|
The summer after the winter of record snow has turned Anchorage's Flattop Mountain into the ideal place forAlaska tourists to maim themselves, according to officials withChugach State Park. Long the most-popular summit in the 49th state, the 3,510-foot peaknamed for its easily recognizable shape has over the years been thescene of many accidents. Winter avalanches killed one man and leftanother in a wheelchair. Falls on the descent of the rocky trail upthe north face have killed several others. And this year there is an especially deceptive attraction -- anunusually large snowfield on Flattop's west side just off the maintrail to the summit. The snow has been luring lots of people intosliding down. They usually do so unequipped for a safe glissade.Many slides end with injuries. There is a safe way to slide down snowfields, be they on Flattop orelsewhere in the Chugach Mountains above the state's largest city.With an ice ax and the knowledge on how to use it -- ( see video ) -- glissading can be fun and injury free. Without the tools and theknowledge, it's a crap shoot. Most people sliding on Flattop this year have been lucky, ChugachChief Ranger Matt Wedeking said. Most have made it down uninjured,even though they don't know that if lacking an ice ax it might atleast be a good idea to grab a stout stick or maybe a ski pole withwhich to try to create some resistance to slow an out-of-controlslide. Out-of-control slides have a nasty habit of ending badly. Just ask 51-year-old Marc Sierra from Buckhead, Tenn. He had to be hoisted off the side of the mountain by helicopter last Wednesday after his fun, little slide down thesnow ended with his leg all busted up. Wedeking was one of those onthe mountain helping Sierra and his wife after the accident. People "were sliding by us as we were dealing with the guy," hesaid. "It's that's the time of year. Everybody's up there doing it.From talking to this couple, they were watching a bunch of nuns infull habits sliding down. "They figured, 'If they can do it, well, we can do it.' " Anyone can. The sliding part is easy. The slope is steep and slick.It's the stopping part that causes problems. "We had an ankle injury the week before this," Wedeking said, "andwhile we were up there (Wednesday) there was another knee injurythat walked out." So far, he said, it's only luck that has prevented worse, becausethe judgment of hikers heading up Flattop is notoriously poor. "People go up Flattop in flip-flops," Wedeking said. "I'm not suremany of them are quite equipped for it." The most climbed peak in Alaska, it would appear, is also the leastrespected. People seem unaware it can kill, but it has -- and fromthe way things are going, it could do so again. Rangers are keeping their fingers crossed that the area doesn't getone of those rare, summer nights when temperatures dip belowfreezing at higher elevations. Who knows what could happen if themarginally dangerous snowfield on Flattop's west side turned into areally dangerous ice field? Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com. I am an expert from led-floodlighting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Solar LED Street Lighting Manufacturer , China LED High Bay Lighting Fixtures, LED Street Lighting Fixtures,and more.
Related Articles -
Solar LED Street Lighting Manufacturer, China LED High Bay Lighting Fixtures,
|
