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By Dawn Slade
Snowmobiling off trail in the mountains of Yellowstone has its risks, and Dow Fetters found out just what those risks mean when Mother Nature takes control.
He realizes that he’s lucky he can tell his story.
Dow and seven others, including his 25-year-old son Derrick, were into their first official day (Feb. 15) of sledding in west Yellowstone National Park when an avalanche brought Dow down the face of the mountain.
Yellowstone is beautiful and majestic, but Mother Nature likes to give reminders of just how strong and unpredictable she can be.
Dow, who lives in the Milaca area, has been riding off trails in that area of Wyoming for seven years with Derrick, who has been living out there for the past three years.
There were three or four spotters watching as Dow was “playing” and making his third attempt at reaching a ledge near the top of Lions Head.
“You play on some of the surfaces, climb, wander your way through,” Dow said.
Derrick said he was at the bottom of the mountain, about a quarter-mile below Dow, “talking smart” when he saw the snow break away.
He saw the sled fall and saw his dad briefly holding onto a rock ledge, then the second wave let loose, bringing his father down with it.
“No, no, no,” Derrick said as memories of another avalanche rescue raced through his mind.
“Is he alive?” Derrick wondered, “where is he?,” “how deep,” “is he dead?” The questions flooded in.
But Derrick and another spotter watched Dow to make sure they had a good idea where he was at. Then they turned on their avalanche beacons and let the beacons help guide them to Dow.
Dow had been through avalanche training and he was wearing a beacon on his chest. Both of which helped save his life.
He learned how to “swim” with an avalanche to keep your arms moving.
The swimming technique allowed Dow’s left hand to be in front of his face, creating a pocket of air. Giving him breathing time.
Dow admits he didn’t follow all the rules the avalanche class taught him.
They knew the snow conditions were unstable.
Dow said he attacked an area to climb and he also knows that if you make an attempt, you leave it alone.
For whatever reason, he couldn’t leave it alone that day. Dow had picked out the ledge he wanted to reach. On his third attempt he reached the ledge. But it was also during that attempt that the avalanche started.
“In hindsight, I should’ve known it was a weak spot,” Dow admits. “It broke on that ledge.”
Dow was above the first avalanche wave and he was able to hang onto his snowmobile, but the second wave knocked him off. He let go of the sled and began swimming as the snow pushed him down.
With his left hand in front of his face and his right hand behind his back, Dow was able to move that left hand and turn his head slightly. He could see daylight through the snow.
Snowmobilers in the group rode up the side of the chute to within 50-60 feet of Dow.
The spotters started going through the rubble and one spotted the fluorescent orange of Dow’s helmet.
Dow told himself to stay calm and be patient.
“I could breathe, but it was tight.”
Within minutes Derrick and the others had Dow out.
“I asked him right away, ‘Are you okay? Are you breathing?’” Derrick said. “Then I told him, ‘Don’t ever do that again!’”
Derrick was part of a rescue effort once before, but that time the 19-year-old snowmobiler didn’t survive the avalanche.
“Everyone has the mind set that it’s not going to happen,” Derrick said. “Everyone around you needs to know the procedures. I was panicked, but I knew what had to be done.”
There were too many people on the hillside and too many things went wrong, Derrick said, but they managed to get everyone calmed down and focused.
“We got done what needed to get done,” Derrick noted. “Luckily, it turned out as good as it did.”
The crew spent another 45 minutes getting the snowmobile out, which ended up about four to five feet away from Dow. It was 45 minutes of concern that another avalanche would take them all down.
The sled’s seat was torn, the hood was off and the steering column was out of alignment, but with just a few bruises and scrapes of his own, Dow spent the next day working on fixing it.
Just like getting back on a horse that has bucked you off, Dow got back on that sled and finished out the trip, like a true adventurer (albeit an adventurer who was a little more cautious).
“I never feared for my life,” Dow said of the avalanche. “I never got to the point where I thought I would die. I was more concerned about what they were seeing.”
Back home
Back in Milaca, Dow’s wife Kim was left in the dark until their other son Darren was home with her. (Dow wanted to make sure Kim had Darren with her when she heard the news.)
“He’s our calm son,” Kim pointed out.
Kim has ridden with Dow out in Wyoming, staying on the trails. So she knows what 8,000 feet elevation looks like.
Kim said Dow was acting strange when he first called asking for Darren.
“It was like he was on a caffeine high,” she said.
But Kim also knows the high Dow gets from riding sled in the mountains, so she wasn’t too concerned.
“I had an accident today, but I’m okay, a little banged up,” Dow told her.
The next day she learned more of what happened.
“I pray the whole time,” Kim said of Dow’s annual adventure. “It scares the hell out of me.”
“Nothing really scares you,” she said to Dow. Then added, “I think they learned their lesson.”
Lessons learned
Dow had done the training and yet he still didn’t think they’d be the ones to cause an avalanche.
“We need to study and be more aware of the potential of what’s out there,” Dow commented. “It needs to be a group decision, a plan of attack or not to, and placement of spotters.”
“I’m very fortunate, it could’ve been life-ending.”
Dow went back to the scene of the avalanche where fresh snow showed more snowmobilers had already been riding on the side of the mountain.
“It amazed me that other people had rode there,” Dow said.
As for Dow’s “bucket list” he jested, “I don’t need to worry about that one anymore.”
“You need to respect the snow and know your equipment,” Derrick said. “Ride with people who have the proper equipment. If they don’t have it, don’t ride with them. Avalanche safety is a must.”
And Dow now knows the power and the potential of Mother Nature.
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