Ooh, that looks painful. Can you walk on it?

sli74 said:

I always carry a sleeping bag and closed foam pad ... I also carry a stove and fuel...

Click to expand...

I know that these can be lifesaving items in winter, however, I'm embarrassed to say that I don't carry them.

Generally I carry lots of extra clothes, including a down jacket, an emergency bivy bag, and a summer down bag (32 degree). I have this idea that with the summer bag I would not be comfortable, but I would survive. I could be very wrong. The thought of lugging my -30 bag up a mountain makes me want to cringe, but maybe thats what I should be doing.

When I busted up my knee not too far from the summit of Allen a few weeks ago, I was able to walk out. But it made me think about what I would have done if my injury had been much worse. That particular day I had opted to leave the sleeping bag behind. So I had a bivy bag, clothes and down jacket. My plan would have been to get one of the others to help me get into all of my dry clothes, use my pack as an insulating pad, use some tree boughs for additional insulating base, build a big fire, and ask one person to hike out while the other stayed with me (there were 3 of us). There was no cell phone coverage, and it was an 8 mile hike to the car, so it would be a long wait sitting in the cold before help could be expected to arrive.

Its very tempting to leave all that heavy gear behind. However, I am probably going to rethink my approach to this issue.

bikehikeskifish said:

I'm sure Doug will elaborate on this,

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You know me too well...

To the best of my recollection:

Estimated conditions:
temp 15F, 1-2 kt wind, time 2:40. (The phone call was made at 3:02 pm.)

Crash situation:
* lying on my right side in the snow in semi-fetal position. Skis oriented properly.
* was wearing my standard "crash suit": 2.5 fleece jackets, hard shell, and hat. I always put it on before extended downhills to stay warm and to keep snow out of my clothing. Zips closed.

Actions:
* attempt to lift left (upper) ski to remove. Knee went up, ski did not. Thus I knew immediately that my femur was broken. Left wrist hurt as if sprained (was actually broken).
* went to work on pack--got sternum strap, was working on shoulder straps when Andy arrived.
* Andy removed my skis and pack.
* He then put an 18 in sq blue foam pad under my butt, rotated me up into a sitting position, and propped me up with a pack. (I supported my bad leg with my good leg.) I was now up out of the snow. There was a wet spot on my right (wool) pants leg, otherwise dry.
* He put my down jacket on me backwards (my back was pressed against a pack).
* Down hood removed (snap-on) and placed on my head
* placed emergency bivy sack over me (as a tarp)
* wrapped fleece pants around me
* added his spare shell on top

I was now adequately thermally stabilized. Light controllable shivering some of the time.

* Pulled out cellphone, got 1 bar... Punched in 911. Rang! "What is your emergency?"** loud and clear. "Backcountry ski accident above Waterville Valley..."**
* Requested a snomobile with sled. Gave injury as broken leg or broken femur. Gave location as beside Upper Livermore Rd, just below the height-of-land.
* 911 Op (Marilyn?) requested that I stay on the phone. Had to give 2 clarifications on location. (Upper Livermore Rd is now known as Livermore Tr...)
* pulled out GPS after 2nd clarification and sent in coord including datum in case phone batts died.
* 1-1.5 hr after the initial call, a snowmobile and sled driven by Jeff of the NH state police and carrying Cathy of the VVW Ski Patrol arrived. (I don't know if they carried a GPS, but they hadn't used one.
* Thanked Marilyn (911 Op) and hung up

I'll stop here, but the snowmobile rolled when they were passing a blowdown lower down. (They had hand carried me separately.) Jeff called in the backup snowmobile, but Andy arrived and was able to help them right the machine just before the backup arrived.

FWIW, I mostly directed my stabilization, but Andy certainly contributed. I do remember telling him to make sure that he kept warm, too.

Most of the gear came from my own pack (23-25 lbs), Andy also contributed some.

If the cellphone had not worked, Andy would have been able to ski down and report the accident. It would probably have added 1-2 hrs to the response time, but I should have still have been ok thermally. (Internal bleeding seems not to have been a problem--just my guess.)

Had Andy not appeared, I don't know if I would have been able to get my pack off. It contained enough gear to survive the night, but would have been useless if I hadn't been able to get to it or deploy it.

I expect that I would have had little chance of dragging myself down as far as the groomed trails by myself. My femoral neck was also broken. I had 1 leg, 1 elbow, and 1 hand...

Doug

** These are approximations that capture the gist--I don't remember the exact words.

PS. One handed typing still sucks.