Our group was snowshoeing near Paradise Lodge on Mount Rainier one stunningly beautiful afternoon. We were taking turns sliding down a hill, sitting back on our snowshoes and hoping for the best, since at that time, most of us were not familiar with the equipment.
One particularly out-of-control snowshoer slid into the trees, giving us an instant lesson about the danger of tree wells.
In a heartbeat, he had gone from head up to head down, showing only his lower legs and snowshoes, assuming a vertical position that was not conducive to breathing. It took two snowshoers to pull him out.
Tree wells form at the base of a tree, usually conifers, after a heavy snowstorm. The wells most often form on the downhill side as uphill snow tends to creep toward the tree trunk with gravity and wind.
Snow mounts up during the winter but the branches can shelter the trunk from much of it, creating a well. Or there will be an area of what looks like safe snow but is really a snow-and-air pocket. Once someone falls in, deep snow collapses on top.
Think of tree wells as trapdoors: easy to fall in, harder to get out. Make that impossible to get out, in many cases, especially if you’re in a vertical position with your head down. There’s no leverage. The snow packs around your body. Frantic struggling means sinking deeper. Breathing is difficult. It may be impossible to get out of your snowshoes, skis or snowboard.
The Physician and Sports Medicine Web site refers to a test that was done with 10 volunteers placed in simulated tree wells and told to get out by themselves.
None could.
According to www.ski-injury.com, tree-well deaths make up less than 5 percent of all traumatic snow-sport deaths in the U.S. This season, four people have died in Western Washington by falling into tree wells, the latest on Jan. 17 at Stevens Pass.
A Redmond woman nearly became a fatality on Jan. 15. A member of the Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol, she was skiing ahead of and out of sight of her husband, also a patroller. When he came down a few minutes later, only by chance did he notice two legs sticking out of the snow. It took him about five minutes to get her out, and she was unconscious.
If an experienced ski patroller can get in, and not get out of, a tree well, this nasty business could happen to anyone. Here’s some advice from various ski experts on how to stay out of or survive long enough for help to rescue you.
* Never ski alone. The trailing skier should never lose sight of the lead skier.
* Avoid trees but if you must go through them, avoid groups of trees. If you’re skiing through trees, slip out of your pole straps. It’s difficult to get out of the straps when you’re buried.
* If you fall and are sliding toward a tree, grab anything you can to stay out of trouble.
* If you’re buried, stay calm. Out-of-control struggling brings down more snow or can cause additional sinking if you’re in a particularly deep well.
* Calmly wiggle around a little to create air space in front of your face; it won’t take long to suffocate unless you buy yourself time. Slowly rocking your body helps; once you have some breathing room, keep rocking to create enough room to hopefully maneuver out.
* If you can’t get out, shout and move your legs to attract attention.
With a little luck, you won’t be a statistic.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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