Pacific NW/AK/BC Tree well rescue at Baker

[TonyPlush]

Sibhusky is right. I reposted this last January but will repost in case anybody hasn't seen it. BTW this was inbounds

Thanks for sharing. Can you elaborate on the pole straps off your wrist comment?

Does this mean straps or no straps? And what’s the reasoning?

 

[dbostedo]

Does this mean straps or no straps?

No straps, so that the poles aren't attached to you, and don't get in the way of moving your arms or otherwise hinder extricating yourself.

 

[Castle Dave]

You should always remove your hands from the pole straps whenever skiing trees. The reason for this is that if your pole basket catches on a branch and your hand is in the pole strap it can damage or even dislocate your shoulder as you are jerked to a stop.

 

[Crank]

You should always remove your hands from the pole straps whenever skiing trees. The reason for this is that if your pole basket catches on a branch and your hand is in the pole strap it can damage or even dislocate your shoulder as you are jerked to a stop.

QFT

 

[dbostedo]

You should always remove your hands from the pole straps whenever skiing trees. The reason for this is that if your pole basket catches on a branch and your hand is in the pole strap it can damage or even dislocate your shoulder as you are jerked to a stop.

The straps in my poles are "breakaway" for this reason. But now that I'm thinking about it, I should still make sure to not be wearing them in tree well terrain.

 

[pchewn]

The straps in my poles are "breakaway" for this reason. But now that I'm thinking about it, I should still make sure to not be wearing them in tree well terrain.

My shoulder joint is "breakaway", so no need to remove the straps?

 

[Dean]

Found this link the other day. It better explains how the snowboarder got separated from his crew (different lines through tight trees & the others got below & couldn't find him). You can see the skier's buddy at the beginning of the video.
Some folks on this thread mention him skiing over the snowboard - I don't see that. Think he just saw the bottom of the snowboard sticking up.

'I was gonna die on my own': Snowboarder recounts stranger rescuing him near Mt. Baker

A Washington state snowboarder is recounting the moment he was rescued by a skier after he fell into a tree well while snowboarding near Mt. Baker

komonews.com

 

[dbostedo]

My shoulder joint is "breakaway", so no need to remove the straps?

Well my straps have a little latch that comes undone and releases the strap if they get yanked. It's supposed to save your shoulder/elbow/etc.

 

[k2rider]

Found this link the other day. It better explains how the snowboarder got separated from his crew (different lines through tight trees & the others got below & couldn't find him). You can see the skier's buddy at the beginning of the video.
Some folks on this thread mention him skiing over the snowboard - I don't see that. Think he just saw the bottom of the snowboard sticking up.

'I was gonna die on my own': Snowboarder recounts stranger rescuing him near Mt. Baker

A Washington state snowboarder is recounting the moment he was rescued by a skier after he fell into a tree well while snowboarding near Mt. Baker

komonews.com

If the snow is worthy, I ride in the trees religiously and can attest to the fact that it's near impossible to stay together. Staying within sight-line is doable in some trees but many times it's not. Everybody rides trees differently and has different comfort levels. I personally am always looking for fresh snow, even it I have to shoot between two trees two feet apart. My wife and most of the people I ride with stay as far away from the actual tree as they can...they are more afraid of hitting the actual tree vs falling in the tree well. All that being said, Idid send this to everybody I travel with and I think I'm going tottery and do better at keeping them in sight in the future.

 

[Crank]

If the snow is worthy, I ride in the trees religiously and can attest to the fact that it's near impossible to stay together. Staying within sight-line is doable in some trees but many times it's not. Everybody rides trees differently and has different comfort levels. I personally am always looking for fresh snow, even it I have to shoot between two trees two feet apart. My wife and most of the people I ride with stay as far away from the actual tree as they can...they are more afraid of hitting the actual tree vs falling in the tree well. All that being said, Idid send this to everybody I travel with and I think I'm going tottery and do better at keeping them in sight in the future.

This is me in a nutshell. Hell, the reason I am skiing in trees in the first place is to ski untracked snow not marginally better snow. That often means flitting through tight spaces that most skiers seer clear of. Of course with all this tree well awareness I'm gonna have to think this through a bit.

 

[Castle Dave]

I have Scott Series 4 poles with the breakaway straps. Great poles but the strap thingy is a PITA. They have popped off twice (not skiing trees) when I didn't want them to and both times I had to go to patrol and borrow pliers to put them back together. Now they are tie strapped in place and I go old school by taking my hands out of the straps when necessary.

 

[Tom K.]

Patrol practice tree well rescue with volunteer diving head first in:

VIDEO: Ski Patrol Demonstrates How To Rescue Somebody From Tree Well

Tree wells are a serious danger at ski resorts in the western half of North America. Here's a quick definition from SIS in case you need a refresher: "A

unofficialnetworks.com

Yikes! When a young, invincible, pro patroller says "that was unpleasant, ha ha" I suspect this became a bit more real than they had intended.

Great video, though. My takeaway was the bit about first secure the airway.

Not sure that would immediately pop into my brain in a stressful emergency situation, so thanks @Pasha.

 

[Tricia]

Very cool follow up story about this here.

Friendship blossoms after harrowing Mount Baker rescue

While skiing in the backcountry of Mount Baker on March 3, Francis Zuber spotted a flash of a red snowboard sticking out of the snow. Footage posted online from Zuber’s GoPro camera shows his race aga

www.columbian.com