Joined
·
694 Posts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jvEYzh_1Sg
I'm sure I'll adventure into some trees this season, but this scares me.
I'm sure I'll adventure into some trees this season, but this scares me.
Safety Topic: Tree Wells
1 - 20 of 101 Posts
Amplid splitboard, Phantom Bindings, Atomic Blackland
Joined
·
9,114 Posts
Having been in a couple of tree wells, one upside down and one right side up. It happens really fast and even if you have a split second to react, those holes suck you in; it can happen several days after a big dump and its really disorienting. When I was upside down, I did not know it at first, you can't tell by the light and you body is generally suspended...so its natural to wiggle around to see if you can get yourself out, but as the snow is caving in around you, you are already breathing hard, choking on pow, you heat up instantly and easily panic...especially if you don't know if anyone knows you are there. When I was right side up, I was hiking out of a biff, waist deep and hit a bridged tree/hole...completely buried tree and fell through to my neck and luckily was able to get my board under my arms to prevent sinking deeper and eventually able to pack enough snow under me to wiggle out of the hole. When its those conditions you learn to keep a healthy distance from anything that might look like a tree well.
Joined
·
2,011 Posts
Tree wells are no joke. As Snowolf pointed out, I learned the hard way, but was lucky cause I fell in feet first. There really was no way to tell that the snow was going to give out. It happened in a split second. I truly believe that had he not heard me, I would have spent a very cold night stuck in the snow. After being in one feet first, I would hate to find out what head first feels like. Wrath, you're lucky to be here and would guess that riding with a partner is what kept you around. I still ride in the trees, but I do it a little more cautiously now.
Amplid splitboard, Phantom Bindings, Atomic Blackland
Joined
·
9,114 Posts
I was riding by myself, 50 ft in the trees off the groomer, half upside down, managed to grab some branches to prevent going under further, had a hell of a time getting the first foot unbuckled...so then sideways in the hole. It is exhausting crawling out of a hole.
Joined
·
71 Posts
Good tip, I never knew that. I ride trees solo a lot also and hope to never find this out the hard way. Was this true for you other guys? Was it smaller trees with branches close to the ground?
Joined
·
3,637 Posts
i've been down in a hole by myself before... the most important thing for me was the ability to unstrap my board while upside down and/or covered in snow. that and not hitting my head and losing consciousness.
also worth mentioning vents. out here all the mountains are volcanoes and i have come over a roller or berm and been swallowed up by a venting hole that went straight down to rock - sharp volcanic rock - not fun! luckily it was only about 5-6 feet deep. core shot for sure tho
also worth mentioning vents. out here all the mountains are volcanoes and i have come over a roller or berm and been swallowed up by a venting hole that went straight down to rock - sharp volcanic rock - not fun! luckily it was only about 5-6 feet deep. core shot for sure tho
Joined
·
3,637 Posts
definitely with branches close to the ground. seems to me like trees that are bigger than your average home xmas tree - not as big as the mall tree but maybe as big as the tree at your office or maybe a hospital or something if that makes any sense :laugh:
Joined
·
2,011 Posts
I have found that it seems to be the trees where only the tops are sticking up. In other words, if you see a tree that looks like it's only a few feet tall, but has no trunk exposed, stay away from it. It's most likely that the rest of the tree is under snow and waiting to swallow up an unsuspecting victim. IMO it's really about being able to see the trunk. Since most of the trees out here in the PNW do not have many low branches, if you can see some trunk bottom, then there is nothing to worry about since the branches are above ground. It's the ones with no trunk that have many branches buried under the snow that kill people, or at the very least, get them incredibly stuck.
Joined
·
8,025 Posts
Hadn't thought about that, but this would be the biggest argument against using Flows or Cinches with this type of riding. Unsnapping the back of the highback would be hellish if you were head-down on your back.
Joined
·
70 Posts
I've watched the video before and it seemed those people could have gotten the guy out sooner, pretty uncoordinated. This problem isn't common here in the Mid Atlantic since we mostly have artificial snow but tree wells are definitely hazard that needs to be taken seriously by everyone.
Joined
·
694 Posts
true, and that's one of the reasons I posted this here, mainly to get some awareness.
Joined
·
240 Posts
My sisters ex-boyfriends sister (got that?) died in a tree well @ Mammoth a couple years ago. I do not know particulars as I didn't speak to him directly about it at the time but she and her husband were riding together going down a run that they had both ridden countless times (Mammoth was home MTN) through a glade and when he got to the bottom she never followed. He spent hours waiting/looking for her after notifying ski patrol but they still did not find her later that day, even knowing the run she disappeared on. They were both advanced riders, in bounds, at their home resort. It was later found that she actually hit a buried branch with the nose of her board that made her "go over the handlebars" head first into a deep tree well. She completely disappeared and suffocated.
Super fkin scary and utterly tragic. She left two young kids behind. RIP
EDIT: found an article about it http://www.ocregister.com/news/snow-237841-ski-deep.html
Super fkin scary and utterly tragic. She left two young kids behind. RIP
EDIT: found an article about it http://www.ocregister.com/news/snow-237841-ski-deep.html
Joined
·
2,011 Posts
There was rider out here in WA at Crystal Mountain last season that fell in a tree well and was not found until the summer thaw. They're dangerous. Even in-bounds, they're still there and just as dangerous. The avalung is not a bad idea, but most people would not be wearing that while riding in-bounds, and it's almost always in-bounds that someone falls into a tree well. It was for me, and it was for the poor person that lost his life at Crystal last year. The majority of people just assume that if they are in-bounds, then they are safe.
Joined
·
70 Posts
Do you mean inbounds as in the resort or inbounds of a groomed trail?
Joined
·
1,801 Posts
Holy shit, that's scary/ I'm going out west next year and this sheds a lot of light. I always knew about tree wells, but kind of wrote them off and eventually forgot about them because we can still see the grass where I ride. Will definitely pay attention when I'm on trips now. :dunno:
Joined
·
1,536 Posts
Even when I've been in the trees with a friend, we lose sight of one another very easily and if one of us were to fall the other would be way the hell down the hill before long. In deep pow trying to hike back up even a short distance can take forever. Does it provide a false sense of security to think that having a buddy is really all that much safer than riding alone? It seems as if your buddy must be in the right place at the right time to know you fell in and are in need of help.
1 - 20 of 101 Posts
