Car totaled on ski road trip - Looking for a ride from Golden BC to civilization

[GKWood]

I wish this could have been a post looking for touring partners for Roger pass but alas...
About halfway through my 2-month ski road trip, I flipped and subsequently totaled my car on a nasty patch of black ice in the Kicking Horse Canyon near Golden, so now I'm looking on how to get back to San Francisco with all my gear (might be too much to fly). If anyone happens to be in the neighborhood and will be heading to any major city in the next few days (Calgary/Vancouver/Seattle/Spokane/Portland/San Franciscco/...), I'd love to get a ride. The closer to San Francisco, the better. I'm totally fine if there's skiing involved on the way; I was only supposed to be back in San Francisco by March 15th so I theoretically have time for more ski shenanigans. Have IKON pass and touring gear.

Any other help/tips would be appreciated too. I'm lucky to be alive and unhurt after all this but it's still a kinda shitty situation being stuck here in Golden with a car's worth of gear.



Thanks!
Gerrit

[John_B]

You are sure you cant limp that back to San Fran?

I'm sure you've done this already but talk with some locals and see what methods they recommend for putting the word out.

Good luck getting home.

[hawkgt]

Shit, sorry for the bad luck but glad you are safe.

hope works out, no where near you or destination. ship some gear home?

[t-the-east]

Looks like that should just buff right out

[BFD]

I guess you don't have full coverage. Buy something and keep going

[Rideski]

Weeklong car rentals are pretty affordable and would give you some breathing room to not need find something immediately, as well as transpo to go look for something to buy, or else just get back home.

[GKWood]

I guess you don't have full coverage. Buy something and keep going

Correct, car was too old to justify collision insurance, althoug in hindsight it wouldn't have hurt given the sketchy roads you encounter on ski road trips. I wish it was as easy as just buying a replacement car, but being in Canada temporarily complicates things (I'm pretty sure I can't just buy a care here and drive it to the US). It's also my friend's car, which complicates things further.

[GKWood]

Weeklong car rentals are pretty affordable and would give you some breathing room to not need find something immediately, as well as transpo to go look for something to buy, or else just get back home.

Except for a Uhaul there are no rental companies in Golden unfortunately. But it seems like it should be fairly easy to get a rideshare to Calgary where there's obviously tons of availability. Based on my current research, one way car rentals are ridicilously expensive though, and I think I need to get back to the US before I can buy a new car (can't simply import a Canadian car into the US - insert Mordor meme here)

[XXX-er]

Correct, car was too old to justify collision insurance, althoug in hindsight it wouldn't have hurt given the sketchy roads you encounter on ski road trips. I wish it was as easy as just buying a replacement car, but being in Canada temporarily complicates things (I'm pretty sure I can't just buy a care here and drive it to the US). It's also my friend's car, which complicates things further.

you might check into it

you could buy it but the big question might be what do you do on the other end?

[uglymoney]

Just get your shit to Spokane somehow and then rent a minivan one way home for however long. Sometimes one ways are a lot and other times not bad at all. Maybe a couple car payments. Shit happens.

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[BFD]

Correct, car was too old to justify collision insurance, althoug in hindsight it wouldn't have hurt given the sketchy roads you encounter on ski road trips. I wish it was as easy as just buying a replacement car, but being in Canada temporarily complicates things (I'm pretty sure I can't just buy a care here and drive it to the US). It's also my friend's car, which complicates things further.

sorry about your situation. I rolled one mid winter Kluane lake. Bought one in Whitehorse and drove home. Just needs to meet emissions and recalls and tell customs you bought it in Canada. There is a thread here somewhere about buying cars in Canada. good luck you could always take a bus to Calgary and fly home.

[mcski]

Ever see the movie Cruising?

[GKWood]

sorry about your situation. I rolled one mid winter Kluane lake. Bought one in Whitehorse and drove home. Just needs to meet emissions and recalls and tell customs you bought it in Canada. There is a thread here somewhere about buying cars in Canada. good luck you could always take a bus to Calgary and fly home.

