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Thread: The sled ride

  1. #51
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    May 2002
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    I've had more than a few sled-worthy injuries but have never gotten in the sled and pray I never have to. I've worked with guys I felt lacked the most minimal amount of empathy and/or competence that should be expressed in actions and words as a patrol person. Reason I don't get in the sled if it can be avoided.

  2. #52
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    Jan 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by californiagrown View Post
    At what point is it easier, quicker and less painful to just slowly ski your way down to the patrol shack instead of waiting around in the snow for the blood bucket ride? Obviously, lower body injury where you CANNOT weight a leg is different, but a popped out shoulder/non displaced arm fracture etc... i cannot imaging that the blood bucket would be a more comfortable ride, or get me to a morphine shot quicker than my own two legs skiing as smooth as possible.

    FWIW i have never had to call patrol on the hill, but have dislocated my shoulder (a couple times), and fractured my fibular plateau (oddly a really mellow injury). I just relied on the adrenaline, and really smooth/slow skiing to get me back to my car and on to a hospital/clinic. I get scared shitless when i cannot control my own safety in those kinda situations... also, seeing this video didnt help my fear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aRXj4TeGf4
    Probably could have made it down ok on my own, but there was a lot of fresh heavy and having your arm stuck straight out in front of you freaks you out. The thought of skiing down never occured to me. In any case they got to me quick and I was down a lot faster than I could have skied it. I was in double black terrain. What I definitely could have done without was the ambulance that was waiting for me when I got down. I should have just refused. The nurse in the patrol shack relocated the shoulder and I was with friends who could have driven me. When I tore my medial meniscus I skied down from near the top of Alta. When my wife broke her wrists near the bottom of Alpine's back side I told her to ski down and I would drive around a get her. I was overruled. We had to wait for patrol and a sled and then they hauled her up to the top of sherwood behind a snowmobile and then rode her down. Made no sense to me.

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    66
    Quote Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper View Post
    I train rookies in sled handling, and I always make them get in a sled and take them for a ride. They always say that it’s very enlightening. It gives them empathy about spray, rough snow, steep slopes, traversing, and turns. Another a-ha! moment comes with having them in the sled when the skegs come free while traversing through moguls and the sled swings around downhill. That gets some big-eyed looks.

    The mountain where I work has paramedics on hill almost every day - a little fentanyl IN for severe injuries can help with pain (and anxiety) on the ride down.
    Is this in the US? Id be interested to know how they receive med control.


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Amicable Snowman View Post
    Is this in the US? Id be interested to know how they receive med control.
    Yes, it's in the US. The patrol paramedics (and EMTs) operate under the state and organization protocols. The patrol is registered as an emergency medical service and has a physician medical director and can contact medical control at the local hospital ED via phone or radio for certain procedures. Not all US patrols have this capability.

  5. #55
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    Dec 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by huckbucket View Post
    No way in hell I'm clicking a link to a video in this thread.
    I'm with you

    Vibes to all you who been F'kd up

    I should have been carted 3 x... ooo I am stubborn >med grade acl ,tail caught while flippin upsidedown backwards through the air / pretty bad mcl, just went in a rut at season end ,was prob ready to go / bad calf /hamstring tear, ice slip tail caught, leg very bloody bruised for weeks

    Lets ride as safe as we can out there and earn those cheap 80 year older passes
    ski paintingshttp://michael-cuozzo.fineartamerica.com" horror has a face; you must make a friend of horror...horror and moral terror.. are your friends...if not, they are enemies to be feared...the horror"....col Kurtz

  6. #56
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    Dec 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rideski View Post
    Fractured a fibula at the point farthest away from the parking lot at Vail.
    Skied out to avoid the sled.
    Drove my manual f150 home through a blizzard to avoid being stuck in hospital and truck towed. Left foot on clutch and brake, ski pole on gas.
    holy shit!

    I thought my drives home were bold, with a knee the size of a small watermelon

    you win hardcore story of that season maybe
    ski paintingshttp://michael-cuozzo.fineartamerica.com" horror has a face; you must make a friend of horror...horror and moral terror.. are your friends...if not, they are enemies to be feared...the horror"....col Kurtz

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Canmore
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    731
    Running a toboggan is a good time. Getting to people can be real fun, airing bumps with an empty 17 behind you is a whole new experience.

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Lakeside California
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    545
    Did four seasons as a volunteer at a Small but busy hill in SoCal. 100 incidents per day on the weekend was common.
    Used to LOVE weaving in and out of heavy traffic with a sled in tow
    Some were serious. Some were not
    Always loved being the " victim" during training knowing I would be riding the green burrito
    Term used because of the olive colored wool blankets used to wrap the injured.

