Winter Wipe out - humbled by safety(snow shoe)

I was in Tahoe this last weekend with the family and visited Adventure Mountain with the nephew and niece for some sledding. After a while I took my new snow shoes and gear and heading up the side of the mountain. I headed towards the ridgeline and was going to head towards the peak hoping to get close. With a 1/2 mile to go for the peak, I had to go around an exposed granite out cropping. The mountain was pretty steep at this point and I was relying on my snow shoes' cramp ons. I had trekking sticks for extra balance. I slipped on the icey packed snow and went sliding down. It wasn't super fast, but I couldn't stop. I did not have an ice axe. I did not have a helmet. I was alone out of site of the park below. I wasn't wearing my jacket, I had a hoodie on.

I slid almost a 1/4 mile down the hill. Right across the granite rocks I worked to avoid earlier. My descent was broken by sliding feet first in to a tree. I got lucky. Sliding across the granite rocks I tore the ass up on my goretex pants and destroyed a glove. My only injuries were some light scrapes and cuts and a few bruises on my back and rear. I had been humbled by the mountain. It was a beautiful day and I got lazy about thinking about safety. I got lucky I didn't slide off one of the ledges or smash my head on the rocks.

Next time you go out on a 'nice' day, remember that you still need to think safety. The unexpected can get us at any time.

-Brian 'humbled' G

Damn Brian that sounds scarier than ***t!
Glad it turned out O.K. man.

This is when a float plan comes in handy. Glad your OK brother!

Wow, man, gnarly stuff.  Glad you made it out relatively unscathed.

jeeeeeesssuuuuuussss....

glad you are ok....

Glad your alright

Dude, just imagining the feeling of the out-of-control slide gives me the willies!
I do a bit of xc skiing each year & I'm always afraid that as a "weekend warrior" I'll one day get into trouble.
I always pack the typical "survival" stuff, but I know that won't help me if I smack my head or hit a tree or something.
I'm stoked you lived to tell the tale!

GEEZ!!! What an ordeal  A nice day can really make you forget how easy it is to get separated and in trouble

Thanks for the reminder Brian. It seems no matter what we're doing we tend to get complacent since things *almost* always go as planned.

I had trekking sticks for extra balance.

I'm betting you don't know how do do a self arrest with ski poles?

It's da age of da intarweb - lookitup

Glad you are OK BG! That's a scary feeling, not having very much control on ice.

My skiing/boarding basic rule: If it's icy don't even go. Doesn't matter if that's the only day you have off.
And who cares if your friends are giving you sh*t! It's just not worth hitting a tree, they are not that soft.

Kinda like yakking conditions, if you think it may be a bad idea to launch, it probably is.

In younger days falling and learning to ski ice was mandatory, but now I try to only go when there is at least 12" of new. It's just not that much fun when you could lose an edge at speed.

BTW: Lot's of freshies now, I'll be up at Alpine next Tues./Wed. if any NCKA'ers want to meet up and get some vert. pow.
PM for my cel - novo

I had trekking sticks for extra balance.

I'm betting you don't know how do do a self arrest with ski poles?

It's da age of da intarweb - lookitup

No clue. I'll be watching some videos tonight.

I ordered an ice axe and whipple. I'll be ready to try again next weekend. My biggest fear was avalanches but as a newbie to the snow/ice trekking I am seeing how little I know. At least I will be the only guy around with fart vents in my snow pants! Backcountry is having their big winter sale right now.

Glad you're OK.  You should thanks your lucky star 

Brian, I don't think those are snow shoes.

Brian,

Not to put you off an ice axe (I've got either 2 or 3  or maybe 4-5 depending on whether or not you include my stone-age ice tools as "axes") but for snow shoes, poles are where it's at.  Otherwise, you're really going to want to be switching the axe from hand to hand as you switchback up a slope. No biggie if you only have a single axe, but a pain in the rear if you've got a pole and an axe.

If you really need the axe for self arrest, at that point in time the snowshoes should be in the backpack, and you should be wearing regular crampons.

Scott

P.S. The above is my not-so-humble opinion, nothing more. Take it with a shaker of salt.