riders with no or minimal avi training

[imdoo'n]

had to stop a few riders in gorman on sunday dec 13 and let them know not to highmark above a stuck sledder on a hill climb. they were from Saskabush, obviously no avi training, come on people smarten up out there, lives are at stake including yours.

 

[saskboy]

does it matter where they were from. just sayin!
obviously not a smart thing to be doin ether way

 

[sledneck_03]

A friend of mine is going to golden or so with two guys after christmas........i dont know about the other guys but he has one year sledding in sask. he has a summit and all and he asked me to go. i said i dont know do you guys have packs, shovels, probes, transceivers? hes like no we arent going to do anything serious, just ride the powder and stay away from the big stuff.

im like you should still have that stuff and know how to use a transceiver.........like im no pro and ive never been to the mountains but ive learned alot reading on here and know the basics but there is no way im going with them.

the only thing ive kind of noticed is most newbies arnt brave enough to find real trouble. and its the experienced guys that go deep to where theres not alot of traffic and get into real trouble. a couple friends of mine that are newbies went to revy and i seen the pics and it looks like they road around the hilly feilds the whole time, the most mountains i seen where the pics from the highway and hotel.

 

[maxwell]

it doesnt matter if they are going to take it easy. someone else might be in trouble and wont they look stupid when they didnt have the equiptment to save someone elses lives...media will be all over that. get the gear or rent it.

 

[Sledpiggy]

there are also avy paths you have to cross on the trails to even get to the riding areas...

 

[Big kid 33]

ifyou can afford the sled the proper gear is just part of it

 

[Bogger]

Did all of you take Avy training BEFORE your first trip to the mountains????

Listen I'm all for proper training and equipment ect.... but really. How many people have received avalanch training prior to their first trip??????????? maxwell did you? how about you amy? sledneck? Imdooin? Just askin....

I have never been to the hills, this year will be my first time, I will rent the required equipment, ride with experienced people and use common sense.
Will I take Avi training prior to going????? NO. why you ask???????

I don't have time (how much time is your life worth) I don't have the funds (you can afford a sled, you can afford the training) I'm not going to put myself into a situation where I'll need it (what about the people who might need your help) HEARD MEMBERS THROW THESE AT OTHERS TIME AND TIME AGAIN.......

My answer.... combination of all of the above, I'm lucky to get the opportunity to get away once this winter, my total investment in BOTH sleds is $5500....so no money is not "no object" to me. I will rely on the experience of those I'm with to guide me.

If I find myself in the position in the future to take the course and plan on riding the mountains regularly then you bet your azz I'll take the training....but by the same token I'm not going to pass up on the opportunity to experience riding the hills because I don't have avy training....

In a perfect world everyone would be trained, but a trained idiot is still an idiot..... there is no cure for stupid.....

So Yes I will be leaving my wife and 4 childern home this winter to go ride in Cooke city without proper training..... now you can tell me how much of an azzhole I am,

 

[powder junkie]

i see ur point bogger. im not against it. we all carry beacons etc. to sum ppl there a fine line to $$$ spent on that kinda stuff. clearly if u can afford it and have the time then it is a good idea to take aavy course. but do we all take driving courses before we get our drivers license????????? no. but we learn as we go, and accept all risk that comes to us. to the guy that goes 1-2 times a year maybe a avy course is tough to sneak into the budget. but in a perfect world we would all have training and no one would be in danger. just my 2 cents.

 

[sledneck_03]

Did all of you take Avy training BEFORE your first trip to the mountains????

Listen I'm all for proper training and equipment ect.... but really. How many people have received avalanch training prior to their first trip??????????? maxwell did you? how about you amy? sledneck? Imdooin? Just askin....

I have never been to the hills, this year will be my first time, I will rent the required equipment, ride with experienced people and use common sense.
Will I take Avi training prior to going????? NO. why you ask???????

I don't have time (how much time is your life worth) I don't have the funds (you can afford a sled, you can afford the training) I'm not going to put myself into a situation where I'll need it (what about the people who might need your help) HEARD MEMBERS THROW THESE AT OTHERS TIME AND TIME AGAIN.......