    Man that was a fun time in my life. Late night hill sweeps. After hours drinking parties and poaching a nearby tubing hill at 2 am with my patroller friends

    Did not enjoy watching a 17 year old female convulsing in front of Her screaming Mom in the snowboard park after going way tooo big

    Really enjoyed the extra courses like mountain travel and rescue off the hill
    Building and spending the night in a snow cave and building hasty shelters in the wilderness.

    Good Times

  9. #59
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    Feb 2008
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    Locals boys a few years ago
    “I have a responsibility to not be intimidated and bullied by low life losers who abuse what little power is granted to them as ski patrollers.”

  10. #60
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    Dec 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Amicable Snowman View Post
    Is this in the US? Id be interested to know how they receive med control.


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    The second paragraph in the link describes the Med services at Sugarbush. When I fucked up my arm they were going to cast it and send me home. While moving it around they discovered my busted elbow and took another X-ray. They them called the head surgeon in Burlington who wanted to see me asap. He determined there was no nerve damage and set a surgery date for the next week.
    I was interviewed for the binding study while laying in the clinic. My right quad was severely bruised from the impact and they wanted to check it out. I had to protest loudly for them to put the shears down before they cut my Marmot bibs off. Lets just unzip them, sizzor happy they are.

    sugarbush-study/
    www.apriliaforum.com

    "If the road You followed brought you to this,of what use was the road"?

    "I have no idea what I am talking about but would be happy to share my biased opinions as fact on the matter. "
    Ottime

  11. #61
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    Sep 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by snoqpass View Post
    Locals boys a few years ago
    Akias are fun

  12. #62
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    Nov 2005
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    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
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    My worst ride was 6 broken ribs from the top of Snow King.
    It hurt.
    I remember the bumps, and the face shots.
    I was a straight up junkie for a few weeks.
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  13. #63
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    Jan 2008
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    truckee
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    Watching the patrol tobaggan races on The Slot at Squaw a few years ago was fun. I would not want to be the "victim".

  14. #64
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    Nov 2003
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    I’ve been lucky. Over 3k days on the hill and never a ride.

    But one of my saddest days was watching my 85 year old father come down in a sled.
    Knowing it was his last day.

  15. #65
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    Dec 2008
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    cottonwood heights
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    Here's an old one> no sled ..ambulance could access the area

    It is amazing how slow you can hit a tree and be seriously hurt

    I saw a young kid at Arrowhead ski/sled area in new jersey, sled right into a tree . There is a row of trees ,along the road ,up the hill, cars can use.

    He hit it at like 5 mph, it was silly slow> he hit top of his head directly, and was in convulsions rather quickly after it knocked him out at 1st..

    Ambulance carted him off within 20 min. I doubt there's ski patrol there ..was a staff member and public helping till ambulance arrived.

    Stay away from those trees! this kid could of rolled off the sled and never even hit it ... I guess he thought he was going so slow it wouldn't hurt.
    ski paintingshttp://michael-cuozzo.fineartamerica.com" horror has a face; you must make a friend of horror...horror and moral terror.. are your friends...if not, they are enemies to be feared...the horror"....col Kurtz

  16. #66
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    Jan 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by AaronWright View Post
    In March 2014 I took a long uncontrolled slide into a tree and nearly killed myself, like I should be dead. I called my buddies and sometime later they arrive more scared than me because they had to ski down the ridge on 45 degree bullet proof. I had a flail chest and pneumothorax, was spitting pink frothy blood. I crawled into the toboggan, I had to lay on my left side just so I could breathe and not pass out. They threw some of those thick wool blankets over me and strapped me down as best they could. They set up two anchors to belay me down this gully to get back to the piste. Half way down they ran out of rope and had to take the sled off belay to set new anchors. I'm a big guy, like 6'5" 240 at the time and the two patrollers on the handles and chain break, Josh and Aiden, were holding me and very slightly creeping downhill. They are yelling at Erin and Tess to hurry because they're losing their edges. They get me back on belay and we finally get down to the top of the piste. Now we only have 1700' vf left to the aid room and waiting ambulance. The fastest way was down what had just been used for an FIS GS course and it hadn't been groomed because of the hard freeze so it still had the rut and ice and was rock hard after they injected the course. It was an extremely rough ride and I was covered with shave ice by the time I got to the aid room. They helped me stand and I walked into the aid room to warm and get some morphine(didn't do anything for the pain) before the ride to town.

    I love those guys. The use my accident in training now for an example of high angle rescue.
    Googled "flail chest"...jesus christ man.

  17. #67
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  18. #68
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    Oct 2004
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    50 miles E of Paradise
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    I’ve had two sled rides.
    First was when I found some barely coveredrocks and rapidly decelerated. Distal radius fx (plate & 8 screws), cracked sternum, dislocated finger. Couldn’t get back into hammerhead clamp (same side as fx) on my own, so called patrol number with GPS coordinates to get a ride. Fixed the finger while I waited. Doc in the clinic had rebuilt my shoulder two years prior. Drove myself 90 min home.

