Poacher's Last Run. RIP PoacherDave

[ak_powder_monkey]

I didn't know Poacher all that well. But he was a legend. Skied every day possible. Every line was "his." He even bought new skis a week ago. Its a lot easier to die skiing powder if you ski every day I suppose. He went out like the legend he is. Other AK Folks who knew him better can say more. This write up in Turnagain News says a lot.

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articl...chers-last-run

Mar 17
This took place on March 14
By Jim Sweeney

TNews Contributor

The helicopter hovers eighty to hundred feet above the valley floor creating a tornado of snow. Each time it tries to land, it is engulfed in white, so that the pilot has to pull back to see.

The helicopter is small, with a blue bottom, a white top and an Alaska State Trooper badge on its side.

The helicopter flies off, circles once and comes back for another try. No cigar this time, either. The obnoxious bird takes off on another loop and this time slows down as it flies over. The garble from the helicopter’s loudspeaker is swallowed by rotor wash but Mark Norquist and Matt Howard get the message. It’s too dark and there is too much snow flying around for the helicopter to land.

Dave "The Poacher" Pettry will spend the night of March 14 next to Tincan Creek.

Matt straightens Poacher's stiff arm next to his body thinking about the recovery while Mark retrieves Poacher’s skis and gear from next to the unused landing zone, freshly packed out for the helicopter. He stands his skis next to the snow bed where Poacher lays. His poles lie next to him. Mark looks around, he doesn’t want to leave Poacher here. He loves Poacher. They ski twice a week together. But Matt is hungry, thirsty and wants to let his wife know he’s okay and is already breaking trail on the long traverse towards the Seward Highway. A little less than quarter of a moon is pasted to the sky above Turnagain Pass and stars start poking through the cobalt blue.


Dave ‘the Poacher’ Pettry on March 14 with friends Matt Howard, Mark Norquist, Dave Brailey and Ryan Taylor on Tincan Mountain. (Photo by Doug White)

There is no way for Mark and Matt to spend the night with Poacher. They’d just freeze. It’s been four hours since Poacher died. Mark is lucky that he and Poacher hooked up with Matt today, otherwise Mark would be alone right now.

Matt is 18 years younger than the 71-year-old Poacher and fifteen years younger than Mark. They thought it would be smart to ski with Matt because then they’d have a young buck to break trail.

Matt’s value increased the moment Poacher died. He’s been here before. When Steve Garvey died with him rock climbing in Portage Valley, he had to leave Steve's body to notify the authorities. Matt knows the game and his patience and caring nature helped Mark make decisions.

The contradictions are many for Matt. It had been a beautiful day. He got to ski with a legend of backcountry skiing. He was with Poacher on his last run. Poacher’s last words were spoken to Matt. Garvey’s death was violent but Poacher's last run and passing was the opposite and Matt was honored to be there.

After the trio's first run, they climb back up for another. On top of Tincan peak, they hook up with Dave Brailey and Ryan Taylor. There is no wind. Bluebird would be the best word to describe the day. They have a safety meeting while peering down at fresh powder descents. It’s four o’clock. The snow is sparkly. Their first run had been excellent. Poach keeps up a dialogue of history, humor and ski bumness while on top. Brailey and Taylor disappear down the west side and Matt leads Poacher and Norquist down the south side.


‘Poacher’ and friends on a Trip to Battle Abbey in British Columbia. (Photo by Leah Evans)

Matt lives for days like this. He has forty days in the backcountry this year. He skis down effortlessly. He stops above Tincan Creek, in what Poacher calls the Snake Pit. He turns around and faces uphill so he can watch Poach and Mark ski down. He takes out his phone and waits.

Poacher has an unmistakable style. He skis telemark and always has. He tap dances his way down the mountain with Fred Astaire grace. The mountains smile on him. Matt keeps his camera is trained him.

Poacher skis the thousand foot run non-stop. Watching him ski, you wouldn’t have a clue about the passing out and fainting spells. He says he went to the doctor about his conditions and the doctor gave him medicine, but he quit taking that and says that proper hydration was the key to controlling these occasional issues.

Poacher wears a grey bandana with black and white designs over his head. He has a brown jacket and light colored pants. Poacher has a hundred days of backcountry skiing so far this winter. It seems impossible that anyone could ski this many days or even half that many. He's been getting this many ski days in for forty years.

