we have no communcation with the helmets, we stop and turn on the radios.

helmet communication saves our trips, really no more going back and waiting for people. you always know when there is a problem, danger, or everything is ok. help for teaching and line selection too. another thing they can be use for is avalanche danger, you can tell someone they are in danger, not just waive at them helplessly. would be nice if more people wore them. ski

 

[Ex-Member]

An idea a buddy of mine had was for snowmobile clubs to establish a channel for S&R or emergency communications. Whether the channel be on the FRS systems or Garmin could be determined. If you wind up lost you go to this channel and hope that someone looking for you may be able to make contact and establish your location.

Problem there, again, is limited range of FRS radios. S&R uses commercial radios and repeater networks for a reason.

GMRS service ($70-ish for the license, no exam) allows repeater use and 5-watt output power on GMRS/shared frequencies. There's a "GMRS emergency" freq/tone, 462.675/+5M, 141.3Hz, but there's no guarantee there's a repeater in range nor that someone's monitoring it. I have found a few though; they do exist. Other issue with that, is that I have yet to find a consumer radio that supports repeater shifts. I don't even think the Rinos have that option.

And when you say "FRS or Garmin".... the garmin rinos use FRS frequencies... same as all the other FRS radios.

 

[mod03rmk800]

Best,most knowledgeably of area rider out front. Second best in rear. When ever someone peels off through the trees, someone needs to either shadow them or follow. If it keeps occurring they simply have to find there own group to ride with as it causes the whole group "waiting" time for there return. Once at play areas, there should be a buddy system of sorts to help keep track of each other. Big groups in the backcountry suck! They need broken up with the knowledge of which direction of where the ride is going to go. Radio's work sort of.

 

[foxyrmk]

8-10 people

I hate groups over about 4, 3 or 4 people is a perfect size group, there's enough people to help if needed but not so many you are always waiting. We carry radios and if we lose someone in the trees we give them a couple minutes then start calling on the radio. The GPS radios are the way to go.

Oh Frick tell me about it! It seems everytime we go out to ride someone wants to ride with us and before you know it, we have a sh*t load. And then I got to lead this group around the mountain, and some are like kids in a candy store. Frustrating.... ok done complaining.

 

[JohnnyQuestUtah]

-If seperated rule of thumb is to always go back to LAST known visual location and find em!



X2




peace-

johnny


ps- if ya cant find me---look in the Quakie Trees


.

 

[Ollie]

Easy.
I won't ride in groups larger than 5.
Riding in tight trees it is WAY to easy to lose someone and not know it. A lot of times there is only ONE way thru an area. So if you have 8-10 riders the last rider might be 1/2 mile behind the leader.

If you are leading, it is your responcibility to keep track of everyone.