Successful self extractions from treewells

I agree that an avalung would be a good idea. If you don't have one to use, it doesn't matter whether or not you can get it in your mouth, but if you do, it can give you precious more time to attempt to self extract. While snowboarding, I've only had a few encounters with tree wells, and was successful in grabbing onto the tree branches. Usually I give tree wells a wide berth if at all possible. If I ended upside down in a tree well with snow covering my entire body, there's a pretty good chance I wouldn't be able to reach up and unstrap from my bindings. Obviously, the best advice is to be extra cautious when skiing trees and to ride with at least one other person, but even then there is still considerable risk. If anything comes of a "self-rescue" class, I'd be interested.

I think we could simulate being upside down in an enclosed apace by hanging upside down off of some rafters and then surround the person with plywood or somehting to a chosen radius. This could test one's ability to deal with binding release and gear issues while hanging upside down, but it doesn't really address the snow suffocation issue. <br><br>Who's got a tall garage with exposed rafters?

<br><br>i like the thought here but i'm not sure this would work. the pressure you could apply while in a hanging position would be towards your head by pulling a cord, whereas you would need a cord that pulled a heel throw down (or up in this case if you're inverted). you would need to develop some type of counter pull...i certainly can't picture it.

<br><br>I was thinking I could just wrap the cord around the heel tube, using it as a pulley to pull the tail of the throw down. Tried it last night, didnt work. It might work if I could put some kind of pulley wheel around the heel assembly, but since the net force is in the wrong direction, I doubt it will be much better. An AT setup could probably pull it off though, by using something fixed to the ski to pull down on the heel piece lever.<br><br>

I think we could simulate being upside down in an enclosed apace by hanging upside down off of some rafters and then surround the person with plywood or somehting to a chosen radius.  This could test one's ability to deal with binding release and gear issues while hanging upside down, but it doesn't really address the snow suffocation issue.  <br><br>Who's got a tall garage with exposed rafters?

<br><br>My idea was even simpler. Have the "victim" step into his/her skis, then lie down on the snow. Have two burly "helpers" grab the victims skis, one at the tips, one at the tails. The helpers would set the skis on their shoulders. Your victim now resembles a roast pig being carried to a luau. <br><br>The victim's task is now to get free. I think unbuckling the boots and wiggling out of them might be the easiest way for many people to escape. You would probably learn all sorts of valuable things this way, like whether your gaiters prevent you from unbuckling, and so on. If the gear gets in your way, fix or replace it! Those are the kind of things we learned in the paragliding clinics I mentioned earlier.<br><br>It occurs to me that NARSID (Non-Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Death) may be an unintended consequence of improved avalanche control and fatter skis and/ or snowboards. Does it seem to anybody else that these sorts of accidents are on the increase?

Excellent motivational tools.<br><br>"If you don't agree to ski this line with me I'm coming over there to help you do some treewell self-extraction! Got any money in your pockets?"<br><br>"So we can ski the icefall or do some crevasse rescue training. Let me check for my Yates belay knife first."<br><br>The possibilities are endless.

Quite a few years ago S.Barnett and I were skiing a s- faceing run in spring conditions at Rainy Pass.As we decended to treeline we became seperated.As I was stopping to locate him I lost my balance and fell over backwards into a treewell.As I slid in I grabbed a branch,my Silveretta bindings jammed with so much force the toe bail broke.With one hand I was able to release my bindings.It was quite a struggle and took about 5 min. to extricate myself. For me it was one of those defining moments in life.The outcome could very easily have been more grave.It was # 13 of my nine lives.Now I'm a loyal treehugger. Be safe ! X