That's good to know, thanks for sharing.

[Chugachjed]

I guess you don't have full coverage. Buy something and keep going

This, buy a $500 beater and rock on. Don't let this ruin your trip.

rolling in Kluane is waaaaay worse than Golden geez.

[bushman]

Glad your OK. That thing is a mess. I murdered a whitetail 2 weeks ago coming home from Bridger, new rig being picked up Friday.

[SkiLyft]

If you can get to Spokane we have an extra bedroom you can crash in until you get shit figured out.

Shoot me a PM if you want more details.

Glad you’re okay!


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[reckless toboggan]

I suggest...

[GKWood]

Found a ride to Calgary with someone I met skiing at Lake Louise the other day. Local Facebook rideshare group is pretty active FYI with lots of people doing the Calgary-Golden section (less so to Vancouver).
The Spokane route would have been hard given that I lost my Green Card in the crash and I just learned I need to go to a US Embassy to get the proper documentation (and fork over a grand to uncle Sam for the inconvenience).

I'll probably try and fly out from Calgary and ship some of my stuff (looks cheaper than one way car rental). If I was earlier in my trip I might have looked into buying a beater and continuing but doesn't seem worth the hassle for just 2 weeks.

Thanks for the help (and interesting movie suggestions)

[Z]

Hey man - just saw this, looks like you are getting on but if you need any help in Golden let me know?

Random but my wife is wanting to sell her subaru, it'd be 2-3k and it's an american car, so no import issues. It's actually a pretty good deal. I'd guess you could even re-sell it for more in Cali...just a thought?

[liv2ski]

I lost my Green Card in the crash and I just learned I need to go to a US Embassy to get the proper documentation (and fork over a grand to uncle Sam for the inconvenience).

Jeezuz, talk about bad luck. Your wallet went flying out the window when you flipped? I am glad your hanging in there as your situation blows.

[S_jenks]

If you can get as far as Cranbrook/Fernie I could drive you back to Missoula. Flights are cheap enough there, and you'd get some turns in along the way.

Edit: Saw the Calgary post and the embassy thing. Very sorry to hear about that part, and best wishes.

[XXX-er]

an american stuck in Canada, forced to wear plaid and eat poutine

[BCMtnHound]

an american stuck in Canada, forced to wear plaid and eat poutine

He said he has/had a green card. i suspect he might have plaid and poutine jeans already

[GKWood]

Hey man - just saw this, looks like you are getting on but if you need any help in Golden let me know?

Random but my wife is wanting to sell her subaru, it'd be 2-3k and it's an american car, so no import issues. It's actually a pretty good deal. I'd guess you could even re-sell it for more in Cali...just a thought?

Bummer, if I was still in Golden I'd be seriously interested. Currently in Calgary so it might be hard to get this arranged. PM me if you think there's an easy way?

@liv2ski: Yep, pretty much lol. After entering Canada a couple days earlier I had shoved my passport and green card in the glove box and it opened during the crash and spilled everywhere (together with a couple boxes of food/supplies; it was a mess). Someone found my passport but Green Card was nowhere to be found. Also lost my shoes (found them in the wreck later) so a nice trucker gave me his spare sandals.

Ironically, the passport and green card were inititally safely stowed in my backpack. When entering the Canadian border I'm pretty sure my whole car got searched because I didn't have the passport/green card directly accessible, so I figured I'd keep it within closer reach. It was mildly entertaining to see the border patrol go through all the shit in the car (a somewhat organized mess of boxes of food/supplies, ski gear, cold weather sleeping stuff, and other random crap)

On the upside... just checked out the new public library in Calgary, it is pretty nice!

[AK47bp]

an american stuck in Canada, forced to wear plaid and eat poutine

Ugh.

His poor guns.