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SylvanLaker
Well-known member
Knee Deep
You should let your bud know about this thread so the family see all the care and support from his fellow riders...
Revelstoke Avalanche at Keystone
- Thread starter glaciertim
- Start date
Knee Deep
You should let your bud know about this thread so the family see all the care and support from his fellow riders...
I would again like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who was on Keystone on Saturday afternoon, that tried to save teh life of my husband for over two hours. Especially Tim who had the courage to call myself and Doug's parents and talk through what exactly happened. I know that was extremely hard to do, but it was killing us all not knowing who Doug was with in his last moments and how it happened. Thank you Tim. Thank you Keystone sledders. Also I have read through everyone's comments and I have always known that the sledding community was strong, I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for myself and our family. God Bless you all.
First Tim...thank you for being such an amazing leader we all did what we could, second JetJet from the bottom of my heart I am so sorry for your loss. From the only day I got to ride with him you could tell Doug was a very caring man, helping my sister and I get unstuck where ever we went. Such an eye opening experience for us all who were there and hopefully to all those who have read this thread. That night was the toughest ride I have ever experienced... so much emotions and thoughts running through my mind... sell the sled, stop riding for good, all things that I am sure we all felt but unfortunatly this wont really make us feel any better about the situation. Tim I do hope that we can one day ride again together... but with a new aspect on safety and life. Never did realise how precious life really is...though how precious it is we still have to live it to the fullest doing all that we love to do.
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powder puff
Well-known member
JetJet I work at Boulder and had come to know Doug over the yrs., lots of B.S. sessions while he got ready to head out for the day. Seemed like he was always here and he was always the first guy to the hill, some days he would even bring us coffee. He had told me that if and when we were able to groom into Turtle that he would donate the building material for an emergency shelter for the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club. He was at Boulder real early Sat. morning testing some repairs he had had to do to his sled on Fri. before he headed out on his trip to Keystone. Horst and I will miss him also, we always looked forward to seeing him, also very sorry for your loss.
If there is anything the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club can do for you and your family please let us know.
Kathy
If there is anything the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club can do for you and your family please let us know.
Kathy
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doug will be missed
i met Doug in november when me, my cousin and my brother made the trip of a life time to REVY. we are from washington sate.never been there before and had no idea where we were ridin. so we met this guy at boulder mountain and he told us to ride with him. it was nasty weather and we had no idea where we were ridin. so we folowed doug and some other guys and he showed us around.. it was amazing. doug was such a go getter. we rode with him the rest of the week. he knew those mountians. doug was a very extreme man. he was also a very nice man.. i am so sad to hear about this.. well every one else please stay safe. a prayer goes out to all friends and family..
cody dean
i met Doug in november when me, my cousin and my brother made the trip of a life time to REVY. we are from washington sate.never been there before and had no idea where we were ridin. so we met this guy at boulder mountain and he told us to ride with him. it was nasty weather and we had no idea where we were ridin. so we folowed doug and some other guys and he showed us around.. it was amazing. doug was such a go getter. we rode with him the rest of the week. he knew those mountians. doug was a very extreme man. he was also a very nice man.. i am so sad to hear about this.. well every one else please stay safe. a prayer goes out to all friends and family..
cody dean
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SylvanLaker
Well-known member
I have seen so many people this year highmarking in very steep high risk terrain. You see it every year, but I don't think people are recognizing the persistant week layers that are in our snowpack this year. Our group has done little or no playing on hills this year. Too scared. It can happen to anyone, we all are at risk just riding. I just hope people that read this post see how seroius this winters conditions are. It just makes me sad too keep hearing about a partner lost, a dad lost and so on. I'm glad people came together to discuss this so others may learn from it..
If anyone on here was there can they describe the angle of the slope and the depth of the slab release. Any other details?
If anyone on here was there can they describe the angle of the slope and the depth of the slab release. Any other details?
Sylvan, Go back and read the attachment RGM has , it's the CAA report with the info!