My answer.... combination of all of the above, I'm lucky to get the opportunity to get away once this winter, my total investment in BOTH sleds is $5500....so no money is not "no object" to me. I will rely on the experience of those I'm with to guide me.

If I find myself in the position in the future to take the course and plan on riding the mountains regularly then you bet your azz I'll take the training....but by the same token I'm not going to pass up on the opportunity to experience riding the hills because I don't have avy training....

In a perfect world everyone would be trained, but a trained idiot is still an idiot..... there is no cure for stupid.....

So Yes I will be leaving my wife and 4 childern home this winter to go ride in Cooke city without proper training..... now you can tell me how much of an azzhole I am,

well im not saying they need avy training....they dont need everything but going with some one with experience and the basics like a shovel and beacon would be great..... 4 guys no beacons or shovels and no experience is a bad thing let alone like your saying there is probably tons of people that go with zero experience or one guy went once before and do just fine weekend after weekend. if there was a couple experienced guys to tell them dont out climb a stuck person or to go one by one into a bowl so if there is a slide not everyone is in it to keep an eye on the rider. or stuff as simple as turn your beacon on receive when some one is stuck in a slide............ those are basics that most people dont know and their are probably alot more little tips like that that will make it alot safer.

im hoping to go like you with some experienced people and rent or borrowed stuff.... the trip it self is going to be expensive with out buying a ton of stuff i only use once a year, if i had the funds to go 4-5 times a year from sask i would have the funds to buy a becon shovel and abs pack. let alone i have a sask suit thats for cold weather......ill sweat my balls off in aggressive warm weather riding.

And like you said about the avy training...... they had one class in stoon and i found out the Thursday of the weekend it was going to be held and i already had plans not to be in stoon that sunday.

 

[teamgreen]

I think the training is beneficial for all. On the other hand it does cost money and time. Rent or buy the proper beacon, probe and shovel and have a more experienced person to a quick hands on of how to use it in the hotel, in the parking lot and around the cabins. Practice can make people very proficient in the basics.

Just remember that easy trails like the one into Clemina have multiple avalanche shoots you must pass through in order to get to the cabin.

Its not only the people doing the highmarking that need the training, avalanches happen in all sorts or spots and if your buddy is in one, someone will have to be able to find him. Ignorance is a lousy excuse for your buddys life.

If anyone from Brandon MB is going to the mountains I would glady lend you all my avy stuff so you can save on rental stuff

 

[HagmanMod1]

the gear is a must have :beacon probe and shovel: its your choice to take the course or not. this is my 14 th season in the mountains and me and my group just took an avy course this fall. some guys i ride with all the time chose not to take the course with us cause it was a waste of time so they said. i guess they'll wonder why they dont get the invite to ride anymore. one of these same guys said to me the $175 seems like alot for a course and I replied back aren't your friends worth that much?

 

[maxwell]

i didnt say i had avy training prior to my first trip. i just had the right equiptment and knew how to use it as best as possible without formal training. sure thats not perfect. but its FAR better than NOT having it when its needed. all im saying is carry the gear and be cautious. if you need to help someone the gear is there. i dont push training on people. i push common sence and equiptment

 

[Throttle*Queen]

I can say I did not have avy training my first time to the mountains nor do I have it now! However I am looking to find when and where the next courses are as I believe it is another precaution I need to take! When I did decide to ride in the mountains the first time we were just "taking it easy" and yet renting all the essential equipment was in my budget! If I plan 2 afford a hotel room, fuel, food, gas and any other extras I do believe I should allow the budget of safety equipment! I now own all the equipment and hope I never use it, Whether I do or not I will never regret investing a couple hundred dollars into it!
Beacon - 299.99
Pack, Shovel and Probes - 199.99
Another day of my live to play in the mountains - Priceless!

 

[Cyle]

Yep if it's your first trip just having the gear and some knowledge of how to operate it is fine. BUT that is if your with atleast one person with good experience who knows what they are doing and knows what problem areas look like. The course is well worth the $250 or so I paid, my whole group took it together.

