backcountry emergency toboggan

[mcs]

Some one in the tech forum asked about this. I couldn't find much on google,
so I thought it would be worth while to post a how-to. Hope this gives some
useful info and maybe even helps people out one day.

How to construct a backcountry emergency toboggan, by Mark.

There really isn't a decisive set of rules to follow on this one, so I'll give some
general advice and tips I've learned. I've always had the mentality that
traveling in the backcountry meant you were prepared to evacuate under
your own means in case of emergency. While SAR groups are an awesome
thing and I truly respect their members, I still think there's a lot of value in
being able to get yourself (and others) out of a bad situation in the backcountry. Here's one of the tools I would rely on to do such.

If someone's hurt beyond the ability to ski themselves out (and assuming they
need medical attention enough to cancel a trip and focus on their evacuation), you can built an impromtu toboggan by using their equipment
and some materials you can easily stash in your pack.

Begin by placing their skis in the classic "pie" shape. Attatch the tips together with duct tape or cord (I didn't do this b/c I'm lazy and don't
need to evacuate anyone from my computer room).
This shape will give you more control over the moving toboggan via cords.


If the patient has brakes, remove them. It's much easier to simply take them
off with a screwdriver on a multitool than it is to Macguiver a way to keep
them up. The brakes will slow the toboggan down otherwise.

Now, if you're lucky, the patient was skiing with sticks that had those
mysterious holes in the tips. Among other things, they can be used to help
you out here. Place his/her pole tips in the holes and rest the handles over
his/her bindings. If there aren't any holes, duct tape the tips in place or
get creative with some parachute cord. Once the tips are secured, tie down
the handles on the bindings.



Next, take your telescoping shovel handle completely apart. Hopefully this
gives you two tubes. If not, borrow one from the victim... err, patient. Place
one tube across the skis at the toe of the bindings and the other at the
heel.


Secure these down firmly -- they'll provide the base of the seat the patient
sits on. Then place your shovel on these two tubes and secure it down
using the holes in the shovel that patrollers use when they make a
shovel sling.


Then, wrap a piece of cord around the poles from the bindings to the tips of
the skis. This makes a basket for the patient to place their legs in (they'll
probably have to cross them).


Finally, attach two pieces of cord to either binding heel from the rear for one
person and if you have another, a long piece of cord to the front. Use these
to control the toboggan and pull it if necessary.

Have the patient sit in the shovel and place their legs in the "basket." Control
her/her descent with the cords from behind and in front. You'll be doing alot
of pulling on a powder day, but it still beats postholing.

If you want complete control, put skins on the toboggan. This might require
more pulling, but will keep things from getting too exciting.

That's it. There's really not much to it. Telemark skis are a bit easier since
they usually don't have brakes. Taking the time to do this right the first
time is really worth it since it'll fall apart on you during the descent otherwise.
Hope this proves useful and I really hope nobody has to use it

[G]

Awesome, Thanks!

[seanyob]

Nice work.....good pics and descriptive.

make sure you post that in the Tech talk forum for future searches.

[Squatch]

i second that. good to know.

edit: I wonder if you can buy really small rolls of duct tape.

[splat]

Nice demonstration. This was discussed on powdermag a long time ago.
Pinner or someone mentioned a lightweight tube you could pack that would cross and attach to the tips of skis with no tip holes.
Maybe fashion a seat out of skins?

[Incompetent Boob]

i second that. good to know.

edit: I wonder if you can buy really small rolls of duct tape.

Just tape it around your poles, duct tape should be ok for more than one application if you tape it to itself.

Good write-up. Might have to print that one out.

[FrankZappa]

Cool write up. Thanks.


Gotta go drill some holes in the tips now...

[smitchell333]

Duct Tape will do the trick instead of cord.

Can add Backpack on top of the whole thing for padding and to strap the patient in.

[AltaPowderDaze]

Gotta go drill some holes in the tips now...

i put htem tip and tail in all of my skis that aren't resort skis. in reality, the holes will be for you if you get hurt. everyone else in the group will likely be using their skis. your busted ass probably won't. it seems to make sense but i never want use them. otoh, they make for great entertainment on lite pow days. you can try for some mini face shots of the tips.


(click for the larger version to see the holes)

[iceman]

APD- You just drill through the skis? What do you do to seal them against moisture?

[AltaPowderDaze]

APD- You just drill through the skis? What do you do to seal them against moisture?

marine epoxy from home depot works just fine. it's the blue stuff.

[Dromond]

Super cool. Holes = demystified!

I always knew that's vaguely what they were for, but not how you would actually use them.

[~mikey b]

There's an old article on Couloir's website about this by Bela and MimiVadasz.

http://www.couloirmag.com/articles/d...?articleID=204

[Lurch]

I read about a mountain rescue crew practicing getting a victim out of the back country using all the different make shift rescue toboggans out there and the general conclusion was that unless the patient has full use of his arms to hold himself on and the entire route back to civilization is downhill it's not going to happen.

[AltaPowderDaze]

the general conclusion was that unless the patient has full use of his arms to hold himself on and the entire route back to civilization is downhill it's not going to happen.

ideally you can wrap them and strap them. most people carry some length of rope in the bc and that can be used for both the craddle and to secure the patient. some strong vines can be used as well but it's not likely that you'll find vines in a winter alpine setting.

[AltaPowderDaze]

the entire route back to civilization is downhill

also, you bring up a good topic. pakcage and extrication has to be specific to the injury. does the parient have a broken leg or a head injury. if you're worried about a head injury, placing the head downhill will only increace the icp and you'll worsen the situation. to furthur complicate things, what if you also suspect spinal injury?

[smitchell333]

ideally you can wrap them and strap them. most people carry some length of rope in the bc and that can be used for both the craddle and to secure the patient. some strong vines can be used as well but it's not likely that you'll find vines in a winter alpine setting.

Strap them in a backpack and/or duct tape them to the sled.

[mcs]

i second that. good to know.

edit: I wonder if you can buy really small rolls of duct tape.

Squatch-man: look closely at the poles in the picture. You'll see 'mini'
duct tape rolls built in

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys.

[~mikey b]

When I tried to use the duct tape that had been rolled around my ski pole for only a couple of months, I found it had turned to shit. Unusable.

You can buy mini rolls, or just make your own by rolling it around itself. Works better for me.

[iceman]

That must have been shitty tape or something odd must have happened to it, I've used tape that was on my poles for literally years with no problems at all.

[jump]

Sweet. Thanks for the info.

[PNWbrit]

That must have been shitty tape or something odd must have happened to it, I've used tape that was on my poles for literally years with no problems at all.

What he said.

I have some that's actually got better with age.

Has anyone actually used a contraption like this? It always seemed a good theory but I'm not sure how it would actually work in real life.

[~mikey b]

I've used it in practice and it didn't work very well. No way you should be doing that with a patient that needs c-spine precuations.

not sure about the shitty tape

[LeeLau]

I've had even "good" duct tape not work when it's very cold. So it might be an issue in the minus 50 degree temps of Alaska.

Agreed that the emergency sled doesn't work well in practise but its better then nothing

[~mikey b]

never been in neg 50 in Juneau - more likely to be 50