Gaspesie23

[neksledr]

The fact your able to report to us is a great sign Chris, best wishes for your bud. And Byrd is spot on, toys can be replaced, people can't.  Take care of yourself 🙏

[Snobeeler]

3 totaled sleds sounds scary, hoping for the best.

[iceman]

Terrifying incident. Chris wishing the best for Jeffrey. 

A freak accident, wrong place, wrong time.  
 

hoping you and the other men are doing ok. 
 

 

[mcstar]

Best wishes and a speedy recovery to everyone, Chris!

[wng-2]

3 hours ago, snowmaster2112 said:

Everything is all peaches and creme until it's not.....

Will probably go down as one of my worst snowmobile days ever

They are taking my friend JEFFREY to the hospital with what appears to be non life threatening injuries 

The rest of us are just banged up  ad and what looks like 3 totalled sleds

I'll report back when I can

Might tomorrow 

Wow, so sad to see this. I have been following your progress. I pray that everyone is, or will be ok.

[snowmaster2112]

I'm sitting in the back seat of a Subaru with Andre and Ronnie leaving Degelis with a fireman who is taking us 2.5 hours back to St Pamphile to get the truck 

Jeffrey is in the hospital in RDL

Long story short is Andre is leading then Ronnie,  Jeffrey and I in the back which is rare. Straight flat section of 571 outside Degelis heading south but some rollers and blind straights. When Andre crested the hill approximately 100-150 ft away is a groomer BROADSIDE in the trail as he was sliding and couldn't make the hill. His dragg kicked sideways and took up the whole trail.

One guy...the newbie Ronnie was the only one who with his sled walked away unscathed. 

Mon Ami Andre is fine but his sled is totalled twice over. I have a knot the size of a tennis ball on my thigh from the handlebar and the 1200 is gonna be OK with a thousand bucks

Jeffrey's sled looks OK but he running board is curled pretty bad

Point is its nothing short of a BIG miracle someone didn't get killed

There's a LOT more to this story that I will get into later.

THANKS for everyone's well wishes and I'll get back with more info when I have it

[wng-2]

snowmaster2112, thank you for taking the time to post. Hope you all can recover from this quickly.

[smclelan]

Best Wishes to all  Mon Ami

[EastMark]

Chris we are all thinking of all you guys. 

[zeusand]

Very sorry to hear this. Hope everyone is OK! We're in the Gaspe now...

This sport is dangerous... definitely don't ride as fast as I used to. Quebec Bob and I were hoping to run into you guys but we're a couple of days apart.

[NH-Moose]

Perspective:

Me and Mark I rolled up on the scene about an hour after the event. I saw red tape strung across the trail just before the downhill, slowed, and passed under the tape to slow roll forward to see why the trail was “closed” so close to town.

Just over the crest I saw a groomer and a bunch of people on the right of it. I assumed it was just a groomer that broke down mid-slope and riders were simply trying to get by it in the woods to its right…..in the fluff at the treeline.

There were a lot of people standing around. 

But then i noticed sleds in orientations that were not normal, as in the rubber side was not down, one front was facing the wrong way, or on their side wedged into the tractor track or drag here and there.  

Closer, I could see a bunch of people in the “V” where the tractor and drag appeared sort of jack-knived. They were working on a person on a stretcher. There was the groomer driver, paramedics, and others in the riding party.  I could see an ATV and a side by side, thats how the first responders got there before Mark and I.

Was a confusing scene, even being right there, hard to figure out, even now.

The hill was loose show….sloppy mashed potatoes….poor traction for sure, no wonder no one could stop in a downhill “surprise” situation. Mark went up the hill to park his sled by the one strip of red tape across was was kind of hard to see and we didn’t want to be piled onto.

I first talked to Chris since he was at the rear sitting on his Enduro.  Introductions made and he said we were the first sleds to come up behind them from our direction (Squatec) in an hour. He then explained the situation. We waited for Police to arrive to document the scene before anything could be moved. Once that happened everyone involved was ferried away and firemen began to clear the damaged sleds.

