B.C. backcountry snowmobile ban

[rondun]

In my local newspaper I read this from the Vancouver Province Sunday paper The owner of B.C. largest heli-ski operation is calling for a ban on snowmobiling in B.C. mountains following 19 deaths this winter. Drastic measures need to be taken to prevent further fatalities , says Mike Wiegele a founding member of the Canadian Avalanche Association. He goes on to say that snowmobilers are out of control, They go into closed areas without caring about anybody else. He wants to hold all snowmobile groups responsible for back-country accidents. Wiegele said there is a world of difference between heli-sking which his company has worked for decades, and snowmobilers heading blindly into uncharted steep terrain.
My brother and I have sledded for 41 years and never thought this would ever come. I feel we have to think of others when out in the hills (maybe he wants all the hill for himself for the heli sking) we do go a long ways in the backcountry??? What do you think????

 

[boots]

we need to fight that ass... for he has been trying to stop sledders from going in there to have fun... and that ass can go where ever with his skiiers and the sledder can only go so far right now.....

 

[Summit X]

here are my 'g' rated comments....
screw that, it's not his land. who the hell does he think he is??? yeah, you own a heli-ski company, good for you. even if he was lucky enough to restrict some of the sledding areas he would never have any of my business and i would never recommend his business to anyone. screw off and leave us alone. it was a very unfortunate year, i'm pretty sure we all realize that. f#$& you mike.

 

[shawnmcgr]

There's no way you can say enough negative things about this @#$% head!

 

[Sledpiggy]

He's not even Canadian!

 

[Foxstar45]

Yeah, i can't see that going through.... no way!

 

[HagmanMod1]

for starters f!ck him and this is not his first atempt at this as he has tryed to get other areas shut down before. i wonder witch sports generates more money for the towns and witch one is better for mikes pockets. deaths are going to happen no matter what wether it is sledding or heli skiing and i'm sure the 4 major manufactures will like what that would do to their sales on mountain machines or guys who rely on backcountry sledders to make an income just my 2 cents

 

[dooryder]

i hate mike with all my heart, i think he is one realy inconisiderite bastage, this a hole one called me a community wrecker for dirtbiking on private property that i got premission from (local fire hall yard ), he chases us in his helis, and where he says he didnt get payed for those resucues he did, he did get payed, by pep. And not once does he mention that he lost a guest of his in a tree hole skiing while with a certified guide. If he can enjoy the back country, why cant we?And not once does he give back to the community, his guests eat at his restraunt, buy his liquir that he sells way overpriced at his lounge and he wont even let sledds stay at his chalets, WTF is up with that? money is money doesnt matter who its from (not like we would want to stay there if we arnt welcome) sorry if its off topic, had to rant

 

[Bucky]

Hey Mike ya idiot, just wondering where all the "new" tourism money is going to come from to keep all these winter towns afloat when all the sledders are forced to go else where?

 

[Summiteer]

It is up to the businesses that sledders support as well as the sledders them(our)selves to make sure that our voice is heard. Sledders as a group need to do our part by following existing rules and not being stupid. Your kid doesn't care if you "died doing something you loved" all they know is that they don't have a dad any more.

 

[snochuk]

lexy has a link to this article on the thread "Here it Comes"...post your opinion of Mike Weigle there so people know who Mr. Mike really is!!!

 

[shiznitt100]

well i do not know this mike guy but as far as i am concerned there is deaths with any sport, do not get me wrong i do no like to see people hurt or deaths in any sport as all we are doing is just having fun.... like his heli skii out fit there is a risk too, not like controlled ski hills where avy control is highly looked after. does he think we are going to put our sleds away so we can strap on some skis.
maybe he should keep his mouth shut before some one shuts it for him!!

 

[rknight111]

Here is a link to the story Snowmobilers 'out of control'

Now, I would like to make a few comments on this. I was involved in one of those 4 avalanches, and im suprised that he can pin a cost of $20000 to sit on a mountain side for 40 minutes while we worked very hard ourselves and brought the victim to them. And I know they got paid by the BC Coroner service. If I would of known this would cause so much grief for Mike I would of made a wood sling and brought him down myself. It wasnt much more them to do this than to drop off a bunch of skiers and pick them up at the bottom. It looks like he has some ammunition against sledders as we take up his area. Mike theres a big area here and we can all share. I should of called yellowhead choppers as they only charge $1600 for a sled recovery, and they don't bitch about it to all the press and media. Sorry we even used your services that day! Thats all im going to say, too mad to comment right now.

 

[retiredpop]

This Mike guy sure sounds like a piece of work! Very thinly disguised attempt to get all the terrain for heli-skiing.

