A Whistler snowmobiler got more excitement than she bargained for during a ride in the Tricone Basin Friday (Jan. 23).
The unidentified woman was riding in the backcountry between Squamish and Whistler with a group of friends. According to Victor Mascheretti of Helivision Sport, the small group was at an elevation of about 1,524 metres (5,000 feet) when the woman crashed into a snowbank just after 3 p.m.
Mascheretti, the Helivision Sport owner and guiding manager, said the woman was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident.
"There was enough force to break the windshield of the snowmobile, knock the driver unconscious and the snowmobile rolled over on her," Mascheretti said.
One of her friends went for help while two others stayed with the bleeding victim. Mascheretti said it took about 20 minutes and a descent of 1,097 metres (3,600 feet) to find help. The friend caught up with Powder Mountain Snow Cats at the company's lodge.
When David Bryce, the Powder Mountain field operations manager and part owner of the company, learned how serious the situation was, he and one of his guides with advanced first aid, Doug Lunger, went to the accident scene with a doctor who happened to be cat skiing with Powder Mountain.
Mascheretti said the rescue team put Blackcomb Helicopters on alert in Whistler.
"Blackcomb could not leave the base in Whistler because of fog," Mascheretti said. "I put our helicopter on standby and I was alerted that Blackcomb could not leave so we went. We had better visibility here in Brackendale so we flew north past Cloudburst Mountain."
Lunger and Dr. Susan Austin from Australia administered first aid while the helicopter was on its way. With the helicopter flying to the scene and the patient slipping in and out of consciousness, the weather conditions in the area were getting worse.
Bryce set up a landing area near the victim and he communicated with pilot Wally Zek of Black Tusk Helicopters to guide him to the landing spot.
"We brought in a spinal board and took her out with a minimal amount of injuries above the original injuries," said Mascheretti.
The first aid team suspected the woman suffered spinal injuries, Mascheretti said, so appropriate precautions were taken.
"We had enough visibility to make everything work quite well," he said. "We departed at 4 p.m. and we were at the hospital in 10 minutes. We were met by their staff and the doctor stayed with the emergency medical staff for about 30 minutes. The victim was released two days later."
Mascheretti felt the rescue was a good example of backcountry operators working together to execute an emergency evacuation plan.
The heli-ski guide company owner was reluctant to talk about the costs of the rescue but he did say that Powder Mountain Snow Cats is covering the costs because it made the initial call out.
"We'll approach the persons involved with the billing of this," Mascheretti said. "Given all the angles the right thing was done and now we'll deal with the bill and we'll deal with it appropriately."
He noted that discussions are currently under way on the controversial topic.
"The billing thing is an ongoing dialogue over who is to pay and who is not," Mascheretti said.