While we were there, 2 other NH riders approached and eventually we all fired up and passed in the ditch on the left of the groomer.

 

We had leap frogged Chris’s group several times between Murdochville and La Cache.

All I can say is they were lucky, could have been much worse or further from a road, or 30 below, etc. just bad planetary alignment of timing, location, conditions, etc.

And a speedy recovery to Jeffrey!

[snowmaster2112]

As Ice said “wrong place wrong time”

snow was very loose too which didn’t help with the braking

i was this close to stuffing it in the woods and thankfully had enough foresight left in me to not do so. There were simply too many trees.

when I crested that hill it was THE most terrifying sight I have EVER had in all my riding days. Never felt so helpless with no options

we JUST got word Jeffrey is ok with no broken bones but some pretty bad sprains and bruises. We will be picking him up from RDL hospital in the am and go retrieve our sleds.

THANK YOU TO ALL again for the well wishes. 3-4 hours from the truck on the last day has bitten me twice now over the years. Once with a deer and now this.

[snowmaster2112]

[snowmaster2112]

[GT Rider]

We are thankful your friend is going to be ok. 

All the best to you guys.

[EastMark]

Glad everyone is relatively ok. Bummer a few orange cones couldn’t have been placed center trail above the stuck groomer. Wrong place wrong time I agree Chris. Thanks for the update.

[revct1]

It makes me wonder how many times this could have happened to me or any one of us that has been on a trail we know very well and crested a hill or went around a corner . . .

It gives us something to think about.  Thankfully you will all recover to ride another day.

Jack & Sandi

[GSX800]

Thankfully you guys are ok to some degree.  It happens so fast.  Speedy recovery to Jeff.

[Signfan]

Always my worst nightmare when I was grooming.  Guys that taught me to groom instilled some rules as the groomer operator.

- in the day light always stay right.  Doesn't always make a difference, but on fast wide trails it does.  Rider may slip by on the right.  Night time is a different story.  We high sided every corner to get the best results.

- blade on the groomer was never to be more than 12" off the trail unless you're working with the blade.  If a rider does hit you they won't get decapitated by the blade.  The blade in the picture is exactly what we were told not to do.  It's up at head height.  It's as bad as farmers driving around on roads with bail spears on their front end loaders 4' off the ground.  Perfect place for a car to push that spear right through the windshield if they have a head on with the tractor.

- as a general rule we avoided daytime grooming.   Hit a few club trails on Mondays and Tuesdays, but other than that all night shift.  Lights provide so much warning of what's coming.

- always groomed with a mirror.  That way you're always looking forward and might have a chance to react

It's too bad all clubs can't implement these items.  That said riders certainly have a major responsibility in this too.  If you can't stop in the distance you can see you're traveling too fast.  We're all guilty I'm sure.  Fun starts and it just takes a little slip of judgement at the wrong time.  Kinda like staying right.  We all agree it's important, but lot's still cut corners.  I truly think many believe they're staying right who really aren't when you go look at your tracks.  Some who are not even riding fast.  I had a group coming at me inside of my corner a week ago.  They weren't doing 20 km/h but we're still eating up my side.

Wishing a quick recovery to your team Chris.  Thank god the injuries were only minor.  Snowmobiles can be repaired / replaced.  Safe trip home.  Next trip will be better for sure.  Don't waste anytime getting back on the horse.

[mikerider]

Best wishes to all of you in the healing process. 

[Snobeeler]

I wonder how long the groomer was stuck? When a groomer gets stuck in a blind spot a good practice would have been for operator to imediatly walk up trail a bit to place tape or cone. Then continue to try and get unstuck. Glad nobody hurt seriously.

[iceman]

Great news for Jeffrey, machines are just material things. People are what matter.

When i first heard about this from NHMoose I was shocked. In reality its a game of  luck it’s all about who you cross paths with and when on the trails.