Does anyone know if someone from the BCSF is going to have a rebuttal in the paper? Maybe that is the best way to fight this a**hole.

 

[rknight111]

I don't know about the BCSF, but I know we need to do something here. We can't let this go stale as he is now working on his liberals to get a bill in place. We need to pull together as a large group of snowmobilers and voice our opinion.

 

[pipes]

Here is a link to the story Snowmobilers 'out of control'

Now, I would like to make a few comments on this. I was involved in one of those 4 avalanches, and im suprised that he can pin a cost of $20000 to sit on a mountain side for 40 minutes while we worked very hard ourselves and brought the victim to them. And I know they got paid by the BC Coroner service. If I would of known this would cause so much grief for Mike I would of made a wood sling and brought him down myself. It wasnt much more them to do this than to drop off a bunch of skiers and pick them up at the bottom. It looks like he has some ammunition against sledders as we take up his area. Mike theres a big area here and we can all share. I should of called yellowhead choppers as they only charge $1600 for a sled recovery, and they don't bitch about it to all the press and media. Sorry we even used your services that day! Thats all im going to say, too mad to comment right now.

Someone otta shut this cheeze dick up. There are more deaths on highways leading to his Oh So !@#$%^& safe heli skiing resorts, but you don't see the self centered SOB trying to stop people from using the high ways. How would they get to his resort if he had the highways shut down? How would he het Heli fuel delivered to his resort, not to mention the overpriced food and Liquor. As some one stated he puts back nothing to the community, but lines his pockets.

It is very unfortunate that we had so many deaths in the Snowmobiling community,but no one make mention of when the shoe was on the other foot. I just wish I would have kept all the newspaper clippings of the Heliskiing deaths of years gone by. I would love to post them in the lobby of his resort.

Sorry Ron if you feel this post is over the top, then feel free to pull it. But it makes me feel good to just blow off some steam. WTF Does Mike Weigle think he is?

 

[Carbon]

this is getting really f%#king retarded.com

can't hit key's enought to exspress discust

WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS.!$#*^!@$!^%@())*

just read artical and wiegle sound really good/convenicing we need some one as a voice for sledding to stick up/tell about the other side our side and all the good
cause it looks bad with no responce

 

[Summitric]

Thought it would be easier if the article was printed here, so, here is the article:

expert wants crackdown on 'unacceptable' selfishness

by kent spencer, the provincemay 4, 2009

the owner of b.c.'s largest heli-ski operation is calling for a crackdown on snowmobiling in b.c. Mountains, following 19 deaths this year.

Drastic measures need to be taken to prevent further fatalities, says mike wiegele, a founding member of the canadian avalanche association.

"it's totally unacceptable that people are dying in large numbers. It's an epidemic," he said yesterday.

"snowmobilers are out of control. They go into closed areas without caring about anybody else," he said.

Wiegele said search-and-rescue operations were traumatized by one fatality last year in which the coroner was delayed recovering a body.

"we found [the victim's] face chewed off by wild animals," wiegele said. "it was very upsetting to staff."

he's calling for provincial snowmobiling guidelines, an "expert inspector" hired for all commercial operations using crown land, more monitoring stations with information on snow stability, and steps to hold all snowmobile groups responsible for back-country accidents.

Wiegele said there is a world of difference between heli-skiing, which his company has operated for decades, and snowmobilers heading blithely to uncharted, steep terrain.

"years of experience in the back country are needed to be safe. We have medical people on staff and belong to international mountaineering organizations," said wiegele.

Mike wiegele helicopter skiing operates in the blue river area between jasper and kamloops. There have been chopper crashes and deaths -- on average, one fatality every 10 years.

His company performed four unpaid rescues last winter, each costing up to $20,000.

Freelance journalist keith thirkell likens the situation to whitewater rafting in the 1980s, when there was a series of accidents and operators were unregulated.

"the government set down rafting guidelines and made it safe," thirkell said.

Wiegele said he has had little success raising snowmobile awareness during the current provincial election. He has talked to the liberals, but received luke-warm responses.

"tourism is the economic base of all of b.c. This is not good advertising," he said.

kspencer@theprovince.com

© copyright (c) the province

 

[mur190]

what a loser sure we probley piss off alota heli skiers
but w.e its life everyone on the mountain is there to have fun.
he has a chopper he should just take his people to where "we
can't get to". those heli skiers should buy sleds then they would
understand.

 

[ZRrrr]

Here is the e-mail address of the article writer. Please tell him what you think and what you know about Wiegele. About our outdoor activity of choice. Please be factual, kind and an ambasador for the sport. Maybe snomobilers will get a break and have an article written for us too.

kspencer@theprovince.com