I will not ride with someone who doesn't have a shovel, probe and beacon, and everything must be on them! Shovels only belong on your sled if theres one in your pack!

Now as far as going overtop of someone yes it is a bad inexperienced mistake. There is SOME exceptions were it is ok, but you need look around and see. I mean some hills are flat enough you know it is fine. But without experience, it is not easy to know which ones.

There is a point to it though, I have good avy gear but no ABS pack. It is a big debate but I won't be buying one anytime soon. I don't take big risks and feel the pack would make me take more. You have a better chance of spending the night on the hill then being caught in an avy though, survival gear is just as important in your pack.

 

[Modman]

the only thing ive kind of noticed is most newbies arnt brave enough to find real trouble. and its the experienced guys that go deep to where theres not alot of traffic and get into real trouble. a couple friends of mine that are newbies went to revy and i seen the pics and it looks like they road around the hilly feilds the whole time, the most mountains i seen where the pics from the highway and hotel.

Well, I see just the opposite when I'm out there. Ran into a guy in Gorman last March looking for a group of his buddies... all alone....said it was his second time out on a sled. That's not the place to be if your new (he was from Golden...).

All I see is newbies trying to be rockstars on the hill, climbing over other riders and highmarking one another, multiple (like 5!!!!! arrrrg) sleds on the hill at a time, showing off their sleds and "awesome" skills. See lots of newbies, doing the stupidest things imaginable. Lots of them have new sleds and no clue how to use them. Don't get me wrong, the experienced guys do dumb things too, but at least they know what they are doing is wrong, and setting a poor example by doing it (think twice you "experienced" riders.....you are just as accountable as anyone) Ignorance is not an excuse for newbies. Do some information searching, its called "the internet".

saskboy - yes it matters where you are from. Flatlanders seem intent on proving themselves to mountain riders when they come to the hills. Problem is - they don't ride here all the time. So the inherent dangers are lost on them unless they are members of forums like this (such as yourself). But don't forget that most riders aren't on these forums, so you and Bogger can count yourself among the "educated" 20% (if that). That being said, some of the local newbies in the mountains don't have anything to prove, they are just arrogant and think because they live there that they "already know" the dangers. So you have different ends of the spectrum with a broad cross section in between - on one end are those that don't know anything and go ahead anyway, on the other end you have those that think they know everything and go ahead anyway, and in the middle is a very diverse cross section of riders leaning towards the middle.

Once its all said and done, regardless of where you land on the bell curve, proper gear and training are still an essential when riding in the hills.

 

[maxwell]

i can sit at the bottom of a hill for half an hour befor i make a pull planning it out and thinking of worst case scenerios. while some hotshot blows by me at 100 miles an hour with no escape route and no respect for the terrain he is climbing. does he know where to go when that thing slides? once again not my training just my brain.

 

[Taz]

I wouldn't take anyone to the mountains that didn't have the equipment to help themselves, me and the rest of our group. Do they need avy training for there first trip no but there is a easy online free course they should do and a must is practice with the transceiver to know what to do in case of an emergency it's not just so you can be found. The instructions for peeps are easily found on the suppliers web sights.

 

[teamgreen]

I wouldn't take anyone to the mountains that didn't have the equipment to help themselves, me and the rest of our group. Do they need avy training for there first trip no but there is a easy online free course they should do and a must is practice with the transceiver to know what to do in case of an emergency it's not just so you can be found. The instructions for peeps are easily found on the suppliers web sights.

Sorry, I have had this bookmarked forever and kinda forgot about it. Dont tell my boss that I'm promoting the competitions courses



Maybe we can get this website in a sticky or in a links section?

 

[Taz]

i can sit at the bottom of a hill for half an hour befor i make a pull planning it out and thinking of worst case scenerios. while some hotshot blows by me at 100 miles an hour with no escape route and no respect for the terrain he is climbing. does he know where to go when that thing slides? once again not my training just my brain.

Never sit at the bottom of a hill that people are climbing rule #00001.
My training?

 

[HagmanMod1]

i guess i broke the number 1 rule a couple of thousand times