Westbound Boarder

I like to think I am pretty tough. I also like to think that I am a pretty good snowboarder. With years of experience behind me not only shredding the gnar, but competing too, I have always thought of myself as one who could at least handle (even conquer) any snowboarding experience put in my way. Well Saturday March 27th (also my 25th b-day), was a humbling and also a near death experience.

Okay, okay, so near death, may be a bit dramatic, however I had an on hill experience that could have easily turned into something one would see on the 6 o’clock news (and those stories aint pretty…). We all know they generally turn into home viewers mocking the stupidity of the hiker or skier who was not wearing a helmet or carrying a communication device. You immediately judge them and think, “freakin’ idiot!!!” So here it goes, my story of idiocy and what in the hell I have learned (and intend to teach you) from it…

It all started with the nice pair of skiers my husband and I met on the chair lift. With a great sense of humor and a helmet cam to boot, these guys were a lot of fun. So accepting their invitation to cruise out of bounds to their secret heaven was an easy decision to make. They warned us snowboarders that the run requires a gnarly traverse out of a very steep canyon, even for skiers. Confident in my ability this warning didn’t even phase me. We cruised down to to what was the most glorious, unscathed, gigantic canyon I have ever seen. I was over taken with excitement as the snow conditions were magnificent and I was going to experience the run of my life, and on my birthday too…

We stopped to take in the view one last time before dropping into the canyon and stared in awe at Mt. Hoods Mississippi head behind us and the sun shining down in front of us – It was a text book perfect day (fresh pow + Mr. Sun). Anyways, the attitude and intensity of our new skier buddies changed almost instantly as they warned us we needed lots and lots of speed and had to stay high in the canyon in order to get out of it and avoid, ‘the point of no return.’ This is where I got a little bit nervous. I didn’t really let it get to me, as after all, I had no choice at this point, there was only one way out.

They guys dropped in and I followed in their track behind them.  I quickly realized that I had no where near the speed they did and I was loosing elevation quickly. The west wall of the canyon was steep and icy that afternoon and my edged failed to hold as I began slipping further and further down into the canyon, towards the bottom. At this point I could barely see the guys towards the top of the canyon and I was stuck and slipping further and further down the hill.

Out of bounds at the bottom of a 95% some oddish grade mountain was not a good situation to be in, and I knew it. I looked up to realize that there was only one way out. I had to climb this wall in my snowboard boots and with my snowboard in my hand. This was not a hill and there was no walking up it. If I wanted to make it to my birthday that evening (which was really the least of my worries at that point), I was going to be forced to climb this mountain.

So it began. The mountain was steep and I was forced to slam the nose of my snowboard into the ice to the side of myself for leverage and proceed to kick my toe into the wall in an effort to create a step to boost myself up, and one single kick was not enough. I had to repeatedly kick my toe into the snow to create a single step at a time (as hard as I could considering I was grasping the wall of the canyon using the dull nose of my snowboard to avoid falling backwards off of it or slide down it). I also knew that if I lost my footing that would be it – I would loose the ground I had covered and due to the steepness of the canyon, there would by no stopping myself if I were to slip off. I was to say the least terrified! I could not shake the thought of slipping down the hill, because I knew there would be no climbing back up the canyon at that point.

However through my husbands cheering, coaching and encouragement from the top, nearly an hour and a half later, I was near the top. Suffering from the greatest physical exhaustion I have ever experienced coupled with the beaming sun on my face, I was sweating bullets and my nerves were building even more as the steepness of the canyon was increasing towards the top.

Eventually (as one would guess as I am here to relay the message), I made it out of the canyon in one piece. One sunburned, exhausted, hysterical girl, but I made it. What did I learn from all of this??? A very important lesson and that is, don’t mess with mother nature. One wrong move while climbing up that mountain, and this could have turned into a dangerous and potentially life threatening event. Being in the wilderness and unprepared is an situation that is easier to end up in than I have ever anticipated and protecting yourself may be easier than you think. A few tips I have and suggestions that I am going to forever live buy are quite simple: (1) Always ride with a buddy (2) Have a means of communicating with the outside world. A cell phone, walkie talkie, GPS device etc, will save your life (3) Carry instant energy on you, a cliff bar, shot blocks, etc… (4) Planning on hiking or heading towards the back-country? Carry a camel back and compass. I had one out of the four of these items…a buddy, oh and apparently some luck, which if I were you, I would never count on when you are relying on mother nature to take care of you, she is a tough biatch. So if you are ever faced with the opportunity to ride the back-country or cruise out of bounds, really think about where you are going, and if you are truly prepared for what may be in store, no matter how solid of a rider you are…remember you are only human.

So you wondering where the skier guys disappeared to? Well, the moment I made it out of the canyon, there they were at the top, greeting me with chocolate covered peanuts, high fives and laughter. As distraught as I was, their smiles (and my husband’s too of course) were exactly what I needed.

Want to see the canyon I hiked out of? Check out the video below. The canyon in the backgroud at about 3:15 is my hike. Oh yeah, and the para skiers are pretty cool too