One experienced skier near Pemberton and another one at Revelstoke, within the past 48 hours. What does it take to get it through people's heads that the when the hazard is high/extreme YOU DON'T GO THERE?
More skiers killed in avalanches
- Thread starter JLM
- Start date
Ummmmm, I spent months during 1969 and again in 1971 going to and from work in a chopper on West/North Vancouver Island. Every afternoon it showed up to pick us up we felt we were being rescued. :lol:
Yep, I remember one time in particular about 5 miles from Tahsis having to walk out (to Perry Lake) just before dark as the chopper didn't make it and after we were on the trail about 20 minutes the chopper showed up but we weren't near enough to a heliport so we just had to keep on walking as we weren't even visable in the thick bush. We finally got back to camp about 9 PM, I don't think the boss (who was an A$$hole) even gave us 5 minutes of O.T. :lol:
My neighbor and I were talking about this very thing earlier on today, JLM, and neither of us could come up with a good answer. There is no way the province has the resources to close down all the back country to skiers and snowmobilers, so that isn't an answer. I get really upset when I hear about the latest numbnuts who lost their life due to stupidity and carelessness - my sympathy for the victims ran out a couple of years ago, if not longer. What really riles me, is that these cretins put other peoples lives in danger when they go out of their way to put themselves in harm's way.
Maybe if there were a way of making anyone who wishes to travel the back country sit down and watch docs on people who have been buried alive by avalanches - we might actually save some lives. I have seen a few docs now about skiers and snowmobilers who got caught in avalanches - one fellow actually got caught up in no less than four separate slides in one afternoon and was buried under the snow in three of them. Even several years after surviving the event, you can see the memory of the absolute terror they felt, imprinted on their faces.
Not to mention the lives put at risk in rescuing the fools.
Back when I was prospecting in the Stikine, a few of my fellow camp-mates were stranded on a mountain overnight when the weather socked in and grounded the chopper - thank Gaia, I was never caught myself but it was an ever present worry. You always had to be prepared to spend the night - sure made for heavy packs. :lol: I too felt like I was being 'rescued' when the chopper showed up to take us 'home', as often it was the only way of getting back to camp - no one crosses the Skud in full flood.
I will always remember a chopper pilot who had served in Viet Nam - his name was Yoshi and he was the favored pilot of all who worked in the mountains of Northern BC. Yoshi could land places that no one else would think of trying and do so with such ease and control that you were in awe of him. Once we were camped next to a large river - whose name escapes me at the moment - it was crossed by a rope and board single lane walking bridge - Yoshi would go out to the middle of the bridge every night just before sunset and sit until dark, meditating. He once plucked me off a pinnacle of rock so sheer and steep I couldn't stand - had to scramble and grab for the skid then haul myself up - he held that chopper at a stand still until I was safely inside with my pack.
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Yep, I'm kind of glad those days are long gone. We did have food packs in plastic bags tied up in trees at every heliport preparing the worst, but never had to use them. One scary thing did happen a couple of years after the fact. In 1971 we were flying up the Eve River Valley between Sayward and Woss Camp and the pilot on that project was a little odd we thought.............very finicky, damn near to the point of having to use a mitre saw and lathe to build the pads at the heliports. A couple of years later he suicided at Cultus Lake, pretty elaborate setup, he parked his car on steep hill above the lake, ran hose from the tail pipe into the car, had the car running in neutral with his foot on the brake, as soon as the fumes hit him his foot came of the brake and he rolled into the lake, so I'm not sure if the death was by poisoning or by drowning. A real quandary for the coroner. :lol:
I have worked many years with choppers and have found most pilots meditate and I cant blame them and especially when were longlining.Nothing like trying to hook up a sling to a chopper hovering inches over your head while the rotor wash blows you off the helipad 3 times.
joshlongline.AVI - YouTube
joshlongline.AVI - YouTube
I worked at a ski hill for ten plus years and through personal observation,concluded that,ski boots cut off the blood to the brain,how else could one explain the incredable stupidity displayed by downhill skier. On the other hand{I have a wart} boarders are a different breed and are not as likely to do the stupid **** that their downhill brethern do,before they get out of the parking lot.
I have to tell this story,I'll try and keep it short.
Just up the road from the ski hill was a Shell garage/restaurant,this one day,the power had just gone off,but the place was still open,this young couple came stomping in in their ski wear and were told that,because the power was off,they could have a sandwich or something cold,so they had a bite get in their car,pull up to the pumps,where they were told they couldn't get gas "because we have no power" the reply was "none at all?"
I have to tell this story,I'll try and keep it short.
Just up the road from the ski hill was a Shell garage/restaurant,this one day,the power had just gone off,but the place was still open,this young couple came stomping in in their ski wear and were told that,because the power was off,they could have a sandwich or something cold,so they had a bite get in their car,pull up to the pumps,where they were told they couldn't get gas "because we have no power" the reply was "none at all?"