Condolances to the family and peps involved
Condolances to the family and peps involved
I've been reading this thread all week and trying to think of what to say. I never met Doug but still feel the loss. Its good to know that even though we all come on this site and bash eachothers Sleds, trucks, skills. etc.. All it takes is a couple beers, a couple inch's of snow, or a lost comrade, and we all rally together like a family to enjoy or to help cope with the situation.
Tim from all accounts you guys did everything you could and your dig out time was spectacular, so take some comfort in knowing you did all you could (and possibly more.) I would sled with you any time!!
JetJet your courage in coming on here and posting after sufering such a loss is inspirational. My deepest condolances to you and your family.
Ride hard, ride safe.
Tim from all accounts you guys did everything you could and your dig out time was spectacular, so take some comfort in knowing you did all you could (and possibly more.) I would sled with you any time!!
JetJet your courage in coming on here and posting after sufering such a loss is inspirational. My deepest condolances to you and your family.
Ride hard, ride safe.
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Jetjet, thanks for having the courage to write to us. I know that we who were there take comfort in reading your words. If you have a photo of Doug, it might be a fitting and lasting dedication to him to post the photo on this thread. Our thoughts are with you to have the strength to make it through the ordeals of the funeral tomorrow while showing courage to your girls.
Macdome, yes, we will ride again. And as you wrote, it will be with a new eye to safety. Can you PM me your dad's number?
Macdome, yes, we will ride again. And as you wrote, it will be with a new eye to safety. Can you PM me your dad's number?
First of all my condolences to Doug’s family and friends. I had meet Doug 1 month through mutual friends and rode a couple of days with him. He was a great rider and a true purist that loved sledding and worked very hard to be able to do it. Until Tuesday, I did not know that Doug was the one being worked on at the bottom of the hill.
I was the guy that was buried on the far side of the mountain that Saturday afternoon.
Our group had rode passed the others in the fog and crossed the ridge when everyone else turned around. We got into a perfect trackless valley that we all dream of. The sun was shining, powder was deep, all was good. Deciding we should make tracks out a shorter and more direct way, incase it was dark when we wanted to go, we headed back to the hill that we usually drop in and started running at it. In the fog we couldn’t see the top but knew where we needed to be. One of the group set off a smaller slide that should have been enough warning for us but we just moved over and lined up better for the top. I was the fourth in the group to run the hill making it about ¾ the way. As I started to turn out, the hill let go above me. This was the 3rd slide I have been in and the second time buried. I turned the sled back up into the slide hoping to climb up through it. No luck. I dug in and the sled started to roll. I couldn’t get off the up hill side and spent the next 3-5 seconds fighting to get away from my sled. They say “to swim” when in a slide. I tried to get onto my stomach to paddle but the sled kept rolling onto my feet, also a 30 lb backpack pulling me down. When things started to slow down I could feel the weight of the snow pile up on me. It covered me by close to a meter and got dark quick.
I thought I would panic in this situation, but instead I was quite relaxed knowing who was on the surface. Good friends that know what they are doing should be on the top of the “must have list” with a beacon, shovel and probe. They had me out in about 5 minutes.
Our group was the only ones on the mountain with a satellite phone. We never ride without a Sat. phone and everyone carries beacons, probes, shovels, first aid kit, and overnight survival kits. And I won’t ride again without an ABS backpack. (www.rockymountainxtreme.com Keith 403-823-9977) I better not hear anyone say they are too expensive after what I have seen in the last 18 years of mountain riding. We all need to be prepared to Aid, dig a fellow rider out and do CPR or what ever it takes.
Our group of friends started boon docking 6 years ago and we don’t see much hill climbing nor do we see many other riders. Don’t be fooled in that this is safer. 6 years ago while tree riding at Blue Lakes I was hit from behind by a slow moving slide and pushed into trees with my knees hooked under the handle bars. This time I was by myself and covered over my head with only my arms and face out of the snow. It took about 30 minutes to dig myself out and about 45 before anyone else in my group found me.
