Better the Backpack Than My Shoulder

I had a wonderful day riding in fresh powder. It was a great experience except for one unfortunate incident right after lunch.

After having a breakthrough morning, I went in for lunch. One thing that had made the morning so great was the constant availability of water through my new Dakine hydration backpack. If you’ve never had a constant source of water available to you out on the slopes, try taking in a lot of water next time out, and see what a difference it makes.

But you’ve also got be careful, and that’s something I wasn’t right after lunch. I threw the pack on, as well as my helmet, got into the lift line, and rode up the chair, anticipating a great ride down.

I got a ride, all right. But it wasn’t great.

As I went to descend from the chairlift, I felt a resistance. I couldn’t ride away from the chair. One of the straps from the backpack had gotten tangled up in the lift chair.

I was going for a different kind of ride.

I tried to yell, but I don’t think I got anything out. I was stunned. The chair swung around, ready to start heading down the hill again. But I was still attached, via the strap on my pack.

Fortunately the liftie stopped the whole contraption before I got very far. My feet never left the ground, meaning that I was never suspended in air. The happy result: no separated shoulder (or worse) from hanging, mid-air, from the lift via my pack.

The pack itself was ruined; it tore right along side the zipper. Better it than me. I found my way down to the ski patrol, where somebody gave me a few simple tests to determine there was no obvious nerve damage, and I went on to finish the day.

My only damage: a couple of small bruises on my arm. And no significant pain the next day.

A week later, I did buy another pack. But this one doesn’t have as many straps, and I’m very particular about wrapping any excess around and a round, so as to make sure there’s no repeat.