It happened on Boulder Mountain in Revelstoke. I decided to take a shortcut trail while riding in front of a group of four friends. I ended up going down a deep track rut and getting bucked off the sled and the sled continued to travel down the trail and wedge itself against a big spruce tree in a deep tree well.
My friends drove right by me not knowing I was down there and continued back 25 kilometres to Glacier House where we were all staying. I had to strip down most of my gear and start digging. The sled was pointed downhill at a 45-degree angle with one ski on either side of this tree, not allowing me to pull the front over or pull it backwards.
I had to shovel snow in stages until the sled was level and I could pull it backwards to remove a ski from one side of the tree. All in all I was stuck for 1.5 hours—meanwhile my friends are going up and down the trail looking for me. Being inexperienced with riding mountains, they did not know to check the logbook to see if I had made it to the cabin to sign out; this would have helped them to narrow down my location. Being I was only 500 yards from the cabin, I didn't panic, as I knew I could walk there. But in any event, I couldn't get my sled out.
What I learned from this is always to carry a good two-way radio and don't leave your group unless they know where you are going.
