Before you die; The List.

This is something that many of us think of from time to time and some take it more serious then others. A few years ago my wife thought that we should actually sit down and make a list of things that we actually wanted to attempt, accomplish or experience before we perished. The idea was to create a list starting with the most tangible and realistic to those more challenging and improbable ideas. They are all potential challenges or impressive events from travel to a specific task i.e. finishing a marathon. Each varies in probability due to timing for some and/or financing for others.

The other day I started thinking of this list and I can not remember what sparked it but I believe it had something to do with an ill individual completing a race or hike as it was one of the things they had always wanted to do sick or not. So I thought of my personal list and started going through some of the things accomplished and to my surprise I am not doing bad. Graduating from university was high on the list as it was around the time I had to decide if I was going to apply or not. These are the types of things I had but I also had some fun stuff too.

One last thing before I start, although this topic is somewhat sad or morbid, in a way it really isn’t. Although we all have varying levels of acceptance of our own death, the fact remains that we all have one thing in common no matter who we are; we are all going to die eventually. This is why the list should be something of enjoyment for ourselves a sort of reminder of the things that we want to do while we have the chance.

Many people share some of the more common ones on travel, completing a marathon, writing a book and so on. So I thought that I would start with the ironic ones that are only ironic as they belong in the category of;

Things I want to do before I die that may actually result in my death while doing them.

Since we are in heavy snow season and areas like Revelstoke are prime for avalanches I thought that I would start with a skiing adventure that I would like to complete at least once in my life; Heliskiing.

For skiers there is nothing better then gliding into fresh powder with your skis and breaking trail at your local hill. Most local hills in the eastern areas only have about 500 to a 1000 vertical feet on the small side and approximately 2100ft (Jay) on the bigger end. Even places (although I want to go and not saying it is small by any means) Whistler and Blackcomb have a combined elevation of 10000 ft and it is not necessarily all accessible.

Now if you were to say multiply that feeling by about 100 you have heliskiing. A seasoned and prepared big mountain skier can break trail in DEEP powder and be skiing down 7000 to 15000ft of ski hill. Companies like Great Canadian Helisking will guarantee 72600 vertical feet of skiing over 5 days, that’s 14000ft a DAY!

But these amazing views, deep powder and lengthy descents come at a price, both financially and physically. You need to be avalanche ready and mentally prepared for this grade of adventure. Weather is always the first factor and in the high mountains can change in literally minutes. Helicopters, although agile, are still affected by high winds and of course gravity. Helicopters can also initiate avalanches upon landing as well as after dropping of its cargo and taking off.

Once out of the copter and on the hill there is still the decent to think about. Although that massive terrain to ski is impressive but is also quite deadly. A skier or boarder must use common sense with ski conditions as if the top layer is lose and the bottom is complete ice or over if there is reduced friction in certain areas depending on the ground surface then avalanches are common.

Tree wheels and crevices are extremely dangerous. Many people get trapped in a tree well where trees that might be 10, 15feet…or more could be buried by massive amounts of snow but the branches create a space big enough for a person to fall through the snow and be buried themselves at the base of the tree. Same can obviously happen in a crevasse.

So although it is not number 1 on my list, heliskiing is definitely high on the list of those things I want to do before I die that may actually result in my death while doing them.

The list will continue as I have time and for now other next few days of holidays and up coming weeks and moths of winter I will be more then happy with local ski hill trips as well as the backcountry trips, which have a potential for avalanches, are comparably a little more tame then heliskiing.

Personally I feel we should all have this list, feel free to add yours as I go through mine.