# My first near death experience



## Movendi (Jun 23, 2008)

So i had a VERY lucky break on friday at whistler - spanky's ladder. I was alone and first time in that area so i was just eyeing out where people where going. I headed out towards the left after you reach the top of the steps and made my own way through the middle before booting of a gigantic fucking blind cliff that made me free fall for 4 seconds landing very close to a creek and jagged rocks had i been going faster/slower. I was exteremly lucky that the fall was meeted with a thick room of powder and the moment i was falling the air and saw how huge the drop was i knew i was going to die. 

Pic of the death trap.. mind you there was absolutely no signs or warnings to say that there was a cliff. There were no obvious tell tale signs to even show that there was a cliff ahead until you reach the edge and by that point its too late to stop... it scared the absolute shit out of me. It's hard to tell the scale of the picture but i estimate it to be around 20metres high. I pretty much got back up and was totally amazed i didn't die or even injure myself, except for the slight bruising that's now evident under my eye (i'm guessing from the impact from the helmet and goggle), although i landed on my back.

I can't tell exactly where i booted off but i know it was a point where you think your going fine and it's just going to slowly decsend to the point where it instantly becomes the edge of a cliff face and your facing your doom. Anyway i know where i landed where the bottom circle is, i'm just not sure which part of the top circle i fell from.


----------



## deerpark30 (Jun 27, 2009)

Thats a big ass drop, glad to hear you are ok.


----------



## mrpez (Jan 29, 2010)

did your life flash before your eyes, or is that just bullshit?


----------



## Movendi (Jun 23, 2008)

not really, my only thoughts were holy shit i'm going to die and i just braced for the impact.


----------



## seant46 (Dec 8, 2009)

Moral: Pow saves lives


----------



## Guest (Mar 15, 2010)

shit thats terrifying


----------



## earl_je (Oct 20, 2009)

all them rocks, I would have shat myself! you're a very lucky guy, start buying lottery tickets...


----------



## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

Holy crap... That's scary!


----------



## bbissell (Mar 8, 2009)

Damn that is crazy glad you are ok!


----------



## fredericp64 (Jan 4, 2010)

HOLY SHIT!!!

One of those moments where your whole mind goes blank and you just madd tunnel-vision. 

I bet all you can remember is like 2 still frames if any eh. 

Good thing you're alright!!

wow.


----------



## Miles_K (Nov 21, 2009)

Damn dude. Glad you're ok.


----------



## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

damn thats pretty big... I think 20m may be an under estimate... the biggest omfg! type accidental drop ive ever done was probably no more than 20 feet but that was way scary, cant even imagine something that big .... on the flip side that lil runout looking left looks pretty ripe for a good cliff drop


----------



## zenboarder (Mar 5, 2009)

burritosandsnow said:


> damn thats pretty big... I think 20m may be an under estimate... the biggest omfg! type accidental drop ive ever done was probably no more than 20 feet but that was way scary, cant even imagine something that big .... on the flip side that lil runout looking left looks pretty ripe for a good cliff drop


I don't think it is an under estimate :\ I do a lot of climbing in the summer and thats on a 60m rope so I am used to being 20m and up off the deck. 20m is about 65 feet. That's pretty damn high. If the distance estimated by the OP is actually 20m he is very lucky especially if he landed at the bottom on flat ground.

Anyways this serves as a good reminder to the people used to tammer resort skiing with groomers and whatnot that a lot of the ski hills in Canada are a little bit more on the "wild" side.


----------



## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

zenboarder said:


> I don't think it is an under estimate :\ I do a lot of climbing in the summer and thats on a 60m rope so I am used to being 20m and up off the deck. 20m is about 65 feet. That's pretty damn high. If the distance estimated by the OP is actually 20m he is very lucky especially if he landed at the bottom on flat ground.
> 
> Anyways this serves as a good reminder to the people used to tammer resort skiing with groomers and whatnot that a lot of the ski hills in Canada are a little bit more on the "wild" side.


