Tree well inversion rescue video

Watching the video, I was struck by how ineffective the shoveling was. The potential shovelers didn't apply themselves very hard (a lot of people were just standing around), and the way they went about it didn't work well at all.

Digging along the edges of the victim's body doesn't work well. If anything it just encourages the body to slide farther into the hole. I think it may be better to start a large hole next to the tree well and then enlarge it sideways until the victim's whole body is exposed. You could get a lot more shovelers working that way, move a lot more snow out of the way, and you wouldn't be restricted by the presence of the tree.

I think developing some "strategic shoveling" guidelines for tree wells would be very valuable to the outdoor community.

This video made me really appreciate the value of carrying a shovel any time you're powder skiing, even if you don't have a beacon (often the case in a controlled ski area). I think about my son and his friends as they get more interested in deep snow.

Very interesting, thanks for the post. In watching the video, something strange caught my eye the first time, enough that I immediately paused and rewound it even before the rescue. How did this person actually fall, inverted, into a tree well?

Looking at the video, from roughly the 0:51 mark: the victim is skiing straight ahead, with his hands over his head, and right towards a single tree in the middle of a large open area. No other trees are within several yards in any direction, like maybe 10+ yards. It's hard to see, so I eventually viewed the 720p HD version at full-screen, and kept hitting the pause button to try to figure out what happened.

Can anyone figure out what is going on? How does he fall, and how does he end up inverted? Something appears to be just not right with what happens. Did he crash over his tips, or fall backward over his tails? He is completely inverted head-down when the camera arrives, and the tail of his one remaining ski is pointing downhill. Skiing with your hands over your head, directly towards the only tree in the middle of a large open area, and crashing into a tree well -- not good.

Just as with avalanches, the MOST important thing is to avoid creating an accident and becoming a victim at all -- rescue skills and techniques should be secondary. Skiing in a manner to avoid tree well accidents should be a priority. I'd like to learn more about how to do that. Have I been doing some things wrong all along, but just gotten lucky enough to avoid falling into a tree well in deep-snow conditions so far? I don't know -- although I've never done anything like what it appears this guy did.


One other unrelated comment: not sure if others feel the same way, but I felt a strong visceral dislike for the attitude of the cameraman throughout the entire incident.

fwiw, I felt the same way in that it didn't seem like 'an accident'.  I feel it was contrived.  that said, it doesn't take away from the message..

Scary! Tree wells make good camp spots and that's about all.

Lowell's comments are apropos.

I concur with you Amar. Looking at the track going into the tree well I am bewildered as to how he ended up in the position he did. As well, while the camera man is taking his skis off and then looks up at another person in red I notice their hands are glove free?
Am I mistaken? Did they take their gloves off that fast but remain standing there watching?
I must admit at first I thought it was staged the way they happened upon him.
Scary stuff indeed.

I was once stuck in a tree well in the sidecountry of Stevens ski area years back and was on my back sinking in. I was on tele gear and as I tried to reach for the ski closest to me I sunk deeper. It was a scary place to be but fortunately I was able to yell for help until someone found me. Had I been in it face first it would have been a very different outcome.

This video was circulated around the Canadian ski guide community last year and the consensus was that it was a good example of what not to do in terms of effective rescue. As always, it's easy to be the armchair quarterback/Monday morning mountaineer, but analyzing what they did well and what they did poorly can be helpful if you ever find yourself in this situation.

I'd have to agree with Lowell that the shoveling could have been much more effective. Strategic shoveling is the best way to extract someone from a tree well. It is even more effective in steep terrain.

I think this is often an overlooked hazard in the backcountry (and frontcountry for that matter). Last year there were more tree well fatalities in the Canadian mechanized ski industry than avalanche fatalities.