ave you entered into
the :-.*

pean s of the sea,

; od in the
rececsen of the

= ere

lave the gates of death
been

evealed to you,

r have you seen the
gates of

eep darkness?

ave you comprehended
the

5 pean of the earth?

if you know

it this

ave you entered the
storehouses of snow,

r have you seen the
storehouses of the
hail,

hich T have reserved
for

he ne 2 of trouble

or the da ‘YY of battle

and war?

Book of Job (38: 16-24)

  
 
 
  
    
 
 
   
  
   
 
   
  
    
   
 
  
  

here have always been people who

tempt the Devil, who tempt God, who

tempt Death.

There are people who live to taste death,

0 live for immeasurable speed through

ding whiteness where every ninety

gree drop could be the last.

nowboarding is an awesome, exhilarat-

ig, exciting sport. Its culture is marked by

jad trips in search of insane amounts of

psh powder, by waking up at 6:30 in the

orning (after partying until 4:00 am) to

ake first tracks, by meeting tons of people

ith similar passions and interests. But

owboarding is also marked by the grow-

= number of incidents and fatalities

ing in the backcountry. What

ckcountry snowboarding essentially

mes down to is taking risk. Unfortunately

ere are many who are unprepared for the

ks they take. Whether they set off ava-

ches, careen off waterfalls, or crash into

pes, many snowboarders are unaware of
w to conduct themselves in the face of

ger.

iin the United States alone, 420 people died
snow avalanches between 1950 and 1993.
d 75% of these tragedies occurred in the

country. Although these figures consist

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 

primarily of skiers and mountaineers, it is
expected that as snowboarding continues
to rise in popularity, so too will snowboard
related deaths. Are snowboarders prepared
for the challenges the backcountry poses?
It’s clear that if there exists such a concept
as limits, there is a group of individuals
who will push them. It’s unclear why the
risk is taken when so many have been hurt
or killed.

§ | ritish Columbia is home to a cornu-
Be copia of awesome mountain resorts:
Blackcomb, Panorama, Fernie, White

Water....but it’s Seymour’s backcountry
terrain that Graham Clements, pro-rider for
United Snowboards, frequents. Clements
takes all of the necessary precautions when
boarding out-of-boundary. He often packs
pieps (avalanche transceivers that make
peeping sounds when submerged in snow)

March 10, 1997 Living on the edge of death since 1976 Volume 21 * Peres mee

A‘te

Oops

Snonboarding Over the edge
by Jessica Fish

 

Clark returns
Glavin’s new book
National Bronze

Rockin’
down the
Paradise

page 7

00)

Sear eee ee

terrain are still susceptible to danger.

With this history (as well as rational
thought) in mind, it is unclear why Clements
continues to board the backcountry. Speak-
ing just days after Brittany McDowell died
while snowboarding out-of-boundary at

_ Cypress Bowl, it is obvious that Clements
. has no intention of abandoning his habits.

And consider this: McDowell took that fatal
plunge on Wednesday, February 12, 1997-

just two days after they found another
- snowboarder dead—at the same mountain.

And by Wednesday, the first fatality had

_ = been given intense media coverage. Extreme

snowboarders know they’re risking death.

‘rw

 

lot of people look at the south shore

: \ | mountains, and they see what looks

| MMA like a park. When we're there, we see
it as wilderness,” says Allan Billy, who in
eight years volunteering for the North Shore

* Search and Rescue Team has witnessed

Courtesy of Cheryl Chiu

and shovels. He’s familiar with the terrain.
He always goes with friends.

Still, at Seymour’s backcountry about a
month ago, Clements took a hit and caught
some ‘fat air’ (slang for degree of eleva-
tion)—landing on his back instead of his
board. Too hurt to stand up, he dragged
himself out of the backcountry area to the
fencing, where his friend left him to get ski
patrol.

Not all people are this lucky. For example,
Clements’ friend Kevin “had to be
helicoptered out-of-bounds [at Seymour] last
year when he broke three ribs and col-
lapsed,” said an embarrassed Clements, not
entirely proud of the entire incident. He’d
rather avoid situations where the North
Shore Rescue Team’s voluntary service is
needed. However, these experiences demon-
strate one vital factor of backcountry
snowboarding—those familiar with the

many backcountry incidents. Billy mentions
an area of concern for many Vancouverites:
endemic in the youth is a feeling of immor-
tality , where the potential backcountry
hazards at our local mountains are ignored.

“Anyone who's snowboarding, even if
they carry a light pack, are not really
equipped for the wilderness—they’re
equipped for snowboarding,” says Billy.
That is not to say he doesn’t encourage
people to take precautions, but rather he
emphasizes the threats involved in out-of-
boundary and backcountry areas—ava-
lanches, waterfalls, creeks and gullies. Billy
stresses is that it is difficult to be prepared
for what might happen.

“When you consider the last two fatalities
involving snowboarders, even if they were
well-equipped, they didn’t have a partner,
they didn’t know where they were...having
all the best equipment doesn’t matter. Being
stranded or isolation is a deadly situation,”
says Billy. He’s been involved in many
snowboarding related incidents over the
years, all of which are evenly spread over
the three local mountains: Cypress Bowl,
Seymour and Grouse.

Located in the backcountry area of
Cypress Bowl is the treacherous “Australian
Gully”—named for two Australian skiers
whose lives were taken there years ago.
Many unsuspecting individuals think the
gully is a short-cut to a run named “Collins.”
What actually happens is they drop below
“Collins,” and keep dropping into the gully,
which becomes progressively narrower and
narrower. The gully then drops off into a
waterfall, which the unlucky skier or

boarder plunges over.
Continued on_page