North Shore Rescue shared the story of a recently rescued hiker who, similar to another recent case, suffered a suspected leg fracture despite wearing the proper footwear and wearing trail crampon-like traction devices.
According to a Facebook post from the organization, the injured man is believed to either have intentionally slid on his bum or slipped and slid, either hitting the terrain in an irregular way or digging his crampons into the ground in the process. Whatever the case, the hiker suffered a suspected leg fracture after the leg stayed put while momentum carried him forward.
North Shore Rescue provided a ground crew, including an Advanced Medical Provider – ER physician member, in a tracked Side-by-Side. When the crews reached the subject, located on the Hollyburn Mountain trail at Cypress Mountain in British Columbia, he was provided medical care, packaged into a stretcher, and carried down to the vehicle. The vehicle brought the injured hiker to the Cypress Nordic base where he received further care.
North Shore Rescue’s “Lessons Learned” Comments From The Accident:
The snowpack on the North Shore mountains, particularly that on-trail, is very well compacted, icy/slippery, and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future given continuing low temperatures. In addition, the snowpack is below average, meaning that the terrain features (bumps, dips/holes, etc) that are typically filled in by this time of year are not. Compounding the problem, on downhill sections of popular trails, trail users often slide/bum slide down (intentionally or otherwise), further slickening the trail surface. While it may appear fun, you would be surprised how fast you pick up speed, how hard it can be to control, and how much it hurts to bump over a hard uneven surface.
In these conditions, hikers need to exercise much caution. Both of our last two subjects on Hollyburn were wearing proper footwear and using trail crampon traction devices, yet still found it difficult to descend the slope.
As we discussed in the first (ankle injury) debrief post, bum sliding – while appearing fun and a quick way down – is fraught with risk. It is very easy to pick up speed and get out of control, especially when bouncing over uneven terrain.
While we highly recommend footwear traction devices (crampons, trail crampons like Microspikes, etc. – not snowshoes in hard packed slippery trail conditions), paradoxically, they can also be a risk when sliding. When sliding with spikes, there is a risk that they will dig into the ground – stopping your foot/lower extremity in its tracks – while your momentum carries the rest of you on, causing significant injury such as what we have seen these last two rescues. (This is why experienced mountaineers know to raise their feet-crampons above the ground when sliding – a skill learned along with ice axe self arrest techniques.)
All of this is to say that recreationalists must take much care when hiking on slippery ground. It is typically much harder going “down” than “up”. Having solid footwear and traction devices (crampons, trail crampons, etc.) is key, but as these last two rescues have demonstrated, are not necessarily enough. Careful foot placement, choosing your path wisely, extra balance/traction assistance (poles, ice axe, etc.) all go a long way to ensuring safe travels.“