The reason I am writing this is to get more people to take training and to be more aware of how dangerous the hills can be whether riding in Alberta, BC or US. Anything over 30 degrees can slide and kill. Even if we only ride 2-3 times a year we need to know how to save a friends life. I think by now we all know someone that has been in a slide and wished we could be there to help them out.
In conclusion, as I tell my wife, the most dangerous part of sledding is the highway out there and back. Another rider has said that I am “going to be killed on a sled”. But with the friends, experience, equipment, and training we have I think I am in for many more great years of doing what I love.
I was the guy that was buried on the far side of the mountain that Saturday afternoon.
Our group had rode passed the others in the fog and crossed the ridge when everyone else turned around. We got into a perfect trackless valley that we all dream of. The sun was shining, powder was deep, all was good. Deciding we should make tracks out a shorter and more direct way, incase it was dark when we wanted to go, we headed back to the hill that we usually drop in and started running at it. In the fog we couldn’t see the top but knew where we needed to be. One of the group set off a smaller slide that should have been enough warning for us but we just moved over and lined up better for the top. I was the fourth in the group to run the hill making it about ¾ the way. As I started to turn out, the hill let go above me. This was the 3rd slide I have been in and the second time buried. I turned the sled back up into the slide hoping to climb up through it. No luck. I dug in and the sled started to roll. I couldn’t get off the up hill side and spent the next 3-5 seconds fighting to get away from my sled. They say “to swim” when in a slide. I tried to get onto my stomach to paddle but the sled kept rolling onto my feet, also a 30 lb backpack pulling me down. When things started to slow down I could feel the weight of the snow pile up on me. It covered me by close to a meter and got dark quick.
I thought I would panic in this situation, but instead I was quite relaxed knowing who was on the surface. Good friends that know what they are doing should be on the top of the “must have list” with a beacon, shovel and probe. They had me out in about 5 minutes.
Our group was the only ones on the mountain with a satellite phone. We never ride without a Sat. phone and everyone carries beacons, probes, shovels, first aid kit, and overnight survival kits. And I won’t ride again without an ABS backpack. (www.rockymountainxtreme.com Keith 403-823-9977) I better not hear anyone say they are too expensive after what I have seen in the last 18 years of mountain riding. We all need to be prepared to Aid, dig a fellow rider out and do CPR or what ever it takes.
Our group of friends started boon docking 6 years ago and we don’t see much hill climbing nor do we see many other riders. Don’t be fooled in that this is safer. 6 years ago while tree riding at Blue Lakes I was hit from behind by a slow moving slide and pushed into trees with my knees hooked under the handle bars. This time I was by myself and covered over my head with only my arms and face out of the snow. It took about 30 minutes to dig myself out and about 45 before anyone else in my group found me.
The reason I am writing this is to get more people to take training and to be more aware of how dangerous the hills can be whether riding in Alberta, BC or US. Anything over 30 degrees can slide and kill. Even if we only ride 2-3 times a year we need to know how to save a friends life. I think by now we all know someone that has been in a slide and wished we could be there to help them out.
In conclusion, as I tell my wife, the most dangerous part of sledding is the highway out there and back. Another rider has said that I am “going to be killed on a sled”. But with the friends, experience, equipment, and training we have I think I am in for many more great years of doing what I love.
Dale agains thanks for the Sat phone help and the fire by the gas drop at the end of a bad day certainly needed to warm up. Yes I agree on the ABS I ordered one as soon as I got back rode last weekend with it on, nine very happy pounds on my back all day, I also had the 30 lb pack before and have been dumped off the sled on my back in deep powder you feel like an upside down turtle trying to flip over, definetly a hazzard. Nine pounds on my back you feel way more agilethen before and safer. Also upgraded my peep to the meanest on the market tracks five at a time and i sure hope i never need it, but good to have.
JetJet My deepest condolances to you and your family.
I just new Doug for the two days we rode together but everyone is right a prince of a man!
JetJet My deepest condolances to you and your family.
I just new Doug for the two days we rode together but everyone is right a prince of a man!