Too wild to put a fucking 10 dollar "CLIFF" sign up? 

I guess looking at the trail map thats a pretty sketchy area lol..its between two "DONT GO HERE" zones...and it literally points at a giant rock on the trail map..ha ha


----------



## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

Wow that is insane. I'm glad you're ok, man! I'm sure the scale is hard to assess for people, but you definitely fell 60+ feet. That's unbelievable. Don't board alone on a big mountain, especially if you've never been in a particular area. Don't let that valuable lesson get wasted.

I hope this might prevent other people from doing the same. Thanks for posting this!


----------



## Movendi (Jun 23, 2008)

well my estimate was just going off by asking a guy on a lift at a different run about the same size and asked his opinion.. but upon closer inspection those trees are like 5+ times the size of me so it probably was a lot higher.

Here are a couple more different angles at a higher res:

Closr.it - spanky\'s ladder cliff by movendi
Closr.it - spanky\'s 2 by movendi
http://www.closr.it/show/Iq_Uvbntig_


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Def much more of a drop, 4 secs in the air is a loooonng time... glad ur ok and didn't do a header in the poo. So that trs is gettin u into shit. But yea find a local for the tour. Wrath


----------



## Guest (Mar 15, 2010)

Thats quite a bit bigger than 20 meters, in my opinion. If you bring physics into the equation, your initial falling speed would be 9.8 meters/second, as indicated by the constant g. If you actually fell for a full 4 seconds, where t=4, your final speed would be ~40 meters a second, with a 10 meter / second increase every second.

This means when t=1, you've fallen 10 meters. When t=2, you've fallen 30 meters. When t=3, you've fallen 60 meters, and when t=4, you've fallen 100 meters. Assuming you were in the air for a solid four seconds, you would have dropped ~ 100 meters from your initial starting point, which is a hell of a drop. I would say that 4 seconds in the air might be a bit of an exaggeration, however, you certainly fell for more than 2 seconds, which easily makes that drop a rather huge one. Stay safe man.


----------



## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

This is why you always check your landings first before committing to a huck. Yeah, you might lose the prime powder booter, but on the flip side you might get a lot more than your bargained for. I've pulled the 20 footer one burrito spoke of. Learned my lesson after that. It's always something you can re visit and once you know what the landing is like, the next year, you just need to wait for the right conditions.


----------



## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

I need to post to this thread again. I wish we had some scale. If one of those big trees is 25 feet tall, that's like a 125+ foot drop from the top of the snow at the first red circle. There's a lot to live for in life, and if that didn't make you realize what you could have lost, then you're thick. Look at this experience as one fan-fucking-tastic gift man. Have fun, don't be stupid, be grateful.


----------



## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

My friends and I learned a lesson at Whistler a few years back. We used to hit it several times a year, and after getting ourselves in some sticky situations too, realized their signage is different than here in the states. Where they might put up a huge sign and ropes/poles here, in Whistler it might just be a shoestring rope and no signage. Ducking rope and checking out sidecountry at Whistler/Blackomb is a whole different beast. Glad you're ok!


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Definitely glad you're OK. I haven't had the chance to ride Canada yet, but I hope to soon! Definitely good to know about the difference in signage and what not.

Seems to me that the perfect balance would be somewhere in between what we see in Summit County and what I'm reading about Canada. Here in Summit Co., things are too overprotected. Really nice terrain gets roped because the resorts have to CYA against sue happy Americans.


----------



## Mike.M (Mar 4, 2010)

those flat light foggy days at whistler can be gnarly


----------



## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

that is a fucked up thing to experience...if i were you i would have gone straight to one of the lifts and tell one of the ski patrol guys there of your incident, and have them put up some signs.

