"It could've been worse" TR - Y Couloir 1/28/06

**Trackhead** · 02-04-2006, 07:14 PM

Good thing you don't have chicken legs, or your femur would be a friggin wishbone!

Ouch! I knew those were gonna turn ugly when I say you that night.

**Kellie** · 02-04-2006, 07:48 PM

Just saw this now as well - glad you are both relatively okay, and echo the thanks for honesty and increasing the awareness of the collective. So many thoughts come to mind reading your story and empathizing with some of your responses . . . not a situation I'd like to be in again, but a harsh potential reality of what we do.

Here's hoping the bruises heal soon and that your knee is okay . . .

**Stoysluttie1** · 02-04-2006, 07:53 PM

about the scariest pictures I've ever seen..keep the nudity to yourself man

Glad thats all it was and that your head doesn't look like that.

**Blurred** · 02-04-2006, 10:02 PM

First of all, I'm glad you're both ok.

I just wanted to say that a lot of times on this forum many people try and apply way too much safety to a sport which is inherently dangerous. Our sport is full of risks, and instead of most just accepting that, we're always asking "what could we have done to prevent this"? That is a good approach much of the time, but sometimes you just have to realise that shit happens. That is pretty much the conclusion that I've come to in the events that you both have described. All of us who ski accept these risks as part of the game. I think you both made an intelligent decision, deciding to give it some time to put it into perspective.
Thanks for sharing.

**Trackhead** · 02-04-2006, 10:33 PM

That's a MEDIAL bruise, not a proximal bruise. Dumbass!

**powstash** · 02-05-2006, 12:02 AM

wow X. great evaluation and continued thought. better than school this thread is.

oh yea, this thread now NSFLS(not safe for light stomachs)

**InspectorGadget** · 02-05-2006, 12:21 AM

A riveting write-up. Thanks for sharing.

I'm just glad you're both (mostly) OK.

A thread like this gives me pause about venturing into the backcountry. [Little voice in the back of my head saying "Stay on the beaten path."]

**DownhillRider** · 02-05-2006, 12:43 AM

Wow. Good thing you're okay, minus the bruises. Sounds fucking scary. Thanks for the TR, was really, really informative.

**skinnyskier** · 02-05-2006, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Trackhead

That's a MEDIAL bruise, not a proximal bruise. Dumbass!

Looks like it's both medial and proximal to me. Anyway, it looks like it f#$*kin hurts.

**bbirtle** · 02-05-2006, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

...Our sport is full of risks, and instead of most just accepting that, we're always asking "what could we have done to prevent this"? That is a good approach much of the time, but sometimes you just have to realise that shit happens. That is pretty much the conclusion that I've come to in the events that you both have described. All of us who ski accept these risks as part of the game. ....

Good point. I think a lot of people delude themselves at some level into thinking with analysis and science you can make it 100% safe. (I'm sometimes one of those people.) What this thread brought to home for me is that something like the Y couloir has a non-ignorable degree of objective danger. Especially for those of us that do this stuff a lot (for me it's dangerous stuff climbing more so than skiing, but same thing), we tend to forget this fact after awhile as the things we do become second nature.

Personal and second-hand experience like this thread, however, is the best way to both learn to evaluate correctly the level of objective danger as well as learn to eliminate the subjective danger as much as possible, and that's something your grandchildren will thank you for. So thanks again Xover and Dantheman for sharing your story and for those that contributed to the analysis.

**Particle** · 02-05-2006, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

First of all, I'm glad you're both ok.

I just wanted to say that a lot of times on this forum many people try and apply way too much safety to a sport which is inherently dangerous. Our sport is full of risks, and instead of most just accepting that, we're always asking "what could we have done to prevent this"? That is a good approach much of the time, but sometimes you just have to realise that shit happens. That is pretty much the conclusion that I've come to in the events that you both have described. All of us who ski accept these risks as part of the game. I think you both made an intelligent decision, deciding to give it some time to put it into perspective.
Thanks for sharing.

