OT-Snowboarder Survives 100+ Foot Fall at Alpental

[Borregokid]

On Sunday afternoon a 21 year old boarder went over the International Cliff at Alpental. According to the news accounts he fell between 100 and 300 feet or the equivalant distance of falling from a 20 story building. He was airlifted to Harborview where he was listed as critical. I have heard on TV since that he had regained consciousness and was listed as serious condition. Hopefully he is able to make a full recovery it sounds like he really lucked out.

I am kind of curious since he was in the out of bounds ski area would he have intentionally gone over the cliff and tried a jump like in the Banff Film Festival or Warren Miller Films or do you think he was over his head and was maybe looking for a shortcut down and slid over the cliff? So far this year two snowboarders have been killed.

[biggins]

wow between 100 and 300 feet huh? if they had russ morrell and thor wixom there they could have triangulated the distance for him.

[Heidi]

Yah, I'd guess it was a total accident and he wasn't trying to go big, who knows though. That had to be an expensive bill.

[Borregokid]

The helicopter bill is probably about 9k or so. He was unconscious so he didnt have to worry about the copter hitting the mountain on the way out. Two of the Airlift copters have crased in the last three months, plus getting out of Alpental must be kind of scary with mountains on three side. Heres a link on the snowboarder.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/5575342/detail.html

[fuzzycatnuts]

I strange, a few people die every year skiiing/boarding but its to much of a risk to have a bike park. I guess freeriding is going to have to get popular enough to pay the high insurance bills. I wonder what the diffeance between bike park and and snow park is as far as insurance cost.

[Transfer]

I strange, a few people die every year skiiing/boarding but its to much of a risk to have a bike park. I guess freeriding is going to have to get popular enough to pay the high insurance bills. I wonder what the diffeance between bike park and and snow park is as far as insurance cost.

Good point. How many die at Whistler per year? I suppose an argument can be made that most (if not all) of the people that die each year skiing/boarding are out of bounds.

[Bullitrider]

Meh...that cliff claims somebody every year. They should call that area "The Cliffs of Darwin".

[pnj]

are those cliffs on the left side if your going down the mountain?

someone dies up there every year. one death so far already....

that's a dangerous place for sure. even inbounds can get nutty if your not paying attention.

[Borneo]

We rode right by the patrollers and the sled at the bottom of Adrenaline right after they bundled him up Sunday afternoon about 2. So, he did not go over the front cliffs.
We're thinking that he ducked the rope at the lower entrance to Internationale to get around some exposed rocks and slid right over Keyhole and down into Adrenaline. Not surprising that one doesn't happen more often with people slippin' into 'nash that way pretty often. He's lucky he's still alive.

[geargrrl]

Rescuers say he went over International Cliff, an area that is permanently out of bounds. ( from the link)

D'oh, people think that they mark stuff closed for no good reason...:nono:

gg

[pnj]

I don't think people really know just how dangerous it can be up there. if they came from summit west, where the entire hill is basicly a bunny hill, I can see how someone who's new could get in way over their head up there.

[geargrrl]

I don't know alpental at all.. but my hubby and both my sons are ski patrollers, and they have to deal with the dumbass things that people sometimes do, and the sometimes life threating consequences that can follow.

[Toshi]

We rode right by the patrollers and the sled at the bottom of Adrenaline right after they bundled him up Sunday afternoon about 2. So, he did not go over the front cliffs.
i was there about that time, too, and slid right by the patrollers on my face :eek: . it was slick out there up on the shady side of the edelweiss chair.

[fattyfat1]

Meh...that cliff claims somebody every year. They should call that area "The Cliffs of Darwin".
aren't you still at work at 3:51 Michael lawrence! WHAT WOULD YOUR EMPLOYER THINK IF HE/SHE KNEW YOU WERE CHATTING ONLINE DURING THIS BUSY CHRISTMAS RUSH! GET BACK TO WORK!

[thesacrifice]

please let me get knocked out on impact if something similiar ever happens to me, that has to be the scariest couple seconds of your life