Doug Murray
It has been two weeks since the unfortunate event transpired on Keystone. Although I was not riding with Doug that fateful weekend I feel the pain of the loss as if I were there. His funeral was heartbreaking for all of us. Guy, thanks so much for your moving tribute at the funeral.
Doug was a wonderful friend, husband and father. As many of you may already know Doug left behind a wife and three young daughters. In an attempt to help out Jeanette and the girls a group of us have been working with Jeanette to set up a Family Trust to attempt to provide them with some help.
Although we cannot bring Doug back we can at least provide some financial assistance to Jeanette and the girls to help them survive this trying time.
If you would like to make a donation to Jeanette and girls you can do so at any TD Canada Trust Branch in country. Simply go into a convenient branch and ask the teller to place your donation in Jeanette Murray’s account that has a Transit number of 690 and an account number of 6325549. All donations will go directly to Jeanette and the girls.
Again thanks for all of the wonderful posts, thoughts and prayers.
Neil Roszell
It has been two weeks since the unfortunate event transpired on Keystone. Although I was not riding with Doug that fateful weekend I feel the pain of the loss as if I were there. His funeral was heartbreaking for all of us. Guy, thanks so much for your moving tribute at the funeral.
Doug was a wonderful friend, husband and father. As many of you may already know Doug left behind a wife and three young daughters. In an attempt to help out Jeanette and the girls a group of us have been working with Jeanette to set up a Family Trust to attempt to provide them with some help.
Although we cannot bring Doug back we can at least provide some financial assistance to Jeanette and the girls to help them survive this trying time.
If you would like to make a donation to Jeanette and girls you can do so at any TD Canada Trust Branch in country. Simply go into a convenient branch and ask the teller to place your donation in Jeanette Murray’s account that has a Transit number of 690 and an account number of 6325549. All donations will go directly to Jeanette and the girls.
Again thanks for all of the wonderful posts, thoughts and prayers.
Neil Roszell
Doug Murray
I have been riding with Doug for the last 2 years, 3 trips this year. He was the Weyburn Boyz snow report man when we were planning our next trip (since you could bet he was out at Revy every weekend) and he was our tour guide when we went riding....... he knew the mountains like the back of his hand. In the short time that I knew Doug I had a lot of good times riding in the mountains with him and will think of him every time I go to ride. Doug was a hell of a rider and a hell of a good guy, he will be greatly missed. Every time I think of this tragedy I think that could have been our group that was riding with Doug that weekend and I cannot imagine what you and your group is going through. From myself and all the Weyburn Boyz [Yappy, Herlick, Aaron, Steve, Rick, Jonathan, Troy, Ryley] we would like to thank you and the others in your efforts to rescue Doug. Hold your heads high knowing you did all you could. To Doug's family of which he spoke so highly of we give our deepest sympathy.
John Hulbert
I have been riding with Doug for the last 2 years, 3 trips this year. He was the Weyburn Boyz snow report man when we were planning our next trip (since you could bet he was out at Revy every weekend) and he was our tour guide when we went riding....... he knew the mountains like the back of his hand. In the short time that I knew Doug I had a lot of good times riding in the mountains with him and will think of him every time I go to ride. Doug was a hell of a rider and a hell of a good guy, he will be greatly missed. Every time I think of this tragedy I think that could have been our group that was riding with Doug that weekend and I cannot imagine what you and your group is going through. From myself and all the Weyburn Boyz [Yappy, Herlick, Aaron, Steve, Rick, Jonathan, Troy, Ryley] we would like to thank you and the others in your efforts to rescue Doug. Hold your heads high knowing you did all you could. To Doug's family of which he spoke so highly of we give our deepest sympathy.
John Hulbert
Tim, I don't know you but I have to say you have told this story in a way that really brings the reality home more than any news article could.
How many sledders will now turn away from that hill that would have taken their lives, because of your words in the back of their minds-and we will never know?
I know I would, I don't want my wife to go through what Doug's wife must be going through.
Thank you for taking the time.
