I wanted to pass on a quick story in hopes of preventing any injury to fellow snowmobilers.
Yesterday a group of us were up on the mountain. One of the guys got stuck pretty good in some deep powder while climbing. (It was a small hill, no Avy danger). When we were getting him out the guy that owns the sled was standing on the track side. The track was buried pretty good and we had pulled the front end around and were going to try to head him down hill.
The guy on the left side of the sled started the sled, we thought everyone was clear, and as he started to give it throttle the guy on the track side had his foot slide down and his boot got caught in between the track and the hyfax. It pulled his foot back from the front and by the time the sled was shut off his foot was lodged between the track/hyfax and the bogey wheel. The only way we could get his foot out was to put the sled in reverse and slowly walk it out.
We were about 2 hours from any local hospital and 9 miles of trail to get out. The track/hyfax literally cut through the top of his boot, ripping it away. It cut through 4 of his toes all the way to the bone severing his tendons etc and severing his little toe. The bogey wheel rolled across his foot fracturing it in 6 spots.
If not for a boot and if it had been a hand or an arm it would have likely severed it entirely.
I've seen a lot of stucks and I've seen a lot of people working together to get sleds out. The help is always nice but when you have 5 guys around 1 sled you have to make sure everyone knows what everyone else is doing and you need to watch out for the track and not where you are but where you could end up if you were to fall, slip, slide into the sled while the track is moving.
This guy was lucky. He normally rides with 1 other guy and this time he had 4 firefighter EMT's with him.
I just wanted to pass this on and remind everyone that there are some serious dangers associated with that track while it's moving and something as simple as getting unstuck can result in a catastrophe.
Lessons Learned: 1. Do not allow anyone to stand on the track side (if sled is on it's side) unless they are a safe distance from track while machine is running. 2. He was wearing good warm boots but they were the kind that basically has the rubber toe with an insulated lining inside. IMO these may keep you warm but they aren't at all rigid and I think they are garbage when it comes to protecting your feet. I'd go for a good sturdy boot with a leather toe. Better boots may have resulted in a break or crushing injury but I doubt he would have had his toes severed. 3. Have a plan in place to evac someone. He was conscious but had he been out (and he almost went out due to shock) think ahead how you can get someone down if help can't get to you.
Stay safe out there!
Yesterday a group of us were up on the mountain. One of the guys got stuck pretty good in some deep powder while climbing. (It was a small hill, no Avy danger). When we were getting him out the guy that owns the sled was standing on the track side. The track was buried pretty good and we had pulled the front end around and were going to try to head him down hill.
The guy on the left side of the sled started the sled, we thought everyone was clear, and as he started to give it throttle the guy on the track side had his foot slide down and his boot got caught in between the track and the hyfax. It pulled his foot back from the front and by the time the sled was shut off his foot was lodged between the track/hyfax and the bogey wheel. The only way we could get his foot out was to put the sled in reverse and slowly walk it out.
We were about 2 hours from any local hospital and 9 miles of trail to get out. The track/hyfax literally cut through the top of his boot, ripping it away. It cut through 4 of his toes all the way to the bone severing his tendons etc and severing his little toe. The bogey wheel rolled across his foot fracturing it in 6 spots.
If not for a boot and if it had been a hand or an arm it would have likely severed it entirely.
I've seen a lot of stucks and I've seen a lot of people working together to get sleds out. The help is always nice but when you have 5 guys around 1 sled you have to make sure everyone knows what everyone else is doing and you need to watch out for the track and not where you are but where you could end up if you were to fall, slip, slide into the sled while the track is moving.
This guy was lucky. He normally rides with 1 other guy and this time he had 4 firefighter EMT's with him.
I just wanted to pass this on and remind everyone that there are some serious dangers associated with that track while it's moving and something as simple as getting unstuck can result in a catastrophe.
Lessons Learned: 1. Do not allow anyone to stand on the track side (if sled is on it's side) unless they are a safe distance from track while machine is running. 2. He was wearing good warm boots but they were the kind that basically has the rubber toe with an insulated lining inside. IMO these may keep you warm but they aren't at all rigid and I think they are garbage when it comes to protecting your feet. I'd go for a good sturdy boot with a leather toe. Better boots may have resulted in a break or crushing injury but I doubt he would have had his toes severed. 3. Have a plan in place to evac someone. He was conscious but had he been out (and he almost went out due to shock) think ahead how you can get someone down if help can't get to you.
Stay safe out there!
