another death. this time at White Pass, WA - Snowboarding Forum

509-pow · 04-02-2012, 01:30 AM

not sure if this is the spot to post. if not my bad.
saterday at white pass a female skier died in a tree well in side of ski area. dont know much more about it. Kyona Hoff, 24 years of age.
i was there that day but left a little early. i also do not know where and when it happend.
Too many have died this year.
R.I.P.

pdxrealtor · 04-04-2012, 09:15 PM

Damn... RIP

Why there isn't more awareness RE: tree well dangers blows me away. I know there's the site that explains all about them and the hazards, but even that site is vague on what to do should you end up in that unfortunate situation is beyond me ...

Even meadows doesn't make much mention of the tree well danger....

A lot of tree riding going on there..

509-pow · 04-04-2012, 09:24 PM

there is another post posted after mine where the guy put a link to seattle news. she was a ski instructor at white pass.

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/sno...rea-death.html

pdxrealtor · 04-04-2012, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 509-pow

there is another post posted after mine where the guy put a link to seattle news. she was a ski instructor at white pass.

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/sno...rea-death.html

An instructor, wow.... just goes to re-enforce it can happen to anyone at anytime.

'There was a youtube vid floating around on here that showed a bunch of ski patrolers out for training when an unexpected tree well incident happened. Guy ended up face first in a well with barely his skis showing above the well..... even the trained pros struggled, panicked a little, and were freaked out about the incident. The rescue wasn't the smoothest either.. scary scary... but those trees are sooooo inviting.

I think we ( I ) need to have some knowledge on what trees to look out for, and even then....... may God be with you!

509-pow · 04-04-2012, 09:36 PM

yes true. it can happen to anyone. the scary thing is that i was there alone that day and was doing tree runs most of the time. i did get stuck about waist deep in one spot buy i stay as far from the tree as i can get.

ETM · 04-04-2012, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxrealtor

An instructor, wow.... just goes to re-enforce it can happen to anyone at anytime.

'There was a youtube vid floating around on here that showed a bunch of ski patrolers out for training when an unexpected tree well incident happened. Guy ended up face first in a well with barely his skis showing above the well..... even the trained pros struggled, panicked a little, and were freaked out about the incident. The rescue wasn't the smoothest either.. scary scary... but those trees are sooooo inviting.

I think we ( I ) need to have some knowledge on what trees to look out for, and even then....... may God be with you!

RIP
Tree wells are a very scary thought. I am going to rig my bindings with a release strap that goes up the pant legs and hangs out the top of my pants.

Chris · 04-08-2012, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 509-pow

yes true. it can happen to anyone. the scary thing is that i was there alone that day and was doing tree runs most of the time. i did get stuck about waist deep in one spot buy i stay as far from the tree as i can get.

yo 509 wouldn't have anything to do with your area code of where you live would it ?

509-pow · 04-08-2012, 07:14 PM

ya it does. richland, wa. about a 2 and a half hour drive to white. u?

Chris · 04-08-2012, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 509-pow

ya it does. richland, wa. about a 2 and a half hour drive to white. u?

Prosser 30 minutes away from richland

Sick-Pow · 04-08-2012, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowolf

When I ride solo, I slow way down in trees so I can maneuver safely around anything that looks threatening. Speed can really increase your risk of this when riding in the trees. Also, riding with a buddy does absolutely no good unless you and the buddy know how to spot each other. Just having 4 or 5 people bombing through the trees as a group but not always watching their partner is very little help. If your buddy goes in, you will typically be 50 yards down the hill before you realize someone is missing. At that point good luck trying to find where he went in.

The only safe way to ride in tree well danger is a line rotation or leap frog. You stand and watch your buddies ride through the trees to a pre determined spot you can see then one guy stops while the others keep going to the next open spot visible by this guy until there is a string of people all with a clear view of everyone else, then you drop and ride by everyone and again stop below the last guy in a visible spot and the cycles starts again. This is a true back country procedure for tree riding but it makes sense inbounds too.

Great post and this information is not shared frequently enough with the masses.

04-02-2012, 01:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
509-pow Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Washington state. Posts: 315	another death. this time at White Pass, WA not sure if this is the spot to post. if not my bad. saterday at white pass a female skier died in a tree well in side of ski area. dont know much more about it. Kyona Hoff, 24 years of age. i was there that day but left a little early. i also do not know where and when it happend. Too many have died this year. R.I.P.

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04-04-2012, 09:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
pdxrealtor Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 750	Damn... RIP Why there isn't more awareness RE: tree well dangers blows me away. I know there's the site that explains all about them and the hazards, but even that site is vague on what to do should you end up in that unfortunate situation is beyond me ... Even meadows doesn't make much mention of the tree well danger.... A lot of tree riding going on there..

04-04-2012, 09:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
509-pow Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Washington state. Posts: 315	there is another post posted after mine where the guy put a link to seattle news. she was a ski instructor at white pass. http://www.snowboardingforum.com/sno...rea-death.html

04-04-2012, 09:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
509-pow Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Washington state. Posts: 315	yes true. it can happen to anyone. the scary thing is that i was there alone that day and was doing tree runs most of the time. i did get stuck about waist deep in one spot buy i stay as far from the tree as i can get.

04-08-2012, 07:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
509-pow Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Washington state. Posts: 315	ya it does. richland, wa. about a 2 and a half hour drive to white. u?