Best and most true post on these forums in a long time.

**Monique** · 02-06-2006, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Xover

I am personally going to talk with all my touring partners about not only this incident, but their feelings also on touring with me in the future. I have always felt that their lives and families are just as important as mine.

Xover, I'm so glad you and DTM both came out okay. Thanks for the thought process you've shared here. You and Dan could have come away saying "shit happens," blaming the incident on inherent risk and leaving it at that; but instead, you've chosen to look hard and honestly for gaps in your preparation or for choices you made that left you open to "shit happening." I would expect your touring partners to have more confidence in you than ever.

About five years ago a glide avalanche apparently released naturally and killed a guy I used to go out with in college, and a close friend of his, while they were climbing Stairs Gulch. Your story makes me think of their families again, and I'm very, very glad that your experience ended with you able to tell about it.

**Sufferfest** · 02-06-2006, 02:50 PM

That really was a good post. Thanks for sharing that with us and glad to hear that you are both alright. It's so true, shit happens. Some things are just out of our control. We can only make things so safe but that's it. The rest is up to luck, good fortune and fate. Let's just hope they continue to be on our side.

**Xover** · 02-07-2006, 02:30 PM

Just got back from doc. He did the normal x-rays, yankin', pushin' and pullin' on the knee. X-rays showed no broken bones. He said all ligaments were fine; mcl did have a little play in it, but that could've been there from my previous grade 2 tear from a couple of years ago. Says my pain right when I first move is from the blood and gunk (technical medical term) in my leg shifting around like jello (another technical medical term). Says to get on with some pt pronto; doesn't want me vegging about. Also, said should be back with normal activites in a couple of weeks.

Put my mind at ease about alot of the pains/concerns I've been having lately. As the thread title says, could've been a whole lot worse. Now gotta go try and at least find my other ski. Can't wait to friggin ski again - soon

**bcrider** · 02-07-2006, 02:33 PM

Good news X!

I checked out the line on the bus ride over the weekend too.

CS · 02-07-2006, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Xover

Just got back from doc. He did the normal x-rays, yankin', pushin' and pullin' on the knee. X-rays showed no broken bones. He said all ligaments were fine; mcl did have a little play in it, but that could've been there from my previous grade 2 tear from a couple of years ago. Says my pain right when I first move is from the blood and gunk (technical medical term) in my leg shifting around like jello (another technical medical term). Says to get on with some pt pronto; doesn't want me vegging about. Also, said should be back with normal activites in a couple of weeks.

Put my mind at ease about alot of the pains/concerns I've been having lately. As the thread title says, could've been a whole lot worse. Now gotta go try and at least find my other ski. Can't wait to friggin ski again - soon

good to hear man.

In your honor we went and hit up the little guppy again. Snow was as good, if not better than when I hit it with you. I wussed out on the big air but dropped the top again, then hit the lower one with a bit more speed and higher up. Biggest air of the year for me so far. Jumping off rocks is fun.

Hurry up and get healed so's you can get yer slut back on.

**Dantheman** · 02-07-2006, 02:50 PM

Great news buddy. I think we'll use your bruise pics as illustrations in The Chronicles of Gnarnia.

**AltaPowderDaze** · 02-07-2006, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Xover

Now gotta go try and at least find my other ski. Can't wait to friggin ski again - soon

i took a couple laps up there today and didn't see anything looking like your ski. stability down low is pretty good if you're taking the metal detector up. up high there are some small slabs but nothing with much engery. good luck w/ the hunt.

**powder11** · 02-07-2006, 04:59 PM

I just read this for the 1st time. glad you guys made it out ok. its a real eye opener when directly faced with big consequences in real time. hope the leg heals up quick so you can get back to regularly scheduled ripping.

**LeeLau** · 02-07-2006, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Xover

I am personally going to talk with all my touring partners about not only this incident, but their feelings also on touring with me in the future. I have always felt that their lives and families are just as important as mine.

