Happy New Year!
I hope you found a little time to see your family and friends for the holidays, relax, and celebrate another successful orbit around the sun. Sara and I got together with my half for some good old fashion holiday fun with the fam. Great to see y'all!!
We headed back to the California to ring in the new year, and ring we did.
For the fifth straight year we headed up to Echo Lake to to celebrate the new year with Bernard at his family's cabin. We've crammed 15 people into that little hut but this year it was just a small group of three. Bernard, Sara and myself. After multiple winter storms Tahoe looks and feels like winter. We were excited to get some turns this year but the snowpack was sketchy and avalanches were making the news all over the place.
We spent a lot of time inside the cabin just hanging out together. And when we did ski we played it safe, staying in low angle trees to avoid avalanche terrain. But no matter how safe you play it, backcountry skiing is a dangerous thing. Here's a video of the calm before the storm.
Yahtzee from JonnyB on Vimeo.
On new year's eve we had been out skiing most of the afternoon. The snow was cold, light and boot to shin deep. Great conditions for some very fun skiing. At the end of the day the light was dwindling. Sara decided to call it a day and went back into the cabin. Bernard and I decided to take the infamous "one last run." We climbed back up our skin track above the cabin as the sun set. Ripped our skins at the top and started to head back down. We went skiers left past an area that we had been skiing most of the day. Snow was great as we leap frogged down the mountain keeping an eye on each other in case of a slide. We had one last section to make before we were back on the frozen lake and skiing home to the cabin.
Bernard takes off and I watch as he cuts through some trees. He goes out of sight and I hear a yell, "Oh fuck!" I can't really remember what I saw next but he launches and hits the frozen lake flat on his face with his arms at his side. I yell down to see if he is OK and get nothing. I yell again this time really loud, nothing. There is something about an unconscious person, even from that distance, that doesn't look like sleeping. It's a really scary moment when you realize your buddy is slumped out cold and you're not sure what happened. I ski straight to him hoping he will get up by the time I get there. But he doesn't. As I get to him I can see the rock/cliff he skied off of. It's about 12 feet high and dumps him out flat on the frozen lake. I continue to yell his name hoping he wakes up. I kick off my skis and get on my knees next to him. There are about three inches of snow on the lake and he is face down. I clear the snow from his face and yell for him to wake up with out answer. I'm not sure if he has a spinal injury and hopelessly yell "Help" across the empty lake. It's life over limb as they say so I make the decision to roll him so he can breath. I squeeze his arm and tell him to wake up and about 60 long seconds after he went out he makes a guttural groaning sound. Every time I say his name he groans. It's the gnarliest, "I'm fucked up" groan that you can imagine. This fun call and response goes on for another 30 seconds or so. I tell him to wake up and open his eyes and he finally opens his dazed eyes. I ask him what is hurt and he says his stomach. He says he can feel his feet and hands.
He rolls onto his backpack and tries to start taking off his gear. I tell him to relax and breath as I take his skis and pack off. I ask him a few questions, like if he knows who I am and where we are. He passes that test. We sit for another minute. I ask him if he can walk the 200 yards back to the cabin and he says yes. I toss our gear in a pile on the ice and we walk. I ask him where I live and he gets it wrong. I ask him how we got here and he has no idea. He even says he should know this but can't come up with anything.
It's dark and the candles are lit when we get to the cabin. I'm freaked out as I open the door and tell Sara that Bernard is hurt and we need to get him out. My lovely lady does what she does best and plays it cool as a cucumber. She sits Nard down and has me call my brother the ER doc. With no reception at the cabin I walk back onto the lake. Jimmy hears how freaked out I am and plays it super cool like a war general calmly giving clear orders as bullets wiz by.
With the help of my brother we clear Bnard's spine and check for skull fractures. He's OK and his memory is starting to come back. We chill for an hour and monitor Nard. His memory is improving but he's pretty banged up. After consulting with Jimmy we decide to hike out and take Nard to the ER.
Three and a half hours after he scared the shit out of me we are all in the ER listening to handsome Dr. McLaughlin tell us what my brother already did. Bernard has a concussion but everything is gonna be OK. Nard was released and the clock struck midnight as we drove to Safeway to buy some dinner.
Here's what I learned.
1) Wear your helmet. Period. No excuses. Your grey matter is way more important than any of your reasons why you don't want to wear it. I am so thankful Bernard had his.
2) Ski with a buddy and keep an eye on each other. It doesn't matter how safe the terrain is. It can get unsafe really fast.
3) Carry a cell phone (completely off, it fucks with your beacon signal) with emergency numbers at the ready.
4) Get educated. Avy certs, first aid, CPR, etc. I will be retaking my wilderness first aid this year if you would like to join. It has been ages since I was last certified.
5) Ski in good light. You want one last run? Go to bed and wake up an hour earlier tomorrow.
6) Carry your first aid kit and headlamp. It was night before we knew it and I was glad I had light. If we were a little farther from the cabin and Nard was a little more injured shit could have gotten bad fast.
7) Have a plan, even if you've done it a thousand times.
Massive thanks to Jimmy and Sara for being rocks in the storm. Nard, thanks for wearing your brain bucket and having a hard head.
Stay safe y'all.