Each morning we put on our helmets and our snowmobiles, the game begins. 99.9% of the time the odds are favorable but there is always that .1%.

You arrive at the same corner as someone inexperienced or just going way too fast and it happens. Or that deer or moose jumps out of the woods, 

Here in this case, unfortunately it’s even more of a freak accident. Combination of conditions and location. Then there is the timing. Today was the .1% for them. 
 

The loose snow I imagine is why the groomer could not make the hill. (Still confused by this a bit) he tried to back down to make another run and ended up stuck there. Jack knifed. The stage was set for disaster. Timimg. The operator is trying to get unstuck and along comes Chris and crew. 
 

I remember specifically in La Tuque years ago they always had a sign they would put near the bridge leaving town letting you know the surfacer was on trail. 
 

In a perfect world most clubs I believe try to avoid daytime grooming at all costs but it’s inevitable that it must occur. Breakdowns and lack of personnel etc.

Very hard for the clubs today to get volunteers. The operators are paid jobs and even that they struggle to find drivers. Not paying big $$ but usually $18-$20 an hour at least. Obviously the best would be one volunteer in front of groomer on sled in daytime and one in back to warn riders. I have seen this too, but depends on club. Cannot do it everywhere but perhaps just the more dangerous sections. 
My thoughts go out to the operator too as he must have felt very bad after watching all this go down.

This is just my observations on this terrible scary incident, Which thankfully did not turn into a tragedy. 
 

Chris hang in there buddy. My best to Andre, Ronnie and tell Jeffrey get well soon. 
 

Whether you fall off your horse or get knocked off either way you need to get back on it. 
 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by iceman

[iceman]

24 minutes ago, Snobeeler said:

I wonder how long the groomer was stuck? When a groomer gets stuck in a blind spot a good practice would have been for operator to imediatly walk up trail a bit to place tape or cone. Then continue to try and get unstuck. Glad nobody hurt seriously.

I believe not long or the operator would most likely have done just as you say. Very bad timing caused this. 

[Signfan]

Appears that he was in the middle of fighting with that hill.  The 4 track units have been known for these issues.  Just not enough traction to carry the weights up the hills they are fighting with.  Ice is their enemy.

[snowmaster2112]

Loaded up and heading home. GPS says 9:30 but she doesn't know about impending snow/ice storm right in our path. Again...it's all about the "timing"

We picked up jeffrey from RDL hospital around 10 a.m. He is doing  better than I thought but sore as f%$k and limping. They did cat scan, ultrasound for the organs and obviously x-rays, blood work, urine and more. Said they were on him like flies on shit when they wheeled him in. So a big tip of the hat to them and all emergency people everywhere. I guess it tremendously helped that we were literally right outside of town but I was amazed at the amount of fire fighters and EMT personnel at the scene instantly.  Side by sides with trailers, four wheelers with tracks etc.

I guess if you stripped us all down naked (oh God what a site) it would be I who looks like something happened.  The old handlebar in the thigh thingy. Pretty effen sore but I'll live.

So considering what occurred we all feel extremely lucky and thankful given what occurred. I know it was the scariest 2 seconds ever snowmobiling and possibly ever in my life. Knowing what was unfolding that last second was the worst because you know someone might get seriously hurt or die. Your best friends no less. I almost took the woods and am very glad today that I didn't. Don't think the outcome would have been as good.

Once again everyone,  THANKS for the well wishes and concern. It was another GREAT trip (well at least until the last 4 hours). We had GREAT trails,GREAT accommodations and GREAT weather.  Got to meet GTrider and wife, Fuse6, NHmoose and a couple others. Got to spend a little time with Iceman and Smclelan which is always a hoot. 

Hope everyone enjoyed the trailside reporting and pics. Im not usually in an area that had as much cell service as this trip so it was possible. Also the only phone I have that works in Canada is my work phone and the camera socks ass.

I hope everyone has a GREAT last trip or finished up recently with one.