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Summit Daily News: Snowmobiles tally high numbers in avy fatalities

Posting to both Avalanche and Colorado sections.

http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120129932
Snowmobiles tally high numbers in avy fatalities
Nationwide, sledders lead the pack
January, 22 2012
By Janice Kurbjun
summit daily news

A snowmobiler on Jones Pass smashed his sled and injured himself by hitting a large boulder buried under shallow snow last weekend.

Alpine Rescue Team members responded to the incident, which took place on the western edge of Clear Creek County. It's not an uncommon incident, Flight for Life paramedic Kevin Kelble said, who teaches avalanche resuscitation in several counties and takes the opportunity to spread the word about snowmobile safety.

“There are some people riding responsibly, but there are some people who aren't and it's going to be traumatic if things go wrong,” Kelble said. “It's the unexposed and shallowly buried obstacles (that are key right now).”

According to Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) statistics, 212 snowmobilers have died from sled-triggered avalanches since the 1950-51 season. Of those, 116 have occurred in the last decade.

By comparison, 178 skiers, 165 climbers and 29 snowboarders have died in avalanches in the past 60 years; 52, 27 and 17, respectively, occurred in the last decade.

CAIC director Ethan Greene said though snowmobilers lead the way in avalanche fatalities nationwide, the same isn't true for Colorado.

“We don't really have a very good answer for why,” he said. “It probably has to do with the proportion of snowmobilers, and motorized versus non-motorized recreational use (in Colorado). There are a handful of arguments, but nothing I'd want to hang my hat on.”

Greene said every backcountry user group has a progression in avalanche knowledge. It starts with a select few dabbling in the sport or activity, followed by a few others taking it to a new level in new terrain.

“Eventually, motivation and technology allows them to get into avalanche terrain more,” Greene said. “They start doing their sport in avalanche terrain a lot. That's when the group is vulnerable and there's a lot of accidents. (Avalanche safety) becomes part of that group's mores — what's viewed as valued and important.”

“It becomes part of the culture,” he said.

Skiers and snowboarders have gotten on the avalanche safety bandwagon and have lessened accidents dramatically for their user group. Greene said snowmobilers are “pretty far along in the cycle,” but are still in the midst of getting all users avalanche aware.

“Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they want to be an avalanche expert. But people do wake up in the morning and decide they want to snowmobile these wide open slopes... Our motivation is to do these sports we love, and along the way, we realize that learning about avy safety is important to do the sports we want to do,” Greene said. “Our skill at the sport increases much faster than our knowledge about avalanches.”

Kelble sometimes refers to a sled-triggered slide in Revelstoke, British Columbia, during May 2010's informal event, the Big Iron Shoot Out.

According to a news source reporting on the incident, an avalanche slid into the base camp, where roughly 200 snowmobilers and spectators were gathered. Initial reports suggested dozens of people buried, but two were reported dead after the search was completed and all the missing accounted for.

Kelble called it “carnage,” saying rescue was chaotic and intense, with plenty of non-ideal factors — such as individuals wandering around with beacons still in transmit mode.

But things are progressing, Greene said. Today, dedicated snowmobile safety courses are emerging for sledders looking to travel in avalanche terrain.

Nonetheless, snow science is an imperfect science, and understanding the forces snowmobiles place on snowpack is even more imperfect, Greene said.

“They behave in very different ways than non-motorized users,” he said, though he did explain that the closer a force gets to a slab, the more likely it is to trigger an avalanche. Often, sledders get stuck while highmarking — competing to see who can get highest on a slope — and the snowmobile sinks into the snow. Movement of the driver and digging the sled out adds force exponentially to the slab.

A basic safety lesson
As part of his four-pronged basic safety repertoire, Greene jokingly warned, “don't help your friends,” in situations where they're stuck on an open slope. He explained, “You're better off sitting in a safe position and watching them while they get unstuck and ride it out.”

Greene also suggested keeping the avalanche beacon and avalanche equipment on your body, not in a pack tied to the snowmobile as many sledders do.

“A person can end up on the surface, but without the machine and the beacon, shovel and probe,” Greene said.

He warned sledders to find a safe spot to watch highmarking, which isn't the bottom of the slope.

“Sit off to the side,” he said. “Ensure you're watching from a safe location that's not threatened by the slope they're on.”

Lastly, he recommends having an escape plan and route, and having the kill switch on and ready in case of emergency.

“Most avalanche accidents — true regardless (of the user type) — typically very simple safety ideas and concepts would have changed the outcome,” Greene said.

Not the only ones
Greene said another complication for the snowmobiler user group is the plethora of riders coming to the mountains from popular sledding spots like Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and elsewhere in the Midwest — that are without avalanche risk.

“We do see accidents where people are really good riders coming to Colorado, but don't understand they need to know about avalanches,” Greene said. “They don't know the risks they are exposing themselves to because they are in a different environment.”

Typically, skiers and riders who take to backcountry travel learn quickly, through the existing culture and through exposure, that avalanche knowledge is important, Greene said.

“Most skiers and snowboarders start to learn about avalanches pretty quickly, especially if they hang around ski areas and know about the work ski patrol is doing. Directly or indirectly, it affects them,” Greene said, though they still become victims.

“It's easy to write a certain user group off, but that is rarely true and almost never helpful,” he said.
 
Posting to both Avalanche and Colorado sections.

http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120129932
Snowmobiles tally high numbers in avy fatalities
Nationwide, sledders lead the pack
January, 22 2012

CAIC director Ethan Greene said though snowmobilers lead the way in avalanche fatalities nationwide, the same isn't true for Colorado.

