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Sicamous avalanche

Life is evolution. We can never wind the clock back. God, I wish we could because we know so much more now than when we needed it. :( Stuck with what has happened is what we are. We learn and change to adapt to survive. Every time we suffer a loss like this passion runs high here. That's good. it creates discussion and THAT alone is good. It is about our experiences, our lessons learned and our desire not to repeat bad things. I suggest re-reading this whole post and seeing what you can glean out of it that is postive. Lots of great opinions here and others that just are not yet developed from experience. All have a voice and some voices just help us reconfirm bad or good what we have learned from the past. Forget the tiny details and agree to help one another learn, to help one another stay safe in any way possible. I think that over the years before we 'knew' all the risks or had great on-line avy reports, it could have been any of us on any given day back then. "there, but for the grace of God, go I." Now we know better. Teach someone what you know and learned possibly the hard way. take from all of these deaths possibly a desire to NOT have it repeated if possible.

:(

Well said. :beer; I have to get a tissue now!
 
Quick question. I'm shopping for a beacon and see there are different kinds and brands. Any intelligent recommendations?

Pieps.com - pieps
backcountryaccess.com - tracker

See if you can find a dealer for both and go check them out. Find the one that fits you the best. Both really good, just a little different. I have the pieps and can search and mark up to 4 burials.

Find the one that you are comfortalbe with and work with it. Instructions do no good after the slide....
 
Who TF cares about the sled, thats what metal detectors are for.
Wear a god damn beacon to minimize risk for those riding around you, if you cant be bothered to wear or buy one, do everyone else a favour, stay the fu(k at home. :mad:

I'm with AA, carefully crafted to come across so delicately. Who would want a bunch of extra signals coming from buried sleds when you're looking for human beings? Should all the searchers leave theirs on send to further confuse things? The only way the sled beacon thing would work is if it could send a seperate signal identifying it as a sled beacon and not a personal beacon.
 
It not just a personal choice you Idiots, what about all those poeple that spent 3-4 hrs on that hill probing for someone that didn't think he needed a beacon. Your endangering other peoples lives as well as yours.

You're not going to have to worry about this "idiot". I don't get on my sled without my beacon, making sure I have adequate battery power and stay the hell away from anything that can slide when the conditions present themselves. You're barking up the wrong tree. We're all on the same side here. Just different philosophies.

At risk of sounding callous, how much more warning do people need? Every news agency in the continent has had these incidents plastered in your face everywhere. The warnings are plain as day, and people still insist of putting themselves in harm's way, and unprotected in this case, no less. There's plenty powder to ride out there without taking the risk. Stick to it, or stay the F home.
 
Once again and hopefully for the last time this season (but probly not). My condolences to the family and may the deceased rest in peace. Some people need to put their heads on straight and figure out its not safe out there right now and think about their families. I always hate hearing about another individual of the snowmobile family parish.
 
Pieps.com - pieps
backcountryaccess.com - tracker

Fosho, the BCA IMO is the easiest to use for people new to beacons.

I bought a new Piep DSP a few weeks ago and feel super comfy with it.

KFD, I see you are from Kelowna. Go to Adventure Gear on the corner of Spall and Springfeild (Next to second time around), ask for Dale. He carries the BCA, Pieps as well as many others. He's very experienced, knows his shiot and as mentioned has many in stock.

Cheers

PS. Remember when replacing batteries, ALKALINE Only in most brands, Lithium etc voids warranty and most brands dont want you using lithiums. (Just a reminder :))
 
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I'm with AA, carefully crafted to come across so delicately. Who would want a bunch of extra signals coming from buried sleds when you're looking for human beings? Should all the searchers leave theirs on send to further confuse things? The only way the sled beacon thing would work is if it could send a seperate signal identifying it as a sled beacon and not a personal beacon.

X2 Get the sled in the spring or spend time probing. Could you imagine using all your energy digging through concrete for a loved one to only find you found a sled. Oh man I'd be pissed.
 
X2 Get the sled in the spring or spend time probing. Could you imagine using all your energy digging through concrete for a loved one to only find you found a sled. Oh man I'd be pissed.


I'd be pissed too. The sled beacon idea wasn't for finding a sled. Finding the sled after the victims is the least of my concerns. Some of you guys are kinda missing the point I was getting at. I was just thinking for situations like the one that happened on owlshead, for people not wearing a beacon. The Sledder was found buried *with* his sled right? If his sled had a beacon they may have gotten to him faster. Thats all I was saying... yeah if they could create some kind of different type of signal to identify the signal as a sled, that would be really cool. Because I know if there are too many signals thats a bad thing too.. i dunno. it was just a thought. :o
 
Decisions

As someone said earlier, the big dog on the hill used to be the 70 HP 121" and the 'go or no-go' decision was made often by the limitations of the equipment. Now it is the rider and their group that need to make the choice.

