Snowgerl @snowgerl - Tumblr Blog

Posts

Look at this glorious place 🤩 just magical ✨

#snow #snowmobile #winter #mountains #alpine #backcountry #sled #sunshine #landscape

Seem to have forgotten to pack my snorkel 🤿

#snow #snowmobile #winter #braap #mountains #alpine #powder #backcountry #sled #girlswhoride

Missed this snow pony 🦄

#snow #snowmobile #winter #braap #mountains

It's my 10 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

#10 year tumblrversary #tumblr milestone

Been out a couple of rides. One of few places with snow on the west side of the country. Thankful to get out!

#snow #snowmobile #winter #braap #mountains

I had about the most terrifying experience of my sledding career yesterday. This post is mostly just a vent for me about what happened because I can’t seem to stop thinking about it. I’m very sore today and still a bit emotional. No broken bones or anything major, thank god. I am so glad to be back to normal life and safe, but I am shook.

The situation involved a group of three of us dropping down into a drainage that I had been into before. Spring riding conditions so no water holes open, fairly hard packed and I knew my way in and out. We got to the bottom of the first section and there’s a “decision point” where you can drop further into the drainage (it gets quite a bit steeper) or you can turn back up. I turned out and let the other two continue down. They seen me go back out and I rode back up to the top. (Mistake #1) riding alone.

Then I got over confident and decided to drop back in and attempt to catch up to them. At this point I definitely should have radio’d down to let them know where I was headed. (Mistake #2) Not communicating. I had only ever been down the lower section one other time and it didn’t end well, so it was a very poor choice. I got in there and mistook the steep pull up the side at the first drop to be the way back out. I later found out that the pull I was thinking of was actually further down. So it was completely unnecessary for me to attempt this super steep, deep and high consequence line. But I did. And I snagged a tree with my ski tip just as I started to trench and thought it might hold my sled there.

I bailed off the back. Leaving the sled to hang above me. (Mistake #3) stay on the high side. It started to slide back down towards me and then I started running to try to get out of the way. I thought the worst case it would roll over me. That was not the worst case. It rolled over me and pinned me.

So now no one knows where I am. I have use of only one hand, and my other hand and legs and entire body is now stuck underneath a 500lb machine. My breathing is shallow from the weight on my lungs. But I am breathing. So I focus on that. I try to calm myself. I then try to dig with my free hand, to no avail. I cannot move any other part of my body. So I am forced to wait. (Mistake #4) no access to my radio. If I had a mic set up on my pack and my radio anywhere near me (it was in my tunnel bag) I could easily have called for help.

So I waited. And prayed my lungs would hold out. And as I settled my breathing and gathered my thoughts I knew my husband would find me. He always comes back for me. He always finds me. I would just have to wait. So after about 10 minutes (that felt like two hours) I heard another snowmobile. Then nothing. So I started yelling for help. Waited another couple of minutes and then I heard the sleds fire up again and start towards me. Then I was found and they lifted it off of me.

So we will be buying new radios. I will be significantly more vocal on said radios about my location and decision making. I will proactively assess my line choices based on whether I have an audience or not. I will be more conscious of staying with the group in more intermediate terrain. I will remember this and I will learn from it. It was stupid, and it was scary, and I need some time to process.