Matt watches Poacher ski impeccably towards him. He faces downhill always, his poles and boots go slightly up and down but his body is silent. He’s smiling. He hits the flats and plops down. I’m passing out, he says. Matt takes off his skis then Poacher’s. He lays Poacher down and cradles his head in his lap. His breathing is erratic and after five or six breaths that keep getting weaker and farther apart, he quits breathing. Matt tries CPR but it’s hopeless because he’s up to his waist in deep snow. When he tries chest compressions Poacher just sinks in the snow.

Matt looks uphill for Mark. It's been five minutes. Mark has a broken heel piece on his binding and is being careful. Finally, he appears on the slope above. It feels like forever and then he’s next to Matt. Mark thinks Poacher has passed out and will be up and better soon. It has happened before.

Then Matt tells Mark, "he’s not breathing."

They try CPR together, but it’s useless. Poacher has no pulse and is not breathing. They accept that Dave Pettry, the Poacher, has passed.

Time: 4:20 p.m.

Diamonds in the snow swirled around Matt's skis and boots as he breaks trail on the long traverse back to the west side of Tincan Mountain. He‘s on a mission to get safely back to the road and his truck. He needs to call his wife and let her know he’s okay. The quarter moon lights the way. Mark breaks trail for a while. Just a little further they take off their skins and it’s downhill to the flats before the highway.

They reach the road at 10 p.m. A truck with its headlights on waits in the pullout. It’s Jordan Rymer, a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service. Jordan interviews them for a half an hour. Matt and Mark get home to Anchorage. 11:30 p.m.

Dave Pettry, the Poacher, deceased, earned his moniker after sneaking in on a ski run during filming of a ski movie by Greg Stump called “License to Thrill.”

Poacher famously justified the incident.

“We don’t call it poaching up there in Alaska, we call it skiing,” he said.

Poacher’s body was recovered the following day on March 15.

I hope you and the viking are setting skin tracks for the rest of us in Valhalla

[m2711c]

sounds like a life well lived. i can’t think of a better way to go… godspeed poacher.

[singlecross]

I always wished Poacher would have just dropped in before Hattrup got on the radio and Stump stopped him. I would have liked to have seen those turns on film.

Ride on, Poacher Dave!

[Danno]

sounds like a life well lived. i can’t think of a better way to go… godspeed poacher.

indeed.

But vibes to the two guys left to pick up the pieces, so to speak; I hope they are at peace.

[Danno]

sounds like a life well lived. i can’t think of a better way to go… godspeed poacher.

indeed.

But vibes to the two guys left to pick up the pieces, so to speak; I hope they are at peace.

[romeo tango]

.
Sweeney, Garvey,

haven't heard those names in a long time ....

Rest in Peace Dave

.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Saw and shared this yesterday with a few

A life well lived

https://www.reddit.com/r/Backcountry/s/aPiSOGeWwI

[heckacali]

A beautiful exit

[mcski]

RIP Poacher. What a life. I think this case warrants a justifiable “He died doing what he loved”. At 420 no less

[Harry]

RIP to an absolute legend.


Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums

[BFD]

thanks for starting this thread Patrick. I wanted to post something but felt I had to include his segment from License To Thrill but did not know how to link it.
I have been friends with Dave since 1985. He was one of the few Anchorage people that would come out and ski with our Hatcher crew. I think he was hoping to hook up with one of the crew. It was an awesome time back then. Tom Murphy and Don Svela were running the A Frame. You knew everyone you met skiing. We were pushing out and skiing new lines.
Funny about the new skis. I was talking with a friend and he wondered who would get his collection. I imagine it is a lot larger now. He used to flex every ski. Go to ski shops and flex skis. That reminded me of his pvc pipe on a bungy televators he made. Than my buddy reminded me of these other things.
beveled plastic plates that mounted under tele bindings for more edge control. He made orthotic insoles by grinding up old wine corks with a cheese grater and mixing it with silicone. And the original hydration pack drinking hose cleaner that was copied and commercialized many times over. he showed up for the Hatcher Cup downhill race with a homemade aero helmet and leg fairings he made out of duct tape. He was kind of a mad scientist type.
I moved from the area and have not seen the Poacher much in the last 20 years. I wonder how much of that gear he was still using. The day that still stands out in my mind 35 years later was the last time Todd skied Hatcher. There were 4 of us and now there is one.
His end is kind of like that of my old lab that I loved. We came back from a walk she laid down on her sleeping bag on the porch and never woke up. The perfect companion to the end.

[wendigo]

nice remembrance bfd.
hadn't seen dave in a decade+, always fun to chat with him
turnagain will certainly be different without poacher and the viking.

