What's a tree-well?

A snowHead

Showing my ignorance of off-piste here, but I've seen this phrase crop up in a few threads recently.

A snowHead

it's the area around the trunk of a tree where there is no snow (due to the shelter of the branches, wind etc), so can be quite deep. You don't want to fall in one.

Hope this helps

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

If you look carefully at a tree standing in deep snow you may well notice that around the trunk is a "gap" with no snow in it, this is the tree well. They're formed (I think) because of the wind whipping round the trunk as the snow falls, it blows the snow round so quickly it forces it away from the trunk itself. They can be quite big, dependant on the airflow around the tree.

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Hey, online call my bluff.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

That's odd. I always though it was the area around a tree where the snow is less compacted (I assumed because of protection from the branches). So it looks like the snow further away from the tree but if you walk or fall in it you sink much deeper. And it is bloody tricky to get out of cos you're up to your waist/chest (even worse if upside down!).

I was lied to!!

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Well, if we're going to do call my bluff:

Tree well: the others rightly say that it's a gap around the base of the trunk of a tree. Because the tree itself is slightly warmer than the surrounding snow, any snow falling near the trunk of the tree may begin to melt, especially during the day. As this snow melts, the water percolates through the snow below it, helping melt this. This process eventually leads to the hollowing out of the snow around a tree trunk. The water cannot percolate into the ground because the ground is too cold, so the water sits around the base of the tree (often frozen), hence the name: tree well.

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It's a deep hole in the ground where trees are found. They pull them up out of the well with a bucket on a rope and you can make a wish. They are often found near Jam Butty mines.

Wink

After all it is free

If you want to get lucky with a tree well, toss in a coin before you ski into it.

On another thread someone mentioned that people die in tree-wells Shocked

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'twas I. I think it comes down to a combination of shock and suffocation, partly brought on by the impossibility of taking skis off if you've gone in headfirst.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

For a skier there's a chance your skis might come off or you can click out of the bindings in a fall, it's more dangerous for boarders who fall head first into holes (crevasse, tree well etc) as they can't free their feet. Sad

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But if you do release you'll fall into the water silly. Blush

Good point, DB (yes, you make one or two). Being head down in a tree well with a board stuck to your feet would probably require Houdini-like cunning.

I don't think he was a boarder, BTW.

You know it makes sense.

From one who has been in tree wells before in the Rocky Mountains, tree wells around here form only under pine trees, not trunks of hardwood trees, at least not big enough to fall in.

For instance, on Aspen's Face of Bell slope the huge pine trees are close together so most of the time the skier can't see what is around the next turn. The lower branches of the trees are in the snow and they are really tight together so most of the time should a fall occur by the tree the branches will prevent the skier from falling through.

Twice I have helped one of our group out of a tree well. One fell body first between a gap in the branches but the skis, and one of the poles too got hung up. We were skiing on long thong binding, a six foot leahter strap lashing the boot to a turn table which could rotate but would not let the whole ski come off. After our group stopped I took my skis off and another friend held the end of one of my poles as I worked my way down into the well.

At about two meters of snow base around the tree there was a hollow with little snow several meters from the trunk, but it isn't an open space, there are thick branches close together coming out of the trunk and it is impossible to move much sideways. The first time down I was too far from our friend to help him and had to go down right next to him.

His arms were practically pinned to his body by branches and he was wedged in and he couldn't turn around so by me pushing on his shoulders and the folks above pulling on his feet we got him out the way he came in. I came out by hanging onto poles reached in by my fellow skiers.

A few years later when I was skiing with another friend in Snowmass he got tangled and fell most of the way into a tree well and skiers stopped and I had the honor of being helped to free my friend by Gerald Ford, the ex-president of the USA who was skiing by and stopped to help, he had some expreience in helping people out of tree wells.

