XcYZ
03-04-2005, 03:44 PM
The story goes:
"I crested the climb and saw two guys standing besides a red Turbo Rx-1. They were about 300 meters north of the peak of Eagle Pass Mountain, there is a ridge there that has a drop off that ranges from 400-800 feet! The one guy immediately started waving me over, I drove over and they didn't even know what to say. I said "Are you guys doubling up here?" the guy with the white face ignored my question and said "I just went over that cliff" and pointed behind him. I couldn't believe it, they asked me how far down it was, I said 500 feet. I actually measured the distance the sled fell later, and it was 625 feet!!!!!
The sun was going down quickly and they asked if I could get to the sled. I know a way down and round so I went to check it out by myself. I found the sled quickly, it had impacted the cliff many times and then impacted the snow upside down, nose first! It was at the top of a very steep little bowl and we would need help to get it down. I went back and got Randy to get some pics before It got dark. I went and got the two guys while their friends waited at the top of the lake. I doubled the guys up to the sled and they jumped off before I started descending. The sled was fairly twisted and the hood was halfway down the hill, pipe was flattened and throttle was gone.
We weren't getting it out that night so we doubled back to gas drop and his friends. That is when I think it started to hit him there is no way he would have survived that fall! He said he knew that massive cornice was there but he forgot for a moment when climbing the hill. Just as he was turning left to head down the hill,he and his 05 King Cat became airbornea and he jumped back for the edge of the cornice. The last thing he saw was his orange Cat about 20 feet out from the Cornice and nothing below for hundreds of feet. When he jumped he stuck both hands into the top of the Cornice like two ice picks. The bottom half of his body was hanging over the Cornice and the andrenaline must have kicked in to help him clamber over the lip of the Cornice! If he had hesitated a nanosecond or the snow had of been too hard to dig his hands in, his body would have bounced off the slightly convex cliff for over 600 feet! There is no way a person could have survived and the four of us who saw the cliff knew it!
The next day they got several parts from town and took them up the hill and amazingly it started first pull! I am glad he is here today and hope that those guys and any other sledders learn from this. That is, even if you are an expeienced sledder, when you go into an extreme area get a local rider or a guide that has two qualities! Know the area very well and has good riding skills, you can't have one without the other. Here are serveral pics in order to show the day's events, some of which I will not post in respect to their wishes. Would like to hear any responses, but don't trash my minimal typing skills or I might use you for traction on the hill one day!"
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109809666.jpg
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109809774.jpg
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109810051.jpg
"I crested the climb and saw two guys standing besides a red Turbo Rx-1. They were about 300 meters north of the peak of Eagle Pass Mountain, there is a ridge there that has a drop off that ranges from 400-800 feet! The one guy immediately started waving me over, I drove over and they didn't even know what to say. I said "Are you guys doubling up here?" the guy with the white face ignored my question and said "I just went over that cliff" and pointed behind him. I couldn't believe it, they asked me how far down it was, I said 500 feet. I actually measured the distance the sled fell later, and it was 625 feet!!!!!
The sun was going down quickly and they asked if I could get to the sled. I know a way down and round so I went to check it out by myself. I found the sled quickly, it had impacted the cliff many times and then impacted the snow upside down, nose first! It was at the top of a very steep little bowl and we would need help to get it down. I went back and got Randy to get some pics before It got dark. I went and got the two guys while their friends waited at the top of the lake. I doubled the guys up to the sled and they jumped off before I started descending. The sled was fairly twisted and the hood was halfway down the hill, pipe was flattened and throttle was gone.
We weren't getting it out that night so we doubled back to gas drop and his friends. That is when I think it started to hit him there is no way he would have survived that fall! He said he knew that massive cornice was there but he forgot for a moment when climbing the hill. Just as he was turning left to head down the hill,he and his 05 King Cat became airbornea and he jumped back for the edge of the cornice. The last thing he saw was his orange Cat about 20 feet out from the Cornice and nothing below for hundreds of feet. When he jumped he stuck both hands into the top of the Cornice like two ice picks. The bottom half of his body was hanging over the Cornice and the andrenaline must have kicked in to help him clamber over the lip of the Cornice! If he had hesitated a nanosecond or the snow had of been too hard to dig his hands in, his body would have bounced off the slightly convex cliff for over 600 feet! There is no way a person could have survived and the four of us who saw the cliff knew it!
The next day they got several parts from town and took them up the hill and amazingly it started first pull! I am glad he is here today and hope that those guys and any other sledders learn from this. That is, even if you are an expeienced sledder, when you go into an extreme area get a local rider or a guide that has two qualities! Know the area very well and has good riding skills, you can't have one without the other. Here are serveral pics in order to show the day's events, some of which I will not post in respect to their wishes. Would like to hear any responses, but don't trash my minimal typing skills or I might use you for traction on the hill one day!"
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109809666.jpg
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109809774.jpg
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/uploads/post-6475-1109810051.jpg