“We don't really have a very good answer for why,” he said. “It probably has to do with the proportion of snowmobilers, and motorized versus non-motorized recreational use (in Colorado). There are a handful of arguments, but nothing I'd want to hang my hat on.”



Could it be that the riders in Colorado are educating themsleves due to the Avy dangers in MOUNTAINS. Skiiers are not the only ones who educate themselves. Another thing, when skiing, one is more often than not in a controlled environment. Can't say the same thing regarding sledding in the back country. WE had BETTER educate ourselves.

Sam
 
Last edited:
Posting to both Avalanche and Colorado sections.

http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120129932
Snowmobiles tally high numbers in avy fatalities
Nationwide, sledders lead the pack
January, 22 2012

CAIC director Ethan Greene said though snowmobilers lead the way in avalanche fatalities nationwide, the same isn't true for Colorado.

“We don't really have a very good answer for why,” he said. “It probably has to do with the proportion of snowmobilers, and motorized versus non-motorized recreational use (in Colorado). There are a handful of arguments, but nothing I'd want to hang my hat on.”



Could it be that the riders Colorado are educating themsleves due to the Avy dangers in MOUNTAINS. Skiiers are not the only ones who educate themselves. Another thing, when skiing, one is more often than not in a controlled environment. Can't say the same thing regarding sledding in the back country. WE had BETTER educate ourselves.

Sam

One of the things that we run into is we can ride miles and through a number of different avi conditions. Skiers can do an assessment of a slope and make a pretty good educated guess. Sledders can take a look at one slope and play on it, move to the next area with totally different conditions, and not know what they are unless they do a separate evaluation. Diffrent Slope angles, aspects, wind loading, sun exposure etc.
 
This is a list of the total US avalanche fatalities from last year.

I am a snowboarder/snowmobiler/sledboarder, so that puts me in a couple of different activities in the backcountry. I took my first 4 day avy course back in 2002 in Jackson, Wyoming. I followed it up with an 8 day avalanche course through the Ski Patrol in Utah in 2004. I've taken a refresher course since then. Back then the skiers and snowboarders were taking the avy courses and even then the snowboarders were considered the careless ones that got caught in avalanches.

I started riding snowmobiles 7 years ago, very few of the guys wore a pack, carried a shovel, or brought extra food(maybe some beef jerky or hot dogs for a midday fire). Now everybody wears a pack, carries a shovel and wears beacons. Riders are much better prepared these days.

There are always exceptions to each group.

One of the things that we run into is we can ride miles and through a number of different avi conditions. Skiers can do an assessment of a slope and make a pretty good educated guess. Sledders can take a look at one slope and play on it, move to the next area with totally different conditions, and not know what they are unless they do a separate evaluation. Diffrent Slope angles, aspects, wind loading, sun exposure etc.

2010-2011 SEASON

25 US fatalities
Activity Killed
Skier † 8
Snowboarder † 4
Snowmobiler 4
Snowshoer/Climber/Hiker 4
Other 5
Total 25
† Inbounds skier/boarder 1

Date State Location Description Killed
05/22 † AK Mount Frances, Denali National Park 2 climbers caught and killed (Preliminary) 2
05/21 CO Torreys Peak 1 snowboarder caught and killed 1
04/28 AK Ruth Gorge Icefall avalanche hits camp, 1 climber killed 1
04/26 † CA Split Mountain, south of Bishop 2 skiers caught and killed 2
04/18 AK Bird Ridge, Chugach State Park Solo snowplayer caught, buried, and killed 1
04/16 † WY Garnet Canyon Meadows, Grand Teton National Park 2 backcountry tourers caught, buried, and killed while camped 2
04/04 CO Highlands Ridge, Desolation Row, Aspen zone 1 skier caught and killed 1
03/27 WA Back country to the west of Stevens Pass, WA. Backside of Cowboy Mountain 1 snowboarder caught, partly buried, and killed 1
03/26 UT Horsehoe Mountain 3 skiers caught, 1 partly buried, 1 partly buried-critical and killed. 1
03/19 AK Hatch Peak, Hatcher Pass 2 skiers caught, 1 injured and 1 killed 1
03/05 WA Mount Cashmere 1 skier caught and killed 1
02/22 CO East Snowmass Creek Valley, Sand's Chute 1 Skier caught, fully buried, and killed 1
02/20 CO Sand Peak-Flat Tops 1 snowmobiler caught, buried and killed 1
02/14 MT Truman Gulch, Bridger Range 1 snowboarder caught, buried, killed 1
02/01 WA Red Mountain, Snoqualmie Pass Washington 1 skier on foot caught, buried and killed 1
01/17 CO "High Trail Cliffs," northeast of Berthoud Pass 1 snowboarder (and dog) caught, buried, and killed 1
01/08 MT Near Hungry Horse Reservoir, east of Kalispell 3 snowmobilers caught, 1 killed 1
12/29 ID 20 miles northeast of Calder 1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed 1
12/05 CO Dry Gulch-East of Eisenhower Tunnel 2 skiers caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed 1
12/04 † WA Morning Star Peak, north central Washington Cascades 1 climber caught, partially buried, and killed 1
11/26 UT Cherry Hill, western Uinta Mountains 1 snowmobiler caught and killed 1
11/22 CO Wolf Creek Pass Ski Area, Glory Hole Point Ski patroller caught, buried and killed 1

† Estimated
 
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