Before I tell you the story of our day of riding last friday I ask you to please think before you reply. We have gone over all the scenarios a thousand time. For everything that went wrong there was a hundred things that went right. Please do not judge !!!!!!! Or act like know it alls. This accident was a freak and it has changed the life of everyone who was there. I do share this only to hope and pray that it never happens again. If you act like an azz I promise we will hunt you down.
It was your normal day of riding blue sky riding in Wyoming was great. They had some new snow and we were out playing. All of us have been well avy trained all wearing beacons, abs packs, shovels , etc etc. Prepared as prepared can be. My buddy had gone up a hill and was hitting it very hard. We all had been up this hill a hundred times. My buddy crests the top and he is carrying too much speed. As he leaves the ground he taps the brake to bring the nose down. ( I cannot express enough at this time he has been riding for 25 years. He has raced motorcycles. He has been on the smaller hill climb circuits. He knows how to freaking ride) the front of the sled comes down and the spot where he hits is too soft. He is pitched over the bars lands face down and the sled lands upside down. On top of him. The weight of the snow pushes the throttle and the TM8 comes to life. Track spinning 8200 rpm grabs my friend and pulls his arm in the track. His arm is sucked in and pinned between the track and the side of the tunnel. Yes we know there is not enough room for an arm To fit there. it is about 20 seconds before we get the sled shut off. We had guys not the ridge calling 911. Rick had to sit behind him to cradle him to make him as comfortable as we can. I immediately start unbolting the. Suspension to get him freed. He is bleeding badly and we have to get him out. As we get him out we immediatley start working on first aid. we put a turnaquit on his arm to stop the bleeding. We have to wrap what is left of his arm... I hope that someday I can forget the way his arm looked. The power of that sled stripped his arm of all flesh, meat , and left nothing but Bone from the elbow down. It was like something from out of a horror movie. We got him freed and stable. Built a fire to keep him warm until the chopper came. Rick cradled him for two hours like a baby waiting for the chopper to arrive. This is where I want to educate you all What happens with life light. it is not a science and it takes a while to get there. It took them two hours to find us. We had given them gps coordinates but somehow from us to the dispatch to the helicopter it was told to them that there had been an avy!!!! They were looking for an avy and not a group on top of a ridge. When the helicopter came into views they didn't see us. They were looking in the canyons. We were a group of 8 riding around yelling twirling coats... I even threw a whole can of gas on a tree to light it on Fire before they saw us. My buddy is now in SLC at the huntsman center. He has lost the lower part of his arm. We went to see him yesterday and he is in suprisingly good spirits. He is talking about needing a crossbow for hunting and is already coming up with mods for his sled to ride next year. He starred death in the face and won. I want to share with you the things that we learned and what is needed on the hill.
1) WEAR YOUR TETHER .!!!!!!!!!
Before you judge too harshly I understand that most new pros don't have one . If that is the case then Polaris needs a recall. We have a new pro in the group and it did not come with a. Tether. I almost always have a tether on, and I didn't have mine hooked up either. It is not just a jump that could have caused this. A side hill and you roll to the lower side same thing could happen.
2) carry a way to signal a chopper. If all of us had a small mirror in our bags they would have found us quicker.
3) carry a pain killer. You cannot use ibuprofen it is a blood thinner and one cannot take it. We could have given him tylenol, to take the sting off a little.
4) help can be coming, but it took them two hours to get to us. Do you carry space blankets, firstaid, food, fire starters, we had all that but I feel you when your buddy is in that condition I wish I had some morphine to knock him out. That was the longest two hours of my life.
5) when ever an emergency comes. SLOW DOWN!!!!!!! Think you can waste a lot of time
It was your normal day of riding blue sky riding in Wyoming was great. They had some new snow and we were out playing. All of us have been well avy trained all wearing beacons, abs packs, shovels , etc etc. Prepared as prepared can be. My buddy had gone up a hill and was hitting it very hard. We all had been up this hill a hundred times. My buddy crests the top and he is carrying too much speed. As he leaves the ground he taps the brake to bring the nose down. ( I cannot express enough at this time he has been riding for 25 years. He has raced motorcycles. He has been on the smaller hill climb circuits. He knows how to freaking ride) the front of the sled comes down and the spot where he hits is too soft. He is pitched over the bars lands face down and the sled lands upside down. On top of him. The weight of the snow pushes the throttle and the TM8 comes to life. Track spinning 8200 rpm grabs my friend and pulls his arm in the track. His arm is sucked in and pinned between the track and the side of the tunnel. Yes we know there is not enough room for an arm To fit there. it is about 20 seconds before we get the sled shut off. We had guys not the ridge calling 911. Rick had to sit behind him to cradle him to make him as comfortable as we can. I immediately start unbolting the. Suspension to get him freed. He is bleeding badly and we have to get him out. As we get him out we immediatley start working on first aid. we put a turnaquit on his arm to stop the bleeding. We have to wrap what is left of his arm... I hope that someday I can forget the way his arm looked. The power of that sled stripped his arm of all flesh, meat , and left nothing but Bone from the elbow down. It was like something from out of a horror movie. We got him freed and stable. Built a fire to keep him warm until the chopper came. Rick cradled him for two hours like a baby waiting for the chopper to arrive. This is where I want to educate you all What happens with life light. it is not a science and it takes a while to get there. It took them two hours to find us. We had given them gps coordinates but somehow from us to the dispatch to the helicopter it was told to them that there had been an avy!!!! They were looking for an avy and not a group on top of a ridge. When the helicopter came into views they didn't see us. They were looking in the canyons. We were a group of 8 riding around yelling twirling coats... I even threw a whole can of gas on a tree to light it on Fire before they saw us. My buddy is now in SLC at the huntsman center. He has lost the lower part of his arm. We went to see him yesterday and he is in suprisingly good spirits. He is talking about needing a crossbow for hunting and is already coming up with mods for his sled to ride next year. He starred death in the face and won. I want to share with you the things that we learned and what is needed on the hill.
1) WEAR YOUR TETHER .!!!!!!!!!
Before you judge too harshly I understand that most new pros don't have one . If that is the case then Polaris needs a recall. We have a new pro in the group and it did not come with a. Tether. I almost always have a tether on, and I didn't have mine hooked up either. It is not just a jump that could have caused this. A side hill and you roll to the lower side same thing could happen.
2) carry a way to signal a chopper. If all of us had a small mirror in our bags they would have found us quicker.
3) carry a pain killer. You cannot use ibuprofen it is a blood thinner and one cannot take it. We could have given him tylenol, to take the sting off a little.
4) help can be coming, but it took them two hours to get to us. Do you carry space blankets, firstaid, food, fire starters, we had all that but I feel you when your buddy is in that condition I wish I had some morphine to knock him out. That was the longest two hours of my life.
5) when ever an emergency comes. SLOW DOWN!!!!!!! Think you can waste a lot of time
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