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With some embarrassment I am sharing how my own stupidity led me to two close calls in one day in the hope that the rest of the community here will learn from my mistakes or to at least bring safety to the front of minds as everyone tries to get a few more sessions in before the season ends.

 

Yesterday, I was at Ninox in Shibata city, Niigata. It was about the 7th or 8th time I have been there this season and I was using the second of the two tickets I was kindly given by SnowJapan. I wrote a review of the place recently if you are interested.

 

Basically, Ninox has two courses up top separated by a valley. I have long been interested in trying to find a line down through that valley, but as it is not really visible from the lift, I haven't been game to go in blind. Then when taking some small detours through the trees to the side of one of the pistes, I saw a single snow board track heading down into the valley. I am moving away from the area soon and I thought, well, this might be my last chance so I decided to follow the track, assuming that it would lead out.

 

It was a fun run indeed, steep, deep and trees. There were a lot more contours and small valleys than I thought so I was going pretty conservatively, keeping the snow board track in sight. Then I came to a (for me) really technical section, a drop through tight trees into a gully that ended in a small stream with about 3 metres of snow walled up on either side. No man's land. The snowboard had taken a gnarly line weaving through the tight trees half way down the gully, then cutting across, up and over the ridge. I tried to emulate the gnarliness of my trailblazer but lost too much speed in the trees and couldn't make it up over the ridge. I took my skis off and tried to kind of climb up it.

 

The snow gave way under me and I was sliding down the gully on my stomach, feet first. I managed to flip over so I was sliding on my butt and could at least see where I was going and grab a tree. Luckily no more snow was coming down on top of me. I was between two pistes but completely out of sight and felt very alone. It took me about 30-45 minutes to climb up and out of that gully hauling myself up on trees and digging foot holes. Luckily I didn't fall down into that stream which would have been very hard to climb out of. I got my skis on again and the run opened up a bit after that, nice fresh snow and not as technical but I was a little too shaken up to enjoy it much. After all it wasn't the most dangerous situation but I decided to play it safe for the rest of the day. The real danger would come after.

 

I was sticking pretty close to the pistes, taking a few safe and familiar tree detours and enjoying some wall rides etc. I was taking a line that I have taken countless times over the last three winters on skiers left and kind of hugging the left side of the piste where it had been left ungroomed and there were still some fresh patches even though it was about 3 in the afternoon and kind of crowded by local standards. I went around the outside of a small tree and suddenly the ground fell out from under me. The whole section of snow I was on was overhang and my turn around the tree had caused it too collapse. So, I was falling down a steep incline with a lot of snow coming with me.

 

If any of you surf, I would describe the feeling as like when you mess up a bottom turn or straighten out on a close-out and the lip lands right behind you and the explosion of whitewater kind of pushes you up and forward before you penetrate the water... like that except while rolling down a hill.

 

I hit a tree and stopped. I guess I must have fallen about 15 metres. Below was a deep gully with another small stream in it, nasty looking rocks etc. I wasn't injured. One of my skis had come off but was stuck in bush not so far away. I edged over to it and grabbed it before trying to climb back up to the piste. I made it up until about 5 metres from the piste before I couldn't move any further. The wall was vertical and the snow above looked very unstable, hanging out over me. I could go no further.. I stopped with my boots dug into holes in the side of the face, holding the snapped trunk of a small tree that I guess had been broken by the little avalanche I had caused. The snow above me looked sketchy and the wind was blowing hard. I was worried and considered my options. I wasn't far from the piste, so I tried calling for help. I shouted for about 20 minutes but no one heard probably because of the wind. I was out of sight and everyone was in helmets, hats etc. With one hand I took off my backpack and got out my phone. I didn't know the Ninox number. I considered calling my wife but decided against it because of the inevitable life-time ski ban that would be imposed if she found out. I thought about calling a friend but didn't want to cause any worry or panic and ruin someone's Saturday afternoon. So, I tried calling the police, it is their job after all. After I had rehearsed in my head how I would describe my predicament and location in Japanese, I dialled the number. No reception. Damn Softbank.

 

I again considered my options, up or down. I could try to climb up through the overhang but the snow seemed so unstable. I would almost certainly fall, and have no control over my route down to the bottom of the valley. The other option was down, try to slide back down to the tree that had stopped me before and kind of use it to put my skis on and try to ski down and across the face, avoiding rocks and falling into the stream, hope that I don't cause another avalanche and try to find a safe route to walk out. I decided on the latter but first decided to try calling out for another ten minutes. It was getting late and the resort would be closing soon.

 

After about 8 more minutes of full on screaming, a head appeared over the edge. Then another. Two young snowboarders had finally heard me. I told them I had fallen and I couldn't move. Their first instinct was to try to push the snow out of the way so I could climb up. I shouted at them to stop, that the snow was unstable and that it might all fall and take me with it. I told them to get the ski patrol. One of them went off and the other stayed there to mark the spot. I waited another 20 minutes but it felt much longer than that. I was tired of hanging on and getting cold. Finally the ski patrol showed up with a rope. First they lifted my skis out then threw it down again. I tied it around my shoulders and they hauled me up. I was all thank yous and apologies and the ski patrol guy told me to stay way from the edge in the future. He was surprisingly good natured about it all. I looked back down at the tree that had stopped me. It was the only tree that looked solid enough to break my fall in the area. A metre or so forward or back and I would have been at the bottom of the valley for sure.