We as a group and a sport need to make better decisions. There is ALWAYS somewhere safe to ride.

RIP:face-icon-small-sad
 
Fosho, the BCA IMO is the easiest to use for people new to beacons.

I bought a new Piep DSP a few weeks ago and feel super comfy with it.

KFD, I see you are from Kelowna. Go to Adventure Gear on the corner of Spall and Springfeild (Next to second time around), ask for Dale. He carries the BCA, Pieps as well as many others. He's very experienced, knows his shiot and as mentioned has many in stock.

Cheers

PS. Remember when replacing batteries, ALKALINE Only in most brands, Lithium etc voids warranty and most brands dont want you using lithiums. (Just a reminder :))

Cheers.:beer;
Thanks for that.
 
i like to think my beacon is to be used to help others in dire need, because my brain/training should never let me be burried. the experience of being there for this unfortunate accident just makes it so this HAS TO BE THE WAY IT HAS TO BE! please wear a beacon, know how to use it, get a probe, get a shovel, and most importantly get educated!! don't let the monster get you.
 
Fosho, the BCA IMO is the easiest to use for people new to beacons.

I bought a new Piep DSP a few weeks ago and feel super comfy with it.

KFD, I see you are from Kelowna. Go to Adventure Gear on the corner of Spall and Springfeild (Next to second time around), ask for Dale. He carries the BCA, Pieps as well as many others. He's very experienced, knows his shiot and as mentioned has many in stock.

Cheers

PS. Remember when replacing batteries, ALKALINE Only in most brands, Lithium etc voids warranty and most brands dont want you using lithiums. (Just a reminder :))

http://en.ortovox.com/transceiver/s1.html
Here is one more option to check out. I just bought one, and a feature it has ( don't know if other companies do as well) is that if you are in search mode it will go back to transcieving mode after a certain time. that way if you were to be hit by a second avy you wouldn't still be in search mode.
 
"hats off"

My group was motioned by one of the sledders involed in that horific slide.My first thoughts were we are going to dig this person out ,then give him a tongue lashing!! Immediatly finding out he wasn't wearing an avy beacon our attitude quikly changed (for the worse) WE looked at each other,gathered our composure,than started our frenzy search. We never stopped the search for two hours.Wierd we never got tired, I just remember Hobbs yelling "it could be any one of us"KEEP SEARCHING" Shortly after that I had to stop,get a drink and change my gloves. I'll never forget standing at my sled overwelmed at the crowd of sledders searching for this fellow rider as a HUGE slab of snow lingerd above.The time came when my body had to get down, I had to leave! My hats off to ALL that stayed and joined in this avoidable accident!!!
I hope this young man's death is not in vain, and even us guys who take all precaution will take something from this.......I WILL....R.I.P MATT
 
My group was motioned by one of the sledders involed in that horific slide.My first thoughts were we are going to dig this person out ,then give him a tongue lashing!! Immediatly finding out he wasn't wearing an avy beacon our attitude quikly changed (for the worse) WE looked at each other,gathered our composure,than started our frenzy search. We never stopped the search for two hours.Wierd we never got tired, I just remember Hobbs yelling "it could be any one of us"KEEP SEARCHING" Shortly after that I had to stop,get a drink and change my gloves. I'll never forget standing at my sled overwelmed at the crowd of sledders searching for this fellow rider as a HUGE slab of snow lingerd above.The time came when my body had to get down, I had to leave! My hats off to ALL that stayed and joined in this avoidable accident!!!
I hope this young man's death is not in vain, and even us guys who take all precaution will take something from this.......I WILL....R.I.P MATT


:beer;:beer;:beer; to you all !!
 
My group was motioned by one of the sledders involed in that horific slide.My first thoughts were we are going to dig this person out ,then give him a tongue lashing!! Immediatly finding out he wasn't wearing an avy beacon our attitude quikly changed (for the worse) WE looked at each other,gathered our composure,than started our frenzy search. We never stopped the search for two hours.Wierd we never got tired, I just remember Hobbs yelling "it could be any one of us"KEEP SEARCHING" Shortly after that I had to stop,get a drink and change my gloves. I'll never forget standing at my sled overwelmed at the crowd of sledders searching for this fellow rider as a HUGE slab of snow lingerd above.The time came when my body had to get down, I had to leave! My hats off to ALL that stayed and joined in this avoidable accident!!!
I hope this young man's death is not in vain, and even us guys who take all precaution will take something from this.......I WILL....R.I.P MATT

well said brother. was good to hear you made it down when i talked to you this morning. how are you doing?
 
how deep was he buried and how close was he to where they thought he was?

he was down 5-6 feet and his leg was caught under the sled. we had to probe search about 2 acres and he could have been anywhere. we had to dig a 20' round, 7' deep hole to recover him.
 
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