....Ott

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Am sad to report that 2 or 3 years ago a small child died, having fallen into one. She was in ski school, her instructor missed her very soon, but by time climbed back up to her...
Very sad, and hilights dangers of going into the trees and off piste in general. Must buddy up.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Thanks kurt von liebewitz, excellent link which everyone should read. I've copied a section here...

Here is an article I pulled up from THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTS MEDICINE, Dec. 1999. Interestingly it recommends not removing your skis claiming that it only caused you to fall further into the well. It also recommends that you carry avy gear in powder days at the resort:

In 1993 to 1998 a study on Non Avalanche related Ski Industry
Deaths conducted in North America revealed 32 trauma fatalities. Ten were from asphyxiation. Of these 10, eight were skiers of advanced level and expert level, and 2 were snowboarders. These deaths occurred near the boundaries of Ski Areas.
Non - Ski Area related deaths are not known.
How did this happen? All of the 10 deaths occurred immediately after or during heavy powder snowfall. Tree wells were the most common feature of the fatalities. Particularly the soft snow around the base of coniferous trees. The victims were skiing or boarding in heavily gladed areas either within a ski area boundary but off designated trails, or out of boundary but accessed via ski area lifts. The victims fell headfirst into a deep snowdrift and could not free themselves. The
snowdrifts surrounding the victims were from 5 ft to 9 ft deep and occurred at the downhill side of the trees. Three victims were skiing alone at the time of death. Four were skiing in groups of two to four people. One was a 9 year old girl, expert level, skiing with a race class. No one saw what happened. A search was immediately called, and by the time rescue teams found her she was dead. It was thought that she may
have jumped off side an intermediate ski run and landed off the
designated run in a tree well. Several hours later an avalanche
rescue dog was brought into the search. The dog followed the path between where the girl had been last seen and where the instructor noticed her absence (approx 492 feet). Within minutes the dog found the submerged girl in a tree well.

The rest (2) of the victims were found in drifts not related to
tree wells.

All of the victims were found head down. None of the victims
could be seen by searchers. All of the victims were found with their skis or boards still firmly attached to their feet. All of the equipment was hidden by 3 to 12 inches of soft powder snow.

Because of the rarity of these kinds of deaths, prevention
measures, such as use of avalanche rescue dogs at ski resorts and by Search and Rescue teams, have not been implemented. However, with more and more Boarders and Skiers
taking to the out of bound deep powder extreme sports these type of deaths will occur with more frequency.

Prevention is the key. In a carefully controlled experiment
during the winter of 1998-1999, volunteer Alpine skiers and snowboarders were placed inverted into a packed snowhole that simulated a tree well.
None of the 10 volunteers could rescue themselves. **Alpine skiers who were able to remove their skis by using their feet to undo their bindings only fell DEEPER into the holes.** The snowboarders could not unfasten their boards. It was
found that most ski clothing acts like a funnel when inverted.
All of the volunteers complained of snow falling onto their bare torsos, suggesting that hypothermia could be a major complicating factor.

Prevention also consists of educating ski patrollers and other
rescuers about the danger of tree wells. Avalanche rescue dogs should be available and should be used immediately rather than as a last effort, particularly when snow conditions are such that a fallen victim may be hidden. Ski areas should alert the public with signs and brochures to the dangers of tree wells in gladed runs. Young skiers in particular should be alerted. In a survey of 863 young skiers at an Advanced lift, all under the age of 18, 63% had skied a timbered run, either in or out of bounds, at least once a day.

Glading ski runs has become common practice in ski areas as it
reduces environmental impact, and it is known that many skiers young and old love to ski between trees. Ski areas should cut the lower branches of the trees that cause tree wells to form. And they should increase the distance between the trees to prevent skier collision -- trees too close together forces skiers to ski closer to the trees to prevent collision.