 

I skied down to the bottom with shaking legs and had the best tasting can of crappy coffee of my life. It was a humbling and scary experience. A little confidence and lack of knowledge is a dangerous combination.

 

Don't be and idiot like me. Have fun but be careful especially as rising temps bring less predictable snow conditions. I was lucky this time. Also, for the purposes of education please share any other close calls you have had.

 

On a brighter note, today I enjoyed a much more mellow ski at my local favourite, Budoh. They are closed for the season now but if you are up this way (kaetsu/northern Niigata) definitely check it out for fun courses, great views, good food, friendly atmosphere and zero crowds.

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Always a sobering experience when something like that happens.....had a close call myself yesterday when a cornice fell out from under me and I thought it was avy Central.....thankfully it was only the snow I was on that slid, the slope below was stable. The next couple of runs were done on shaky legs....stay safe

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Thanks for posting that u-tan!! Sounds like you were lucky!! It was interesting that the 2nd incident happened at a place you know well, a valuable reminder to us all to be careful out there!

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Glad u were ok in the end! It pays to go with a buddy when veering off course...saying that, I go by myself most of the time too.

People were getting a little over-excited at Kokusai yesterday too. Out over the back of the mountain was very busy. Saw one guy at the start of the traverse back to the gondola that had hurt his leg and was surrounded by about 15 people all stood around him. Thankfully there was a gaijin about to give him some painkillers and water, none of these guys was wearing a backpack or had taken anything with them despite being quite far from the resort.

Also had to rescue some Japanese guy in the same spot and guide him out over the river and up the wall hike out. He had gone over the back with no clue of where he was going and gone by himself on a crappy rental board!!

 

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Are the off piste lines good at Kokusai? I've never been…….we should do a couple of Teine/Kokusai swapsie-sesh's!! If you show me yours, I'll show you mines! :evilgrin:

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Thanks for sharing and glad you are fine.

It sure can be a very scary experience which can happen to any of us we all use the moumtains so good to hear your story to remind us that real dangers exist out there even with places we are familiar with.

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Glad to hear you are ok mate.

Put a proper high db whistle on the zipper of your jacket so its right there when you need it.

 

That's what I have, plus a little flashlight, some painkillers and a few other odds and sods in my pockets, mainly because I hate carrying a backpack.

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Are the off piste lines good at Kokusai? I've never been…….we should do a couple of Teine/Kokusai swapsie-sesh's!! If you show me yours, I'll show you mines! :evilgrin:

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Are the off piste lines good at Kokusai? I've never been…….we should do a couple of Teine/Kokusai swapsie-sesh's!! If you show me yours, I'll show you mines! :evilgrin:

The off-piste stuff is pretty good at Kokusai. Be glad to show you mine, so long as you show me yours!! Got kinda put off by Teine when i went a couple seasons ago and it was totally iced out! About time i gave it another chance. Free Sat after 11am, could go for an afternoon session maybe.
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Also I think you will really enjoy reading "staying alive in avalanche terrain"

You can buy it online pretty cheap.

I have just bought this but haven't started reading it yet. A quick flick through gives the impression of a quite comprehensive textbook on the topic of alpine safety.
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Glad to hear you are ok mate.

Put a proper high db whistle on the zipper of your jacket so its right there when you need it.

 

Thanks, that is great advice. I will look for one for next season.

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Glad to hear you are ok mate.

Put a proper high db whistle on the zipper of your jacket so its right there when you need it.

 

That's what I have, plus a little flashlight, some painkillers and a few other odds and sods in my pockets, mainly because I hate carrying a backpack.

Mr. Rich, what brand of painkillers do you carry? Can you buy them without a prescription? I took a slam on my skateboard and busted my shoulder a year or so ago. I couldn't find anything with much effect on the shelves of the local drug store.

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Missus heard on the news that they found a snowboarder who'd been missing at kiroro for 2 days....he had fallen into a hole......she was a bit sketchy with other details, anyone hear about this? I think he was ok

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Mr. Rich, what brand of painkillers do you carry? Can you buy them without a prescription? I took a slam on my skateboard and busted my shoulder a year or so ago. I couldn't find anything with much effect on the shelves of the local drug store.

Nothing special, just normal strength paracetamol from the UK, which I get anyone and everyone to bring out for me when they come over as I know it works (for me) plus seems to be far cheaper than anything else I've seen here.

 

Had my own scary moment y'day at Gala. Was playing in the trees in the Southern Area and on the 2nd run through the section I was doing, popped over a roller but a metre or so to the right of my first line and at a slightly different angle. Needless to say there was now a tree blocking my way so as I was mid-air, just tried to shift my weight as much as I could to the left and waited for the impact. More by luck than judgment I missed the main trunk and hit the foliage, then buried myself in the pow! After several deep breaths and a few minutes digging myself out, I got back on piste, rode straight to the bottom, emptied my bladder, drank a large black coffee and sat down in the sunshine, contemplating life!

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I've done my back twice in the past year or so, and all Japanese doctors give you is Ibropufen. Well, a branded version of it, and some other stuff meant to settle your stomach down just in case because the more packets of medicine you get, the better. Probably for them, not you.

 

Though it is weak, esp. compared to what the guys in the military get, Ibropufen does work as a painkiller. The last time it got my getting out of bed time down from about 40 minutes (of miniscule movements and resulting agony) to a matter of seconds within a day.

 

Ibropufen is sold over the counter in many countries (Nurofen etc. in the UK) so its easy to stock up overseas. It also has as anti-inflammatory effect

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