I hope you found a little time to see your family and friends for the holidays, relax, and celebrate another successful orbit around the sun. Sara and I got together with my half for some good old fashion holiday fun with the fam. Great to see y'all!!
We headed back to the California to ring in the new year, and ring we did.
For the fifth straight year we headed up to Echo Lake to to celebrate the new year with Bernard at his family's cabin. We've crammed 15 people into that little hut but this year it was just a small group of three. Bernard, Sara and myself. After multiple winter storms Tahoe looks and feels like winter. We were excited to get some turns this year but the snowpack was sketchy and avalanches were making the news all over the place.
We spent a lot of time inside the cabin just hanging out together. And when we did ski we played it safe, staying in low angle trees to avoid avalanche terrain. But no matter how safe you play it, backcountry skiing is a dangerous thing. Here's a video of the calm before the storm.
Yahtzee from JonnyB on Vimeo.
On new year's eve we had been out skiing most of the afternoon. The snow was cold, light and boot to shin deep. Great conditions for some very fun skiing. At the end of the day the light was dwindling. Sara decided to call it a day and went back into the cabin. Bernard and I decided to take the infamous "one last run." We climbed back up our skin track above the cabin as the sun set. Ripped our skins at the top and started to head back down. We went skiers left past an area that we had been skiing most of the day. Snow was great as we leap frogged down the mountain keeping an eye on each other in case of a slide. We had one last section to make before we were back on the frozen lake and skiing home to the cabin.
Bernard takes off and I watch as he cuts through some trees. He goes out of sight and I hear a yell, "Oh fuck!" I can't really remember what I saw next but he launches and hits the frozen lake flat on his face with his arms at his side. I yell down to see if he is OK and get nothing. I yell again this time really loud, nothing. There is something about an unconscious person, even from that distance, that doesn't look like sleeping. It's a really scary moment when you realize your buddy is slumped out cold and you're not sure what happened. I ski straight to him hoping he will get up by the time I get there. But he doesn't. As I get to him I can see the rock/cliff he skied off of. It's about 12 feet high and dumps him out flat on the frozen lake. I continue to yell his name hoping he wakes up. I kick off my skis and get on my knees next to him. There are about three inches of snow on the lake and he is face down. I clear the snow from his face and yell for him to wake up with out answer. I'm not sure if he has a spinal injury and hopelessly yell "Help" across the empty lake. It's life over limb as they say so I make the decision to roll him so he can breath. I squeeze his arm and tell him to wake up and about 60 long seconds after he went out he makes a guttural groaning sound. Every time I say his name he groans. It's the gnarliest, "I'm fucked up" groan that you can imagine. This fun call and response goes on for another 30 seconds or so. I tell him to wake up and open his eyes and he finally opens his dazed eyes. I ask him what is hurt and he says his stomach. He says he can feel his feet and hands.
He rolls onto his backpack and tries to start taking off his gear. I tell him to relax and breath as I take his skis and pack off. I ask him a few questions, like if he knows who I am and where we are. He passes that test. We sit for another minute. I ask him if he can walk the 200 yards back to the cabin and he says yes. I toss our gear in a pile on the ice and we walk. I ask him where I live and he gets it wrong. I ask him how we got here and he has no idea. He even says he should know this but can't come up with anything.
It's dark and the candles are lit when we get to the cabin. I'm freaked out as I open the door and tell Sara that Bernard is hurt and we need to get him out. My lovely lady does what she does best and plays it cool as a cucumber. She sits Nard down and has me call my brother the ER doc. With no reception at the cabin I walk back onto the lake. Jimmy hears how freaked out I am and plays it super cool like a war general calmly giving clear orders as bullets wiz by.
With the help of my brother we clear Bnard's spine and check for skull fractures. He's OK and his memory is starting to come back. We chill for an hour and monitor Nard. His memory is improving but he's pretty banged up. After consulting with Jimmy we decide to hike out and take Nard to the ER.
Three and a half hours after he scared the shit out of me we are all in the ER listening to handsome Dr. McLaughlin tell us what my brother already did. Bernard has a concussion but everything is gonna be OK. Nard was released and the clock struck midnight as we drove to Safeway to buy some dinner.
Here's what I learned.
1) Wear your helmet. Period. No excuses. Your grey matter is way more important than any of your reasons why you don't want to wear it. I am so thankful Bernard had his.
2) Ski with a buddy and keep an eye on each other. It doesn't matter how safe the terrain is. It can get unsafe really fast.
3) Carry a cell phone (completely off, it fucks with your beacon signal) with emergency numbers at the ready.
4) Get educated. Avy certs, first aid, CPR, etc. I will be retaking my wilderness first aid this year if you would like to join. It has been ages since I was last certified.
5) Ski in good light. You want one last run? Go to bed and wake up an hour earlier tomorrow.
6) Carry your first aid kit and headlamp. It was night before we knew it and I was glad I had light. If we were a little farther from the cabin and Nard was a little more injured shit could have gotten bad fast.
7) Have a plan, even if you've done it a thousand times.
Massive thanks to Jimmy and Sara for being rocks in the storm. Nard, thanks for wearing your brain bucket and having a hard head.
Stay safe y'all.