Glad to hear that deep pow saved ur life...and not to mention that extra cushion in your briefs haha


----------



## Tarzanman (Dec 20, 2008)

I think your guardian angel hooked you up with a spectacular save FTW :thumbsup:. I've only been in a situation once where I thought where not surviving was a real possibility (I was in a raft with 3 fatsos that got tipped over and when I got bearings and tried to surface, I was the lucky one that ended up under the raft).

Anyways, that's a massive drop, even into powder. I think the fall would have only injured you (albeit seriously) and then you would have had to deal with trying to move around with broken bones to avoid exposure.

Mmm, just another reminder that a 3-trip snowboarder like myself ain't ready for BC


----------



## zenboarder (Mar 5, 2009)

Mr. Polonia said:


> that is a fucked up thing to experience...if i were you i would have gone straight to one of the lifts and tell one of the ski patrol guys there of your incident, and have them put up some signs.


I can think of plenty of cliffs that are not marked at resorts in the Canadian Rockies... Typically if you deviate off the beaten trail you are on your own. It is your job to make sure you know where you are going and what is underneath. It is just a reflection of how large and how much terrain there is at the resorts. Spanky's isn't really a proper run.


----------



## dharmashred (Apr 16, 2009)

That's fucking gnarly! Glad you are okay. Luck of the draw was in your favor!


----------



## HUNT24/7 (Feb 8, 2010)

Nothing like staring death in the eye & telling him to go fuck himself!
Go buy a lottery ticket you lucky SOB!


----------



## Guest (Mar 16, 2010)

mwharrell said:


> Thats quite a bit bigger than 20 meters, in my opinion. If you bring physics into the equation, your initial falling speed would be 9.8 meters/second, as indicated by the constant g. If you actually fell for a full 4 seconds, where t=4, your final speed would be ~40 meters a second, with a 10 meter / second increase every second.


I love it mw!



.... oh and yeah, fucking huge man!


----------



## Guest (Mar 16, 2010)

Wow, you are very lucky!! I was in Whistler on Friday, too. The visibility was absolutely awful Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon, especially near the top with the winds and snow. I'm used to riding in sunny SoCal weather, so this was a huge difference. I'm not used to not being able to see where I'm going - that can definitely get you into trouble!



> My friends and I learned a lesson at Whistler a few years back. We used to hit it several times a year, and after getting ourselves in some sticky situations too, realized their signage is different than here in the states. Where they might put up a huge sign and ropes/poles here, in Whistler it might just be a shoestring rope and no signage.


I noticed this, too. I saw a couple orange strings here and there, but nothing as obvious as our massive "Trail Closed" signs here.

On a side note: What does BC/Canada have against toilet seat covers?! As in... there aren't any. Anywhere. Maybe I'm spoiled here in the States, but as a female using a public restroom, they are a necessity!!


----------



## bakesale (Nov 28, 2008)

Spanky's Ladder is no joke. Glad you're okay.


----------



## bakesale (Nov 28, 2008)

180bySummer said:


> On a side note: What does BC/Canada have against toilet seat covers?! As in... there aren't any. Anywhere. Maybe I'm spoiled here in the States, but as a female using a public restroom, they are a necessity!!


Canadian women don't piss on the seat.


----------



## tooscoops (Aug 17, 2007)

i'm pretty sure spanky's has quite a bit of warning of cliff drops. not that i'm calling you on anything, more just fuck... that area is fucking scary and people riding there seem to know, its a fuckin death trap!!!

so glad you ended up alright, but really, if you were on the run, there HAD to be more notification... i've run that trail a number of times and there have always been little orange signs for "cliff" ahead and all that...

really... all i can thing of is.... wow.

hope you are felling good, as i know many who have just missed signs in that area saying; "rock" who have really hurt themselves

as an edit... our women pee standing up.


----------



## Adam C (Mar 1, 2010)

Wow that is insane! Glad you're ok! This will be one of them stories you'll tell your grandchildren over and over and over until you have alzheimer's:thumbsup:


----------

