Successful self extractions from treewells

All the bad/sad news about treewells lately, a typically crass CC.com thread, and first hand observations this weekend (from the outside thank god) of some particularly nasty 10'+ tree wells got me thinking about tree wells. In particular, just what the chances are of even being able to get out of your own bindings while inverted. This assuming you're not already asphyxiating with a mouthful of snow and more on its way.<br><br>My own personal experience is that I got myself into a maybe 8 ft deep spring well once while young, foolish, and lift skiing in some sidecountry. It being a spring well, it fortunately didn't immediately fill in behind me but nevertheless I was good and stuck hanging freely upside down from the branches or edges, and way too deep in there for my shouts to be heard even if the other person I'd been skiing with hadn't also been young, foolish and already well downhill of me. So it was self rescue time.<br><br>My back and head were smarting from having whacked the trunk hard so it was hard to even think straight but it soon became clear that the only way out was to get out of the bindings. And fortunately I still had one pole in hand, and my bindings were a pair of Marker M4/12s that allowed for a relatively short lever-out motion using a pole, IF you could get your pole exactly behind the metal tab on the binding and IF you had room to lever that thing up about 45 degrees. It took about 5 minutes of painful contortion but I finally managed it.<br><br>Now in retrospect, older and hopefully slightly less foolish, I try to imagine doing that same thing with my BC bindings. Neither my Fritschis nor Dynafits are particularly easy to release, it takes a pretty good amount of weight lean to poke the respective button and get it to release. Could I put that much force against them with gravity fighting me? Dunno. If I were tele, could I either hook the heel lock down with a pole or do a pullup to do it manually? (My brother had to do such a pullup once for one of HIS treewell incidents but he is much stronger than I.) Could I zip out of a snowboard binding?<br><br>The CC thread I was referring to quickly devolved into a snowboarder vs skier thread. Pathetic. The point I'd like to raise (and would raise there, except that it's obviously pointless on that forum, I'm not in the mood for 99% spray 1% content today) is that I don't imagine that it's really that much easier to get out of the two leading AT bindings or a cable tele binding, if you are vastly space constrained and hanging upside down, especially if you have the bad fortune of not still having at least one pole handy. Or have others had similar experiences to share about getting out of their bindings and in fact it wasn't that bad?

I have been caught upside down in Hammerhead tele bindings and although I was able to hit the heel throw and get out with my pole, it wasn't easy. In a more confined and desperate situation I dont know if I could have pulled it off.<br><br>I have often thought a quick-release device of some sort could be useful for situations like this, and for avalanche safety. I'm thinking of trying to devise a ripcord of some sort that runs up through my pants. It would have to be unobtrusive and easily affixed, but I think it could work for most cable tele bindings.

My first reaction is that unless your legs are strong enough (and/or you din settings low enough) to muscle your way out of releaseable bindings with leg power alone, there's maybe an 80 or 90 percent chance you're not going to get out unassisted.

Has anyone thought about trying to practice self-extraction? Is there any interest in getting folks together and trying out various scenarios, or would it just be too dangerous?

Has anyone thought about trying to practice self-extraction? Is there any interest in getting folks together and trying out various scenarios, or would it just be too dangerous?

<br><br><br>I don't think it is really something that you can practice since usually it happens so fast you really have no time to think. I've fallen in one just once but was able to grab a tree branch and hold myself up long enough for friends to pull me out. Not something I'd ever want to do again, that's for sure.

I was able to push myself out of a treewell that I fell into from snow collapsing  underneath me into the treewell.  First I cleared the snow away from my face.  I had to clear snow away a second time after tree shed its snow on me when I grabbed the trunk.  I never tried to get my skis off  while upside down.  I had to climb back down into the tree well to retrieve my ski pole that I tried to push down against the ground.  The pole never hit solid ground at full arms length above my head.  If you have good branches to grab onto and you have enough strength to lift yourself upside down you should be able to self extract.