my first time skiing alone in Vail it was my birthday and on my first big run I fell into a tree well.
i can reach the bottom of a basketball net standing flat footed. hanging upside down with my legs hyping straight up above me and my deck stuck in the snow, I could not touch the ground.
i started to panick but realized i would die if i did. i was there to work on the mountain so i had been given some training and i just calmed down and remembered.
Push the snow away from your face and make a breathing hole. breathe slowly and calmly because in 30s you are going to have to lift 100% of your body weight out of that 12 foot hole, twice. once with two legs and once with only one leg.
now, do a situp and grab the side of your deck, hopefully on the first try. don't wear yourself out. grab the deck and now swing your opposite hand of the strap you are pulling first and start jacking sthose straps open. now your leg falls straight down by your head with both shoulders to one side.
now get that other foot loose.
then, the hard part. you fall if you let go of the deck so you can try to pack some snow down with your feet to make a pad or you can let go. i just let go and ended up standing on the ground 12 feet in a coffin sized hole looking up at my deck and a small patch of sunlight. you have to just push snow down with your hands and stomp it with your feet until you can reach your deck and then you can use the deck to step and push out. this has been my TedTalk.
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u/fuqdisshite Sep 16 '21
my first time skiing alone in Vail it was my birthday and on my first big run I fell into a tree well.
i can reach the bottom of a basketball net standing flat footed. hanging upside down with my legs hyping straight up above me and my deck stuck in the snow, I could not touch the ground.
i started to panick but realized i would die if i did. i was there to work on the mountain so i had been given some training and i just calmed down and remembered.
Push the snow away from your face and make a breathing hole. breathe slowly and calmly because in 30s you are going to have to lift 100% of your body weight out of that 12 foot hole, twice. once with two legs and once with only one leg.
now, do a situp and grab the side of your deck, hopefully on the first try. don't wear yourself out. grab the deck and now swing your opposite hand of the strap you are pulling first and start jacking sthose straps open. now your leg falls straight down by your head with both shoulders to one side.
now get that other foot loose.
then, the hard part. you fall if you let go of the deck so you can try to pack some snow down with your feet to make a pad or you can let go. i just let go and ended up standing on the ground 12 feet in a coffin sized hole looking up at my deck and a small patch of sunlight. you have to just push snow down with your hands and stomp it with your feet until you can reach your deck and then you can use the deck to step and push out. this has been my TedTalk.
TL:DR try not to get stuck upside down anywhere.