Submitted by Roguecop t3_1280l2q in todayilearned
Were you also inspired to look this up after watching that video of the skiier rescuing the snowboarder?
How deep are these Wells ? And there must be something hard to fall onto to cause death .
Yes! Was about to provide a link.
Suffocation is number one cause it says. People fall in get buried and can't dig themselves out.
Having a stressful day, packing for a last minute ski trip right now and log on for a 5 min break to "de-stress"
This is the first post I see..
Or just trees in general? Sonny Bono, one of the kennedys, liam neeisons wife?
Thanks, I see...
Wind deflection around a tree trunk will also carve snow out. It's a major (if not the biggest) factor in the formation of tree wells.
austrian here:
whatever you do on a mountain could be the last thing you do.
enjoy your trip.
[deleted]
Interestingly enough the algorithm seems to promote these 2 together:
It was very informative, but still freaked me out tho.
I've never been skiing or snowboarding before. I've never even seen real snow in my life. But I would have thought it was common sense that you stay away from trees because they hurt when you crash into them anyway. This tree well thing just gives another reason to stay away from them
OP made this post in response to that one so
checkout the video of a skier saving a snowboarder who ended up in a tree well. It is posted in this thread (timing was after your question).
Most of us have been in one. It’s a pain in the butt too. Your skis or snowshoes get tangled in the lower branches so that it’s really hard to climb out without detaching them. Detaching them is hard. My best friend fell into one when snowshoeing and disappeared. He was wearing snowshoes and a 50-pound pack. I had to lay down in the snow to help him out. We were cracking up.
Edit: Most of us who play in deep snow. I live in Oregon. There’s about 15 feet of snow in the mountains and more coming.
Where I snowboard tree wells can be more then 12 feet deep and some years deeper. Part of the danger is that typically there is some sort of collision with the tree which then sheds it’s snow load on top of the rider. Imagine going head first for a dozen or more feet and as the walls of the well collapse the tree release the all the snow from it’s branches. I have done it once at it is scarier than I can describe. There you are upside down and buried. You can have all the safety equipment with you but you can’t move much or access your pack. The consolidated snow doesn’t get hard like in an avalanche so you can move a little. The key is not to panic.
Most of whom? I’m in Georgia.
Sorry … most of us who play in the snow in the winter out here in the Pacific Northwest. I’ll edit.
Im literally panicking reading this.
All good, sounds like a fun way to grow up. All we really had along those lines around here is close calls with venomous snakes.
I grew up in southern Indiana in an environment similar to Georgia. Hot, humid, rattlesnakes, copperheads, a zillion biting bugs, and so on. We did have snow in the winter but never over a few inches.
Clutch timing
I got sucked into one, not even that deep, maybe 1 foot from the top, took me 15 mins to get out. If you struggle, you fall deeper. The only thing is to unleash your skis or snowboard to get surface area. But in doing so, you go deeper.
Depends on the weather really, I've seen 3-4 meter wells.
Terrifying stuff for sure
You're good. I ski regularly in Colorado and they arent as big of an issue as they can be made out to be. Yes, they are absolutely around the mountain but not everywhere. Large snowfalls are more likely to cause them, and you need to be in the glades to find one.
They make great beds for deer and other animals.
That is intensely terrifying.
It's ok, I'm here to dig you out. Do your best to catch your breath.
Yeah Sonny Bobo, you know every one of my friends whose gone skiing has died.
I’m starting to doubt I’ll ever see snow in north GA again. Been a few years at this point. We’ve had flurries but nothing coating the ground for a hot minute
Holy shit, new fear unlocked… and I’m not even a skier/snowboarder
Howdy Satan, how’s your Austria trip going? Tryna find another painter friend?
The trees are the most fun parts for lots of skiers. The added obstacles and challenge, as well as an often more beautiful view of nature - I only see interesting birds and squirrels when I'm cruising through the woods, rarely on the groomed trails. It also provides deeper, softer snow that feels like gliding, rather than the groomed trails which are more predictable, but a different texture and a feel that some skiers don't like as much. On a personal note, I have balance and orientation issues that make me dizzy if I don't have trees to orient myself upwards with and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. You're absolutely right though, tree wells are terrifying and not something to take lightly, ever.
icefisher225 t1_jegnqry wrote
You saw the video of the skier digging up the snowboarder too?