How to rescue yourself. Hazardous tree wells are generally found in areas that get little skier traffic. The low hanging branches of coniferous trees create a sheltered area around the base of the tree, where a well of loose snow with air pockets can form. Usually there is no easy way to identify a dangerous tree well by sight, but the risks are greatest during or just after a major snow storm. Tree wells are also more common on the downhill sides of trees because
snow on the uphill side tends to compact against the tree. Tree wells are also more common in areas sheltered from the wind. Strong winds break up snow crystals and increase snow density.

The most important prevention step is resisting the urge to ski
through the trees during extreme powder conditions, no matter how inviting the untracked powder looks. But, if you just can't stand it, and you gotta go, do the following:

* Buddy up with another skier or snow boarder and stay within
sight of each other. That means watching your partner descend and stop., then you descend while he watches you.

* Carry rescue gear just as you would if you were skiing through avalanche territory like a backcountry skier. Avalanche beacon, shovel, probe, and whistle. Each person carries their own. Each of you must know how to rescue a victim. This means taking a class in avalanche rescue. Keep in mind that the snow will compact around your warm body. When you fall the snow will be fist hard, but in 15 minutes will become knife hard. Meaning you have to cut it with a sharp object to dig through it.

* Remove your pole straps while skiing so that in case of an
inverted fall, your arms are free to make an airspace around your face so you can breathe.

* If you are going down, do everything you can to keep yourself from becoming inverted. Grab branches, hug the tree, anything to stay above the surface.

If you have done all you can, but still find yourself inverted,
* Do not struggle Struggling causes you to go down deeper more snow to fall in and compact faster. Your skis or board may knock branches and cause more snow to fall off, covering you completely.

* Make an air pocket around your face with your hands and arms. Do this calmly and carefully.

* Do NOT remove your skis. Your ski clothes will act like a
funnel pushing your body out like a sausage and leaving your waist and lower torso exposed.

* Rock back and forth carefully to hollow out the snow and give you more air and space to breathe. The idea is to take control of how the snow compacts, using the very thing that can kill you, to rescue yourself. Your goal is a bell shape, with the area around your head the biggest.

* Stay calm and wait.Hopefully, your partner will have seen what happened and will rescue you within minutes. If you are able to do the above, your chances of survival are excellent if you are able to maintain your air space. In time the snow
will compact around you, and you may be able to work your way out.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Often the snow emersion happens when the skier who falls into a tree well knocks the snow off the branches in the process.
But lost skiers have been saved by using a tree well to wait out a storm. It all depends if one goes down on purpose or falls down head first.

....Ott

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Can you climb back up the trunk using your ski edges to dig into the bark? Kind of like steeplejacks climb telegraph poles?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

masopa, Find yourself a pine tree in your neighborhood that has branches to the ground, put on your skis and try to climb it. Good luck Very Happy

....Ott

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Funnily enough, I don't come across many pine trees here... My back garden

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I have heard that one other hazard of tree-wells in North America is that sometimes they are used by hibernating bears. Dropping in unannounced and disturbing a bear could ruin your day! Shocked

After all it is free

When I was on Peak 7 Breckenridge earlier this month I had an urgent need to make yellow snow.
After reading several humorous postings about people inadvertently skiing back onto the piste while in full flow I decided to take my skis off before proceeding.
Being a modest kind of guy I decided to go behind a tree and managed to walk straight into what I now know was a tree well.
Luckily it was only chest deep and I was upright but it was still an awfull struggle to get out (particulary when I was bursting for a pee).
I will certainly be more careful in future.

ESF Bitch from Hell took us through the woods in Flaine. One women fell into a tree well upside down and although ESF Bitch and others dug her out, I suppose, quite quickly, it seemed like an eternity to me. I could not help, being stuck to my chest in snow, but luckily the right way up. I have never been so exhaused trying to dig myself out. I couldn't work out where my feet were (and don't say on the end of your legs - you know what I mean). Luckily we all survived, apart from being freezing cold, snow everywhere.

By the way, did I mention we were second week skiers....

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maggi, that's really dreadful Sad

Help!!

What's a tree-well?

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