Ocean11 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Another child died skiing into a tree in Tohoku somewhere over the weekend. I'm not keeping a strict count and there may be some deaths I didn't hear about, but the ones I know of this season amount to 10 or so. Link to post Share on other sites
barok 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 This is from the Zao death thread - seems like some people missed it. Morbid, but here's what NoFakie and I came up with Tokagushi chair fall Zao machine death Hakuba big kicker death Jeff Anderson Craig Kelly and the people he was guiding in Revelstoke Another crew killed in Revelstoke a week after Kelly and crew -- Most of Craig Kelly's party were on skis. He was on a split board. According to their website, that company (Selkirk Mountain Experience IIRC) doesn't allow boarders to ascend by snowshoes on their tours. The second Glacier Park party were on a character-building mountain skills expedition with their school. I believe they were on touring skis. A French pro boarder died around the same time as Craig Kelly from avalanche-induced injuries near Jackson Hole. Here in Japan, to add to the list Skier in Kamikochi region - backcountry avalanche Two boarders at Shirao - offpiste avalanche Skier at Hakuba Cortina - collision with tree Boarder at Charmant Hiuchi - broken neck on natural quarter pipe Skier at ? - collision with tree after veering off a slalom pole course Young girl skier at ? - collision with course rope Boarder at Nozawa - drowned in deep snow Add that to Ocean's report. "Another child died skiing into a tree in Tohoku somewhere over the weekend." and you are starting to get big numbers. It really is a dangerous pair of sports. Be safe. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Riding with an avalanche tranceiver won't do you much good unless you also have a buddy (or two) that has one. Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 It's sad to hear all of that. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 When I wear a beacon so does the wife. Link to post Share on other sites
steeno 0 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 we usually travel in the bc with our dogs and at one point we were actually planning on equiping them with transceivers. Link to post Share on other sites
ProtoDude 0 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 What kind of dogs? Link to post Share on other sites
steeno 0 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 it always varies on who is going but we usually have a black lab, golden retriever, a huskie, and a complete mutt. oddly enough the mutt, who has virtually no winter coat and no hair on his ears, kicks all the other dogs butts. the huskie never listens to his master and is always off doing his own thing. the goldens get bad ball up under their feet and can't travel for too long. and the lab can get too cold and is actually a chicken shiat when it comes to the steeps. i had a buddy who also had a malamut and was trying to teach him how to pull but he we found out he had hip displacement so he couldn't join us. ideally it would be best to get a golden and train it from the puppy stage to do search and rescue. they have a scent that is far more accurate than any beacon search. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Might be hard getting them on some of the lifts here. Anyone know. I heard they are tring to train avie dogs now but its still fringe and the owners have to foot the bills mostly. Link to post Share on other sites
jared 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Another deth last week at Geto - a racer lost it and slid off the course and into a tree - pretty scary skiing past a place where you know someone crashed and died. Link to post Share on other sites
IM 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 I was at Island Lake last week, and as we were riding a cat, 3 snowmobilers were burried and perished in back side of where we were riding. There are more than 25 deaths in British Columbia alone this season ralated to avalanches including Kelly et al. and this is extreamely high for them. Now Spring is here and some of the snow is getting stressed by Sun and temperature, so extream caution is required. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: Indo, how much does buying and using a transceiver cost? Ocean, I think they cost about 13,500yen. and thats for 1, which would be useless right! I haven't actually bought one but usually borrow them! ( my friends company use them for sports events) Up in Niseko we had 3 between 4 of use and they were so helpful, but I wouldn't rely on them as a BC safety device. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Thanks Indosnm. Once you've bought them, do they cost anything to use? (like with mobile phones etc.) Link to post Share on other sites
steeno 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 ocean11 - once you have flipped the bill for a transceiver it will only cost the price of your batteries to operate it. and the batteries tend to last an entire season. i usually change mine out at least once during the season just to make sure it is fully juiced, nothing would suck more then to loose battery life on the day you get buried. i saw an ad this weekend in the march edition of powder magazine from backcountrystore.com (i'll have to look up the exact url and post later). they were offering a backcountry package for something like USD $375. it included the ortovox m2 transceiver, probe poles, and shovel....all three essential items for b/c travel. not sure if they will ship to japan but it would be a good place to look for deals. one thing to note, having a transceiver is only half the battle. first you must have someone else with one and second it is wise to have a good understanding of how to use them effectively. meaning being able to "start digging" for a buried victim in under 5 minutes. IM - year after year snowmobiler's top the list of avalanche victims. oddly enough they think that since they have a big burly machine they are immune to them. when in reality it is a result of these machines that get them in the situation to begin with. Another odd statistic is that snowboarders often top skiers in fatalities as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 steeno, I'm not talking about a beacon (which I think is what you're talking about?) Do you need a provider or anything requiring money to use a walkie-talkie on the hill (for use when you're lost rather than dead). Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Ocean, they are walkie talkies! Just put the AA batteries in, select your frequency and off you go! as Steeno said the only other cost after the initial purchase would be new batteries which are the standard AA size! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 We're talking about 2 things here I think. I'm only interested in walkie talkies. But now I'm straight on both. Cheers. Having a transceiver might be a lot cheaper than buying a mobile phone... Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Radios are good. But if you buy them overseas like mine you often pick up the patrol radios. This year I also picked up some other gaijin couple witht the lady insisting on repeating her mates name for 10 mins. On a big mountain like happo they might not work if your too far apart. Great things in the back country. Link to post Share on other sites
steeno 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 my bad, thought it was talk on beacons (avy transceivers) and not radios. regardless...here are some good sites to shop for all kinds of gear www.telemark-pyrenees.com/e_index.htm www.backcountrystore.com Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 The ones you buy overseas shouldn't be used in Japan as the frequencies could interfere with emergency services etc. in Japan. There's a warning about that on the Motorola Japanese website (typically failing to say exactly why you shouldn't use it - just saying "Don't". Now where have I seen that sort of thing before?) Anybody know of any Japanese online stores that might have them? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 steeno I understood and explained a while back that the wife and I pack beacons all most always.] Radios are a little something extra. Link to post Share on other sites
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