Glissading Mishaps

[ScottP]

Besides the usual "failed to arrest" scenarios, what are some unusual glissading mishaps that you have witnessed or experienced?

 

I remember one that occured on a descent from the notch above Thornton Lakes after doing the NE Ridge of Triumph. I was about 30 meters ahead of my two friends, doing a feet glissade down the middle of a snow field in late June. Suddenly the snow gave under my feet. My friends say it was like I just suddenly disappeared. Somehow, I got my axe planted as I dropped through the snow over a small creek. Hanging by one arm, with an overnight alpine pack on my back, I looked below me to see the water rushing down a steep slab into a black hole. Within minutes my friends showed. I warned them to avoid the thin snow running in a long, narrow patch upslope of me and managed to shed my pack, which they hauled out of the hole. I quickly hoisted myself out after it.

To this day, I have harrowing visions of how far I would have slid underneath that snowfield, down that creek, into the dark.

 

I now always glissade the edges of spring and summer snowfields.

[jobe]

After being repeatedly warned by the ranger to not glissade, I obviously glissaded anyways. We were coming down the Coleman/Demming on Baker and as we slid over a hump I found myself sailing over a small crevasse. Sure gets the adrenaline rushing.

[tread_tramp]

About this time a couple years back, while descending the east face of Mt. Washington in the Olympics, a glissade triggered a sluff which evolved into an avalanche. So that's what raggedy anne feels like, getting tossed around. I managed to thrash around enough to stay on top of the slide and roll to the edge after a 500 foot adrenaline rush. One must be careful what they are sliding into.

[Rodchester]

Doing a glisade in the Wind rivers I went right over a small but pointed rock that you couldn't see until it was too late. I felt it...but kept going.

 

At the bottom my buddy says...your bleeding. Right through a pair of bibs, poly-ps, and cut a good size slice into my ass. Ooops. Twenty mile hike out...sore ass.

[AJ]

A good friend of mine climbed Mt. St. Helens as a date a few years ago. He used crampons on the way up and decided not to take them off when he glissaded down. You know what happened next. He caught a heel spike, his foot stuck and he ended up flipping and sliding out of control down the slope. When the heel stuck it ended up ripping a large section of quadricep muscle. To this day (10+ years later) he still has a large "divit" where the muscle never fully healed. Let that be a lesson - always take the crampons off first.

[David_Parker]

On the Brothers a few years ago, my wife and I were sit glissading down the snowfield in an established otter slide. The path came to a bulge and as I was first, I stopped to check it out. Here the snow poured over a rock covered mostly with snow except on the downhill side. There was a moat and the sliding snow created by my glissade poured into it and disappeared UNDER the snow pack. There was clearly enough room for a body. As my wife came down I waved my arms and stood in the path but she failed to heed my advise to stop. As she rapidly approached I decided I was not going to physically stop her. and stepped aside. I then yelled for her to JUMP as she got to the lip of the buldge. Fortunately she did and cleared the black hole. So I also share the harrowing vision of her potentially disappearing under the snow pack never to be seen again!

[Marcus_Engley]

Cruising down the late season bobsled run that always builds up on the Inter Glacier, I made the classic glissade/motorcycle/driving mistake-- don't look where you don't want to go! Stared at a big rock long enough for it to end up right in my crotch... No permanent damage, except to my pants.

[Greg_W]

Glissading down St. Helens tobaggan-style with 4-5 other people. Things were going well until we went over a small drop-off. The last guy caught the brunt of everyone else and his head slammed into the person in front of him and broke his nose. He had to stop a few times on the rest of the hike out as he was getting lightheaded.

 

It was fun, but live and learn - don't be last!

 

Greg

[AllYouCanEat]

While climbing down, I thought it would be a great idea to slide down on a rock. I found a nice flat one and went for it. I didn't slide, but shuffled down a ways and ended up stuck in the middle of an icy snow slope in tennis shoes. I couldn't stand, couldn't climb (too steep), and the only way was down. The rock was too big to cut steps. In effect, I was screwed. Straightening my sunglasses, I let go of the rock and went for a hell of a spill. I barely missed the boulders, my sunglasses weren't so lucky.

 

Another incident involved my step mom. She was glissading down Adams in lycras and shorts. My old man was standing on his skis watching her go down, screaming "Weeeee Weeeeeeeeee". As she went by, he noticed two streaks of red. Unfortunatly, he couldn't stop her until it was too late. To make a long story short, she spent two months out of work and had to go to the hospital every day to get the bandages changed. I guess the lesson learned here is, wear ski pants...

[ivan]

ah, devil glissade....so quick a way to descend, yet so numb an ass at the end of it all...not to mention the fact that i have now shredded two (shame on me) pairs of expensive pants from sliding over ice...i think i need to carry thick trashbags or something to sit in from now on while glissading, b/c i can't keep purchasing 200$ pants (though i'm sure rei would love me to)....how do ya'll keep from ruining your drawers?

 

shit, i think that last part might be taken the wrong way

[freeclimb9]

If you chuffers insist on glissading, check out http://www.yatesgear.com/climbing/ice/glissade.htm#2

[ruddersbox]

GLISSADE SHORTS. Are these for real? I am just waiting to see the first Gumby to sport these shits.

 

"Designed to protect that ever expensive “Gortex” outer shells.

Glissade shorts can be put on without removing boots and crampons.

Waist and legs are secured using ¾” webbing and adjuster bucklesto eliminate entry of unwanted snow during glissade.

Medium weighttruck tarp material is used on bottom side of harness and 400 packcloth on front side. Weight 1lb. Size: Regular and Large.

 

ITEM #498, 499 $60.00"

What would Twight say about Gore Tex shrouded with glissade shorts

[traddaddy]

 

 

[ 04-26-2002, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: traddaddy ]

[ScottP]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ivan:

how do ya'll keep from ruining your drawers?

 

shit, i think that last part might be taken the wrong way

---

Glissade standing up. (Ski poles help a lot.)

[Necronomicon]

With respect to Jobe's post, he fell into what is known as the "College Crevasse", presumably because of the frequency with which ignorant college kids end up at the bottom of it. It forms every year in the draw to the west of the "Hog's Back" (the morainal ridge that you ascend before you hit the snow slopes). There is a waterfall under the snowpack, and as the volume of the water increases in the spring, the moat begins to open up. As it says on the sign at the trailhead, DO NOT GLISSADE INTO THE DRAW TO THE WEST OF HOG'S BACK!!! You cannot see the moat from above, and several people have ended up at the bottom. A few years ago, when I was a volunteer for BMRC, we had to haul a dead man out of it, not much fun. The best thing to do is to glissade until you get to the top of the Hog's Back, descend it until you are below the water fall, and continue your glissade.

 

FYI, there was a dude on North Twin Sister 2(?) years ago that lost control glissading down the North Slope, and punctured his aorta with his ice tool.

[lizard_brain]

Did the classic luge-run/glissade down the south side of Adams a couple of years ago. Brought a piece of blue-foam cut to shape for the task. Got some good speed and some air time on the way down, but the one mishap was hitting a rock the size of a softball that was in the track and I cracked my tailbone. My posture was REAL good for about six week after that (especially when sitting).

[Bronco]

I got a standing ovation about a year ago on Panorama Point for going way to fast (trying to build speed for the flat area below) and hitting a bump, flying in the air and cartwheeling the rest of the way down. Must of been 50 people clapping and laughing. DOH!

 

Last weekend I cleared 2 creek moats glissading an avalanche chute on Mt. Baring. Probably not too smart (never been accused of it anyway ) considering I was alone but, dang that was fun!