    Second was when I found a deep drift in a blizzard and ruptured Achilles tendon. Sled ride to base and I was covered in snow - thinking “enjoy-this may be my last face shots for the season” and “Wish they carried a snorkel in these sleds”. I was the crash dummy for the clinic team to learn the Thompson Test while the rest of my crew skied.

    Also once had to call in a “courtesy ride” for a skier I was working with in our Adaptive Program. She has Down Syndrome and outweighed me by about 50#. She skied off a cat track into thigh deep pow and crashed. No way she could sidestep 50 yards back up to cat track. Tried to traverse her to groomed run but after 200 yards and four more falls I couldn’t stand her back up, so called Patrol. They sledded her down to chair base and then put her on a snow machine for ride to clinic. She was fine other than exhausted - also exhilarated by the experience and “the brave men who saved her”. Brought a sixer to patrol the next day.

  19. #69
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    Thread reminded me of this - training day, I was taking a ride with a rookie in the horns, experienced guy backing up on the tail rope.
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  20. #70
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    Dec 2007
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    monument
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    6,910
    I've had three soft tissue injuries: two ACLs and one ruptured Achilles.
    Self extricated each time (thankfully).

    Here is the cut and paste from the Achilles Ruptured in Ski Crash?!?:
    Well Fuck Me.
    I didn't think it was possible to do while in a ski boot either.

    Last Tuesday, Upper East Wall at A Basin.
    Narrow Chutes? (Pretty sure)
    Dude before me traverses skiers right two chutes over; skiers right one chute over looks good, no rock sign.
    Drop aggressively, left turn: Rock, rock, rock!
    Initiate right turn, land on: Rock, Big Fucking Rock!!! (Part of the mountain)
    Immediate dead stop, fold left boot.
    Feels like some hit the bottom of my left ski with a fucking ball-peen hammer.
    HOT, liquid sensation at the bottom of the left heel spreading up the lower calf.
    The hit hurt more than the rupture.
    Stretched out the calf as much as I could.
    Was in a bit of disbelief, although was sure what had happened (see hot liquid sensation above).

    Still had the entire upper wall beneath me in shin to knee deep untracked fairly heavy snow that looked great!
    Skied fall line, linked turns; albeit not as chargey as normal.
    Had to restretch the calf at the traverse.
    Hit the mid lift twice more as I'm unfuckingdestructible, last run groomer down to base.

    Not sure about you guys but I'm known to scream now and again taking off a ski boot when uninjured.
    Fuckers are tight and I have to arch my foot to initiate exit.
    No fucking way I'm getting out without exquisite pain.
    So I take off my right boot, use that foot to put in the clutch so I could start my car and heat up my left boot.
    15 minutes and a dab later and no way am getting that boot off normally.
    Staring at it, thinking "jaws of life, no way am I letting some cut of my ski boot, I wish the tongue was removable like my other boots".
    (Did I mention I was wearing Kryton Pros?)
    I see the Allen bolt my ski tool bag is within reach:
    Remove tongue, then proceed to take off the rear cuffs and shimmy foot out of the line and clog.
    Dude parked nested to me was initially perplexed:
    "I have never seen anyone take apart their boot to get it off!"
    "Me neither."
    Thank God/Dog that I had my tools.

    Driving my manual transmission WRX home was unpleasant.

    Failed my home administered Thompson test.
    Saw my cutter today and he said you fail those for a reason and you are completely ruptured.
    Scheduled for surgery Monday.
    At least it's the end of the season.

    Non- helpful advice/initial reactions from coworkers who perceive themselves to be alpha males has consisted of :

    "Why'd you do that?"
    "You should be more careful."
    "That sounds like it hurts. I wouldn't recommend it"
    "Not to rub salt in the wound, but you can't push it that hard, you're not that young anymore"

    I responded: "I still feel young!".

    The "you should be more careful" was good advice, but I take exception with the tone in which it was delivered.

  21. #71
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Maine
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    285
    Dang Pfluff…that’s legit.

    I’ve been patrolling for over a decade and am so glad I got peer pressured into it. Definitely some of the best memories on the hill from it.

  22. #72
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    Jan 2008
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    truckee
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    My second ride was a few years ago after I took a long tumble on Chute 75. (3 foot dump but it had all slid off the water ice underneath in that chute, which is also what I did., from the top) At first I couldn't move my arms but fortunately that only lasted a few minutes. Broken back, so it took them a long time to package me. I was lying still, head downhill, so I had no idea where I was. When they finally started skiing me down I expected a slow controlled ride down the steeps. Instead, a short schuss and we were on the mountain run. I guess I went a lot farther than I thought, almost to the bottom. Patrol was kind enough to remember to give me my poles, including the one I broke in half trying to self arrest.

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