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Didn't really want to post this, and I'm sure I'll get flamed, but if it could help someone in the future I thought it might be important.
Was riding with a couple of buddies in cook city this weekend. At the top of one of my climbs, I hit a rock that threw me off my sled. I hit the ground face up, with my head facing downhill, minimal impact, thinking I had landed in my trench. I could move my leg, but what I thought was a small sluff of snow covered me and I couldn't breath very good and could barely move my arms. I was calm, and started trying to scoop with my hands, fingers, anything. Quickly, I couldn't move my arms at all. At this point I remembered thinking to relax and take shallow breaths. I was thinking a slide must have come from above and buried me. Then I started dreaming...can't remember the dream, but it was cheerful, lol...next thing was my buddies yelling at me and I slowly came to. Took me about 45 minutes before I could stand on my own. I rode into Cooke, got some oxygen from the awesome lady in town, (Kay or Kathy, Bills wife. I was disoriented, so feel bad for not remembering her name). Took me till about noon the next day to feel 'centered' again. I've been knocked out several times before, but this was far different!!
Okay, this is what happened and what I learned from it all.
When I got thrown from my sled, I landed beside a rock that was below the one I hit. This was springish, hero snow. Well, there was a soft spot beside the Rock and I shot down in a hole. My friends got up there, my sled was there, I was the only tracks, and I was nowhere to be found. They found my by checking around my sled and a part of my boot exposed. *They admittedly didn't even think to beacon for me because there was no slide. They said my feet were almost 6' below the surface, and as I said, my head was downhill from there. It took two pretty big boys to yard me out of there, and in the process of them yanking on me in when I started breathing again. They figured it was 10-12 min. Before they got to me and got me out. It was a hard spot for them to even get to for one.
*that day, my friends were both on t3 ski-doos. I was trading high marks with the one guy all morning, but the other guy had a turbo, and was getting up and over climbs that we wer fighting to get halfway up. *I can't help but to wonder what if roles were reversed and it was the turbo guy that was at the top of his climb when this happened. I can't imagine how long it would have taken us to get up to where he was going...so if you ride a turbo, you should not be the only one with a turbo, freak things like this happen, and you want your buddies to be able to reach you!! Also, I feel my biggest mistake was making that climb in flat light. I had a plan to stick it, but I caught a windlip that shot me around totally unexpectedly. Had I saw that, I'm pretty confident I could have rode it out differently.
Last, I'm just thankful to be writing this, and am extremely thankful for buddies that got to me and helped me be here right now. There were things that we could have done differently, but in the end, all is well. I'm simply writing this so others can remember, it doesn't have t be a slide!! Freak things happen with what we do, and all we can do is make sure to ride with buddies you trust with your lives, and always keep an eye oneachother!!
Was riding with a couple of buddies in cook city this weekend. At the top of one of my climbs, I hit a rock that threw me off my sled. I hit the ground face up, with my head facing downhill, minimal impact, thinking I had landed in my trench. I could move my leg, but what I thought was a small sluff of snow covered me and I couldn't breath very good and could barely move my arms. I was calm, and started trying to scoop with my hands, fingers, anything. Quickly, I couldn't move my arms at all. At this point I remembered thinking to relax and take shallow breaths. I was thinking a slide must have come from above and buried me. Then I started dreaming...can't remember the dream, but it was cheerful, lol...next thing was my buddies yelling at me and I slowly came to. Took me about 45 minutes before I could stand on my own. I rode into Cooke, got some oxygen from the awesome lady in town, (Kay or Kathy, Bills wife. I was disoriented, so feel bad for not remembering her name). Took me till about noon the next day to feel 'centered' again. I've been knocked out several times before, but this was far different!!
Okay, this is what happened and what I learned from it all.
When I got thrown from my sled, I landed beside a rock that was below the one I hit. This was springish, hero snow. Well, there was a soft spot beside the Rock and I shot down in a hole. My friends got up there, my sled was there, I was the only tracks, and I was nowhere to be found. They found my by checking around my sled and a part of my boot exposed. *They admittedly didn't even think to beacon for me because there was no slide. They said my feet were almost 6' below the surface, and as I said, my head was downhill from there. It took two pretty big boys to yard me out of there, and in the process of them yanking on me in when I started breathing again. They figured it was 10-12 min. Before they got to me and got me out. It was a hard spot for them to even get to for one.
*that day, my friends were both on t3 ski-doos. I was trading high marks with the one guy all morning, but the other guy had a turbo, and was getting up and over climbs that we wer fighting to get halfway up. *I can't help but to wonder what if roles were reversed and it was the turbo guy that was at the top of his climb when this happened. I can't imagine how long it would have taken us to get up to where he was going...so if you ride a turbo, you should not be the only one with a turbo, freak things like this happen, and you want your buddies to be able to reach you!! Also, I feel my biggest mistake was making that climb in flat light. I had a plan to stick it, but I caught a windlip that shot me around totally unexpectedly. Had I saw that, I'm pretty confident I could have rode it out differently.
Last, I'm just thankful to be writing this, and am extremely thankful for buddies that got to me and helped me be here right now. There were things that we could have done differently, but in the end, all is well. I'm simply writing this so others can remember, it doesn't have t be a slide!! Freak things happen with what we do, and all we can do is make sure to ride with buddies you trust with your lives, and always keep an eye oneachother!!
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