The phrase “no friends on a powder day” pisses me off, and I’m sure it does for a lot of other people. Not only is skiing significantly more fun with friends, even on a powder day, it’s also significantly safer with friends. On resort or off resort, even if there’s no avalanche danger or tree wells where you’re skiing, there are plenty of other risks involved in the sport, and having someone (or multiple people) to keep an eye out for you is always a plus.
If you don’t believe me, hopefully Ahmet Dadali’s incident will convince you otherwise. No avalanche, no trees, just the inherent risks of riding on powder. If his friends weren’t there or if they weren’t paying enough attention, Dadali likely wouldn’t be here today. Fortunately, his friends did exactly what they needed to so he could walk away from that incident.
“I want to post this video to serve as a reminder to use the right protocol in all situations in the backcountry. Many of us over indulge in our phones hoping to capture the next funny viral clip and forget our friends can be in peril danger. I’m so happy to see how quickly @paddygrahamput his phone down and ran to my rescue with @tomritsch and @syovanvliet without these guys quick actions I may have been an iceman and I’m so happy to be with the crew I’m with out there..”
Image Credit: Ahmet Dadali via Instagram