Wedge Mountain (Whistler) fall

**bennymac** · 04-09-2023, 11:36 AM

Good on this guy for putting this out there for consumption

https://tareef.tech/blog/wedge-mountain/

There is helmet cam footage from his partner going down that chute but I’m not sure how to post it here

**toastybroski** · 04-10-2023, 10:52 AM

That was a good read. Where is the footage of him going down that chute? Looks crazy.

**bennymac** · 04-10-2023, 11:00 AM

A friend local to the area sent it to me in a text. I’ll post it if you tell me how. It’s not as crazy as video of the falling guy woulda been.

**grinch** · 04-10-2023, 12:42 PM

Wtf im scratching my head why they dropped in there. It says they went to far on the ridge and it looks like they didnt go far enough. The main chute looks relatively ez to see from top

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**bennymac** · 04-10-2023, 12:48 PM

They were on the descent (they had already summited) and went too far down (left to right). Then they tried to find a shortcut back into where they intended to go. Hunger, fatigue, feeling rushed cause of warming temps etc

**grinch** · 04-10-2023, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by bennymac

They were on the descent (they had already summited) and went too far down (left to right). Then they tried to find a shortcut back into where they intended to go. Hunger, fatigue, feeling rushed cause of warming temps etc

Ah ok. Still , get the line from the top. Aesthetics.... and living

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**LeeLau** · 04-10-2023, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Wtf im scratching my head why they dropped in there. It says they went to far on the ridge and it looks like they didnt go far enough. The main chute looks relatively ez to see from top

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Massive failure of basic navigation. Beginner with beginner.

**bennymac** · 04-10-2023, 04:51 PM

Even if that guy held his edge on dropping in there was no way they were making it over to where they wanted to go.

He is so incredibly lucky to have bounced on snow rather than bare rock. Darwin was busy elsewhere that day.

**grinch** · 04-10-2023, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by LeeLau

Massive failure of basic navigation. Beginner with beginner.

Ya eh. Just amazing they can navigate all the way up there and then when navigating really counts it's a major fail

Originally Posted by bennymac

Even if that guy held his edge on dropping in there was no way they were making it over to where they wanted to go.

He is so incredibly lucky to have bounced on snow rather than bare rock. Darwin was busy elsewhere that day.

Sooo friggin lucky. Mustve had some serious karma built up

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**jackattack** · 04-10-2023, 05:36 PM

slips, trips, and falls belong in the slide zone now?

is this categorization a metaphor for poor navigation?

**Boissal** · 04-10-2023, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Ya eh. Just amazing they can navigate all the way up there and then when navigating really counts it's a major failSooo friggin lucky. Mustve had some serious karma built up

Agreed, seems wild to wander on the glacier in the dark without falling in a hole then miss the entrance to a massive couloir and sneak onto some hideous ramp in the sky instead. Maybe there's a massive cornice up there that isn't visible on the pictures? The couloir looks so big that some alarm should have gone off when dude couldn't see the bottom and the ramp he was on ended after a few 100'...
I've dropped into the wrong line before but it's never looked that obvious after the facts.

Regardless, dude expanded every bit of luck he'll ever have in 15 seconds, props to him for not dying!

**LeeLau** · 04-10-2023, 08:58 PM

There's no cornice overhanging the couloir. The couloir can be seen from the highway and on approach. It's roughly 20m wide

**bennymac** · 04-10-2023, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by jackattack

slips, trips, and falls belong in the slide zone now?

is this categorization a metaphor for poor navigation?

FACT: They both did some sliding

**ironhippy** · 04-11-2023, 09:12 AM

I'm shocked at the effort it took them to get where they were and then there is this comment:

The wait was unfortunately very long, 3-4 hours.

3 - 4 hours seems incredibly quick to me

**miserywhip** · 04-11-2023, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by ironhippy

I'm shocked at the effort it took them to get where they were and then there is this comment:

3 - 4 hours seems incredibly quick to me

How about the line that if he'd had some inflatable splints they might have been able to get out on their own?

**muted reborn** · 04-11-2023, 11:15 AM

I'll always regret not skiing this with friends years ago, but I was too tired. When I saw their video from that day, one was a tiny dot skiing in the massive couloir - it is much bigger than it looks from the road.

If you can't find that big of an entrance and fall off a massive 300? 400? cliff instead - might be time to realize ski mountaineering is not your forte and quit.

**dmcd** · 04-11-2023, 11:23 AM

This could have been so much worse and seems like almost a miracle it wasn't. First post on his blog that mentions ski mountaineering is from May 2022 and he talks about new gear.

**bennymac** · 04-11-2023, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by miserywhip

How about the line that if he'd had some inflatable splints they might have been able to get out on their own?

guess he was gonna just ignore the pain and disability from his fractured pelvis

**raisingarizona13** · 04-11-2023, 03:55 PM

A great example of why you should climb the line you intend to ski.

**Boissal** · 04-11-2023, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by raisingarizona13

A great example of why you should climb the line you intend to ski.

To be fair, no being able to find the entrance is reason #13 why you should do that, not really top of the list... Unless you're skiing very weird shit or have done 0 homework it's usually straightforward to get in from the top.

**nortonwhis** · 04-11-2023, 07:58 PM

South Coast Touring gonna South Coast Tour.
The snowboarder also seriously lucky to avoid major injuries. Not sure what his plan was either. Have the video. DM me with your phone number and i can share. Supposedly looking for more partners a two days later.

**bennymac** · 04-11-2023, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by nortonwhis

Supposedly looking for more partners a two days later.

So what peaks you guys gonna tag?

**nortonwhis** · 04-13-2023, 02:18 PM

Wedge is the biggest mountain around here so maybe we go buttslide some Tantalus spines as they are the most dramatic for the gram. Might be harder to get GPS tracks to fuck it up there though.

**JayPowHound** · 04-13-2023, 04:41 PM

It's been covered, but relying on a phone and/or watch for navigation scares the hell out of me.

If you handed him a map and compass up on that ridge I wonder the odds whether he could triangulate his position and realize he was too low?

Prolly pretty low is my guess.

So lucky, but I hope lessons were learned and he will work to improve his navigational skills!

**bennymac** · 04-13-2023, 04:50 PM

This thing is they *knew* they were too low.

But they were too tired, hungry, rushed, dumb to turn around and climb back up (or come up with another plan) - instead they were looking for a shortcut.

A shortcut that, even if he didn’t eat shit and fall, was not gonna allow them to access where they wanted to go. If you look at the photo at where they entered and then look at what they woulda needed to navigate/traverse they probably woulda had an even higher chance of death had they tried going that way.

Even a map and compass and skills to use them were not gonna save these guys from themselves.