How many sledders will now turn away from that hill that would have taken their lives, because of your words in the back of their minds-and we will never know?
I know I would, I don't want my wife to go through what Doug's wife must be going through.
Thank you for taking the time.
coulda been us...
So, so close to home for us. We were riding Revy that weekend, and made a group decision to not take on the gruelling trail up Keystone (the last time it broke budddies tunnel in half) I now look back at it. That morning (of the 16th) - I kinda felt relieved that we wernt going up there- how the ego can get in the way-but didnt want to say **** to my riding buddies(and used the tunnel excuse to drop Keystone. Following are the events that happened to us that day. Kinda eerie, sitting here tonight getting teared up about this and all, but you really need a shocker to make you realize that as humans- we really arnt invincible, and mother nature IS greater than any horsepower we can ever muster up... we were waiting at Boulder cabin for Clayton (approximately 4:40)to see if his friend had gotten in a bind or weather he had gone down without telling us or signing out, and the second I saw how fast that chopper was moving I knew someone had gotten into it. We went down, showered, hot tubbed it, and then went in to Bad Paul's for supper. As we were heading to bed we went to return our rental Beacons at The Frontier gas bar. It was there that we learned that fifteen minutes earlier one of your party had arrived with the doors on the trailer still open. Needless to say the ladie behind the till was still nerved up, as she told us what happened-the 19 min. thing and all. Sad night for us as we headed back to Smokey The Bear. Dave and I just couldnt get over how close we had just came to being the ones involved, it sure opened our eyes and minds that night, and we shared a moment in respect to our fallen comrade... not that we knew him --but I would like to think that in a sport that not the average person imbibes in, that maybe if I were to be buried alive someday and somebody that never knew me were to feel as emotional as we did that night- that maybe the emotion being expeled could possibly be a helping hand in getting that soul to the place he wanted be in.... Too close to home for me, but still will not give up ever... although I've done some serious thinking on the subject as my good friend and riding partner had to step up and now rides a Turbo Apex, kinda hard to keep up with when I still owe on my 05 loan! Thank-you very much for posting this thread. Keep your chin up, and have faith.
So, so close to home for us. We were riding Revy that weekend, and made a group decision to not take on the gruelling trail up Keystone (the last time it broke budddies tunnel in half) I now look back at it. That morning (of the 16th) - I kinda felt relieved that we wernt going up there- how the ego can get in the way-but didnt want to say **** to my riding buddies(and used the tunnel excuse to drop Keystone. Following are the events that happened to us that day. Kinda eerie, sitting here tonight getting teared up about this and all, but you really need a shocker to make you realize that as humans- we really arnt invincible, and mother nature IS greater than any horsepower we can ever muster up... we were waiting at Boulder cabin for Clayton (approximately 4:40)to see if his friend had gotten in a bind or weather he had gone down without telling us or signing out, and the second I saw how fast that chopper was moving I knew someone had gotten into it. We went down, showered, hot tubbed it, and then went in to Bad Paul's for supper. As we were heading to bed we went to return our rental Beacons at The Frontier gas bar. It was there that we learned that fifteen minutes earlier one of your party had arrived with the doors on the trailer still open. Needless to say the ladie behind the till was still nerved up, as she told us what happened-the 19 min. thing and all. Sad night for us as we headed back to Smokey The Bear. Dave and I just couldnt get over how close we had just came to being the ones involved, it sure opened our eyes and minds that night, and we shared a moment in respect to our fallen comrade... not that we knew him --but I would like to think that in a sport that not the average person imbibes in, that maybe if I were to be buried alive someday and somebody that never knew me were to feel as emotional as we did that night- that maybe the emotion being expeled could possibly be a helping hand in getting that soul to the place he wanted be in.... Too close to home for me, but still will not give up ever... although I've done some serious thinking on the subject as my good friend and riding partner had to step up and now rides a Turbo Apex, kinda hard to keep up with when I still owe on my 05 loan! Thank-you very much for posting this thread. Keep your chin up, and have faith.