[yeahman]

thanks for starting this thread Patrick. I wanted to post something but felt I had to include his segment from License To Thrill but did not know how to link it.
I have been friends with Dave since 1985. He was one of the few Anchorage people that would come out and ski with our Hatcher crew. I think he was hoping to hook up with one of the crew. It was an awesome time back then. Tom Murphy and Don Svela were running the A Frame. You knew everyone you met skiing. We were pushing out and skiing new lines.
Funny about the new skis. I was talking with a friend and he wondered who would get his collection. I imagine it is a lot larger now. He used to flex every ski. Go to ski shops and flex skis. That reminded me of his pvc pipe on a bungy televators he made. Than my buddy reminded me of these other things.
beveled plastic plates that mounted under tele bindings for more edge control. He made orthotic insoles by grinding up old wine corks with a cheese grater and mixing it with silicone. And the original hydration pack drinking hose cleaner that was copied and commercialized many times over. he showed up for the Hatcher Cup downhill race with a homemade aero helmet and leg fairings he made out of duct tape. He was kind of a mad scientist type.
I moved from the area and have not seen the Poacher much in the last 20 years. I wonder how much of that gear he was still using. The day that still stands out in my mind 35 years later was the last time Todd skied Hatcher. There were 4 of us and now there is one.
His end is kind of like that of my old lab that I loved. We came back from a walk she laid down on her sleeping bag on the porch and never woke up. The perfect companion to the end.

Thanks for this BFD.

RIP Poacher Dave.

[Bunion 2020]

May we all be remembered so well.

Thx

[TBS]

sounds like a life well lived. i can’t think of a better way to go… godspeed poacher.

This

indeed.

But vibes to the two guys left to pick up the pieces, so to speak; I hope they are at peace.

Saw an interview with Mark Norquist, who skied with him twice a week and was there at the end. He was sad but quite at peace with it.

[skiJ]

I didn't know Poacher all that well. But he was a legend. Skied every day possible. Every line was "his." He even bought new skis a week ago. Its a lot easier to die skiing powder if you ski every day I suppose. He went out like the legend he is. Other AK Folks who knew him better can say more. This write up in Turnagain News says a lot.

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articl...chers-last-run



I hope you and the viking are setting skin tracks for the rest of us in Valhalla

again, as has been said, Thank you for starting these threads, Patrick -

thanks for starting this thread Patrick. I wanted to post something but felt I had to include his segment from License To Thrill but did not know how to link it.
I have been friends with Dave since 1985. He was one of the few Anchorage people that would come out and ski with our Hatcher crew. I think he was hoping to hook up with one of the crew. It was an awesome time back then. Tom Murphy and Don Svela were running the A Frame. You knew everyone you met skiing. We were pushing out and skiing new lines.
Funny about the new skis. I was talking with a friend and he wondered who would get his collection. I imagine it is a lot larger now. He used to flex every ski. Go to ski shops and flex skis. That reminded me of his pvc pipe on a bungy televators he made. Than my buddy reminded me of these other things.
beveled plastic plates that mounted under tele bindings for more edge control. He made orthotic insoles by grinding up old wine corks with a cheese grater and mixing it with silicone. And the original hydration pack drinking hose cleaner that was copied and commercialized many times over. he showed up for the Hatcher Cup downhill race with a homemade aero helmet and leg fairings he made out of duct tape. He was kind of a mad scientist type.
I moved from the area and have not seen the Poacher much in the last 20 years. I wonder how much of that gear he was still using. The day that still stands out in my mind 35 years later was the last time Todd skied Hatcher. There were 4 of us and now there is one.
His end is kind of like that of my old lab that I loved. We came back from a walk she laid down on her sleeping bag on the porch and never woke up. The perfect companion to the end.

Nice tribute, BFD -

reads like a Life well lived !


my Condolences to his friends...


FknA, Poacher Dave ! !!
with love


skiJ / tj

[ak_powder_monkey]

nice remembrance bfd.
hadn't seen dave in a decade+, always fun to chat with him
turnagain will certainly be different without poacher and the viking.

Who will set the skin track when there’s 2 feet of fresh and it’s a Tuesday morning at sunburst? The Viking and Poach were pretty reliable about breaking trail.

[plugboots]

May we all be remembered so well.

Thx

Yup.

Dang. Dang. Dang.

[jackattack]

thanks for starting this thread Patrick. I wanted to post something but felt I had to include his segment from License To Thrill but did not know how to link it.

[BFD]

here is the full segment from License to Thrill

[garyfromterrace]

Great tribute to a legend. Ride in peace Poacher.