I made a mistake that put my touring partner in a pretty bad spot; not quite as bad as yours but still a pretty serious error in judgment on my part. We talked it over and we both felt much much better after doing that. Good idea to get it out in the open.

**Xover** · 07-14-2006, 02:43 PM

7/7/06 Recon Trip #3 = 1 ski + 1 pole; 1 pole still missing

Recon trip #1 sometime in late Feb/early March with a metal detector yielded nothing. Every good beep that day yielded only a 10' probe being sunk to the hilt and still not hitting ground.

I kept watching through the rest of last winter and the Y slid every storm. Can you say deep debri and I ain't gonna find my ski till August??

After alot of climbing in LCC in the late spring/early summer all the while keeping a watchful eye to the Y, I noticed she might be melted out enough for a 2nd Recon trip towards the end of June thanks to a recent heat wave. So I decided to head up one night after a trail run. I had to cross the creek by the big pipe on the LCC Trail then bushwhack along the creek shores through some of the most hateful brush ever. I get to what I think is the bottom of the Y and start scrambling up. After a little while I get the feeling I'm not in the Y so I decide to head back due to impending darkness. A looksy from the road reveals I was actually heading up the Y Not; man things look alot different up there without all the snow.

Recon Trip #3. Same initial bushwhacking gets me to what I think is the bottom of the Y. I pop out and low and behold I am looking up at the Y. I scramble 5' and find this ....

Some inspection yields a shattered heel piece

and some very rusty edges

5 more feet of scrambling yields this ...

turns out 1 ski and 1 pole went all the way to within a few feet of the trees; just like me. If I'd of just dug around in the snow a little on the day of the initial event, I most likely would've found them. I very vividly remember having other thoughts of lets just get the hell outta here before anything else comes down on that afternoon.

At this point my hopes were high for finding my one last pole, so I headed up higher and found this.....

don't know what the hell it was doing there, but obviously someone is core enough to take down the Y in a pair of Asics Gels

Higher up looking at what is the last real steep section in the winter is a mini waterfall of about 20-30' in the summer

Looking up at our last "safespot" of that day ...

A closeup of our last "safespot" ...

Looking down at my ride; I went to where the sun meets the Y proper down by the last big boulder just before the thing chokes to an end in the trees ..... yowza!!!

Having gone up that high with the metal detector in early March and again last Friday, still makes me a little nauseas. Upon looking down at how far I went and the stuff I was bouncing off of its a miracle that I escaped with not anymore injuries than I had - the Big Guy upstairs was looking out for me that day.

Like TH said initally, the Y really is just a series of gulleys. This is the bottom portion of the Y below the waterfall. I am blown away by how high the sidewalls are and just how much snow accumulates in this thing due to slide debri; without it, it would be virtually un-skiable. The sidewalls are like 20-25' tall on both sides

Summer....

Late March this past winter ....

Though I scrambled all the way up to my catch point, I never saw a sign of my other pole. The thing did have alot of thick brush and a crap load of stinging needle in it so I wasn't about to go searching through that stuff. It could easily hide my last pole. So, I decided to go back in the fall when the creek is down and the brush and stinging needle are dead for one last recon trip.

I need to publicly thank Gaper Joe (aka Harpo), Str8 and CC for graceously giving/letting me borrow a lone binder, ski and set of Claw compatable poles to enjoy the final three months of this past season. You guys are top notch and I'll still owe all 3 of ya a beer or two. Thanks again

**bcrider** · 07-14-2006, 03:04 PM

Glad to hear ya found yer stuff (most of it) mang!

It’s cool to be reunited with lost gear.

Ps. is the ski going to be salvageable?

**Buzzworthy** · 07-14-2006, 03:09 PM

Nicely done Xover. Woodsy and I were talkin yesterday and your name came up as I was bitchin about the chip and seal crap UDOT does and makes my white subaru a bit black tar looking. I said it was all your fault.