Chris

I went to White Pass yesterday the snow was great. It was on the main mountain not Paradise Basin, I came down the main catwalk and took it to the 3 Chair( there is a pack of trees to the way right off the top of the 3 chair) I went through there and was going too fast for being the last run of the day. I lost control and ended up in the tree well and sunk about 4 ft right away (I'm 5 ft 7 inches.) one end of my board was up against the tree and the other was in 4 ft of snow. I unstrapped my left binding and tried to push up against the tree to get my right leg free. That ended up twisting my knee under the pressure of the snow and I sunk in the snow, now the snow was at the bottom of my neck, and my knee is still twisted. I dug the snow out by my right leg I could barely see my right foot. Luckily there was a few roots in hands reach so I could pull myself out. Which I could barley do since I was exhausted from digging my foot out. It felt like the snow was pulling me down I didn't have any foot holes or anything. The things that were going through my mind were “the lift is about 150ft away so I could yell for help If necessary”, “ Well if I get out of here this is gonna put a dent in my ski season”. It was frightening having that happen. People suffocate in tree wells all the time and I was lucky to make it out with a busted up knee and a pulled hammy.

schmitty34

Dang, glad you didn't go in head first.

Tree wells freak me out. I love riding powder and like riding trees. One fall in the wrong spot and you can be buried.

It's important to ride with someone and keep and eye on each other, but it can be hard when you get your powder stoke on and you start tearing down the hill.

ShredLife

well, you did the right thing - the key is generally to get your feet out of your bindings and then just wallow your way out.

everyone keep in mind that in an avalanche burial you typically have about 15 minutes of air, and that snow is compacted like concrete. in a treewell, even headfirst - you have time. stay calm and get out of your bindings.

if you said the words "last run" then that is almost surely why this happened. don't even say it to yourself in your mind - tell yourself "well self, lets take a run and we'll see how we feel at the bottom".

NEVER say last run.

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get the hell off my lawn.

wrathfuldeity

I've started rigging my bindings with a cord for quick release pull in cases of avy and wells...its damm hard to get released at times; and generally easier to pop out of at the chair. Glad ur ok. Last Sat. I was boarding and trying to get a little pow stash and got a little too close to a tree well and at the last second I kind of ollied and dove around the well...otherwise would have gone right in to one.

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ARSENALFAN

I would like to see a photo of this rig your talking about. Thanks in advance.

Chris

Star war trees haha what are those? Yea other than being stuck in a tree well it was a good day. The snow was a light powder. I probably wouldn't have gone through the trees but there was a ton of unridden powder and if you go up to Paradise basin around lunch time(10:30- 12) you can get tons of runs in. I usually ride down to that slow chairlift(one before the lift that goes to the top of paradise basin) bring up a thermos of homemade turkey chili, or some PB&Js' and have lunch there. When all the people come back from lunch just depending on the crowd either stay there or go to the main mountain.

NWBoarder

The tree wells out here in the PNW are no joke. I was super fortunate that Snowolf stopped and could hear me, and that I went in feet first. The thing is, there was NO way to know that the snow was going to give out and drop into a well. The trees we were in were tight, but the snow seemed good. Then all of sudden, it just dropped out from under me and I was shoulder deep in a well. After trying to dig myself out, I ended up literaly being in over my head. Thankfully Snowolf was there to help me dig out. I would have spent a very long and cold night out there otherwise, as it was closing time and I was STUCK.

Snowolf hit it on the money with the leapfrogging. While it's fun to blast through with your buddies, if deep snow and tree wells are a major concern (which they should be right now in the PNW), then one at a time while keeping an eye on your buddy is the best way to ride. And Chris, if you can't find the Star Wars trees on your own, then you better just ride White Pass some more until you do.

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Oh yeah!? Well, my mom says I'm cool!

Chris

After riding white pass for 9 years or so I have came to the conclusion that people have different names for every run. I believe you are talking about what I call disneyland ( the path that goes off the cat walk from the back side where the 2 chair is.)
Or your talking about that run that ends up on the catwalk that is from the marked run "Cascade"

Zenhugh

Are there any signs to look for that trees may have wells? I do a fair bit of riding through trees and plenty of times alone but never really been aware of the dangers of tree wells. In Australia it isn't something discussed as rarely get such deep amounts of snow and most alpine trees a small in oz. Siberia is a different story though so would love to get more info on this topic.

Chris

Come over to the PNW we'll show you some wells. I can't really imagine riding any other place besides the PNW. I don't know about where you ride but here you have to be cautious when riding through trees pretty much all of them have some sort of hole around them because only the top of the trees stick out and the snow is packed lightly which make it easy to fall through.