Staying out of trouble in the backcountry

MONTE CRISTO -- Snowmobiles are not what they used to be. In the old days a rider who took one off a groomed trail would sink in the powder and stay there until friends helped heave them back on the trail.

But today elite snow machine riders perform stunts such as backflips, jumping over houses and climbing straight up the side of a mountain. Not landing a backflip has obvious consequences, but riding in the backcountry and being caught in an avalanche can be just as deadly.

With stock 1000 cc engines, cushy suspension and top speeds well over 100 mph, modern snowmobiles are powerful machines that can take a rider almost anywhere they want to go and even some places they shouldn't be.

"The darn things are addicting," Larry Sanders, president of the Davis County Snowflakes Snowmobiles Club, said. "You get behind the wheel and feel the power and oh baby, let's go!"

When Sanders first bought a sled about 35 years ago he remembers being lucky to get off a packed trail. He recalls one of his first long, bumpy rides in Yellowstone. At the end of the day he was exhausted from the lack of suspension on the ancient machines.

Today's sleds have suspension for huge jumps and can ride in 3 or 4 feet of powder snow. They have longer, wider tracks with more aggressive cleats that bend to power the sled forward rather than just digging a hole.

All this technology and power is useful not just for going fast, but many times for getting out of trouble.

"We all like to drag race," Sanders said, "but power is more for getting out of places."

Sometimes power and a lot of luck has even gotten riders out of the path of avalanches. According to Sanders, the chances of outrunning a slide aren't so good.

"The avalanches go so fast you can't outrun them," Sanders said. "If you're coming down a hill that fast you're bumping all over the place. If you outrun it, you're very lucky."

So far this season two snowmobilers have died after being caught in avalanches. Neither of the victims was wearing avalanche beacons.

Both incidents were in the Western Uintas, an area popular with snowmobilers and historically plagued with a shallow, weak snow pack and strong winds. Early snow in October was uncovered through November and then covered by numerous storms in December. The lack of consistent storms left a weak layer of snow near the ground creating the possibility of triggering deep avalanches.

Craig Gordon, from the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, is the avalanche forecaster for the Western Uintas. He has spent years educating snowmobilers about avalanche safety and developed the Know Before You Go avalanche education program for young adults in Utah.

According to Gordon, snowmobiles actually exert less pressure on the snow than a skier or snowboarder. The weight of most sleds is about 500-600 pounds, but it's spread out over a larger area.

The reason snowmobiles cause so many slides isn't due to their weight, it's simply because they can cover about 100 times more terrain in a single day than a non-motorized user. The more slopes a snowmobile crosses the greather the chance the rider will find the weak spot in the snow pack and start a slide.

"It doesn't matter what we are riding," Gordon said. "Skis, snowboards, snowshoes, it's all the same thing. It's not the weight, it's a matter of finding the weak layer."

Gordon stresses the importance of wearing an avalanche beacon under a jacket to keep an avalanche from tearing it off. Many riders keep shovels and probes under the seat of their sled, but Gordon believes these items should always be attached to the rider in case rider and sled are separated. They should either be carried in a backpack or connected with straps to the rider's back.

Beacons have been very successful at reducing fatalities in avalanches, but riders should still rely on good judgment rather than technology to save them.

One out of four people caught in slides dies from being beaten up by the avalanche and the longer someone is buried, the less the chance that they will survive.

"Remember, this stuff just helps to find a body," Gordon said. "If you have to use a beacon then you've already screwed up,"

According to Gordon the best avalanche is no avalanche at all. The thing to avoid is triggering the avalanche in the first place.

Slopes with a steepness of 35 to 45 degrees are the most dangerous because they are steep enough to slide but not so steep that snow would have already slid off. It's also important to look for anchors in the slope, like trees, that might provide safer travel than wide open bowls.

Ninety percent of avalanche accidents are triggered by the victim or someone in the victim's group. When traveling in suspect terrain, only one person should be exposed at a time so others in the group are available to respond if a slide does happen.

Checking the avalanche forecast before heading out in the backcountry is always a good idea. High winds, heavy snow and rapid temperature changes are all indicators of possible avalanche danger.

"The snow is a lot like people. It doesn't like rapid change," Gordon said. "It actually gets cranky when it goes through rapid change."

Gordon thinks one of the most important things is having a game plan and communicating it with other riders in the group.

If a slide does start, "Get off that moving piece of snow!"