If You're At "38,125 Avalanche Injury Free Days" And Counting

More chance of getting swallowed up in a grain bin in SK.

But getting hit by one of those raging lunatics on a snowmobile that goes out of control in a SK ditch or median is a greater possibility!

For me I would prefer the BC scenario where they know and ignore the risks; but at least only put them self in danger. It's when a rescue party becomes engulfed in another avalanche that I get worried.

In Northern Ontario, we know when the lake ice is thick enough to skidoo on.
When the guys from Toronto finally quit falling through with their sleds, we know it safe.

Saskatchewan, native for "Land where no man can jump to his death"

>"Land where no man can jump to his death"

The buffalo, on the other hand, not so lucky.

Posted by: NorthernLight at January 18, 2009 9:09 AM

"But getting hit by one of those raging lunatics on a snowmobile that goes out of control in a SK ditch or median is a greater possibility!"

Haven't heard of very many cars being hit by out of control snowmobiles flying out of the ditch. Besides, 500lb snowmobile vs 3500lb car, who do you think is going to come out on the dead end of the stick?

That Kate, is one good header.

Not sure where this was taken, but I am pretty sure that is Prince Albert you can see in the distance.

What a lovely picture of those rarest of biological life forms, the Saskatchewan Snow Snake. Looks like a whole wriggle of them there Kate, well shot photography.

The Weather Network makes it sound like there are so many avalanches now. So unusual, blah.

What 'is' unusual nowadays , is how easy it is for man to get in the way of the avalanche - thus making 'above the fold' news.

Well, I'm from Saskatchewan. Never even heard of avalanches there.

Picture looks familiar.

I don't see Prince Albert in the pic, however, Gobidesert. He must be in the can.

So... there was an avalanche in Saskatchewan in 1907 ? Where ?

Flatlander! ;-)

Holy crap! does that bring back not so fond memories. Got caught in a whiteout on one of there roads one time. couldn't see squat due to blowing snow but you could see blue sky if you looked straight up! Can't exactly stop as somebody will follow right behind you and probably not stop in time. A friend of mine thought he had it made by following a farm truck... until he ended up at the farmer's home.

I thought I'd counted the days back fairly accurately to 1905. Did I miss a year?

Didn't you Flatlanders build your own mountain near Saskatoon thirty or so years back?

So, how many have been killed at THAT mountain (Blackstrap?)?

Saskatchewan's dirty secret.;-)

No earthquakes or tsunamis either.

The avalanche situation in BC stems from a basic geological problem.
The problem is securing a surplus amount of real estate,within given borders.In BC this has brought on a certain amount of folding and wrinkling.Saskatchewan is lucky in that its entire landmass can be secured, drum tight, with four large nails.One at each corner.

True, nick.

Geologists liken the Okanagan Valley to the Great Rift Valley of Africa.

A few million years ago, this place was a geological disaster in progress - volcanoes, mountains being pushed skyward by conveyor belts of magma, the east side of OK Valley was at one time the Western Shore of North America, two miles of ice grinding mountains down, landslides of biblical proportions, melt water gushes making deltas with garage-sized boulders.

Oh ya, and a crack in the earth(fault) that is about 40 kilometers deep.

And then along comes man; "some snow slid down the mountain when I was in the way. How dare it ? "

Hey! Is that my damn dog trying to run away again?

I noticed he wasn't in his doghouse a couple of days ago.

Ma! Git the rifle! We got a couple more hours of a clear shot!

...sorry Kate. Couldn't resist. Well, not hard enough. :D

Gotta love the "Genius of the Absurd". There is truly nothing more funny than the absurd.

Our province was ironed so the farmers could make the rows straight.

I have a really dumb question.
Why are the hydro lines placed so far away from the roadway?

When looking at a sight like that depicted in the picture above, a friend from Saskatoon would say: "It's not the end of the world; that's around the next bend".

So the magnetic force fields in the hydro lines don't interfere with the tube radios in the vehicles.

So that the crop sprayers have time get under them when they're crossing perpendicular to the highway.

Under the power lines reminds me of my uncle telling about watching a Spitfire chasing a ME 109. The 109 went under the telegraph wires and was immediately followed by the Spit. As both aircraft climbed out the other side the Spit shot down the 109. The way my uncle described it, "The damnedest bit of flying he'd ever seen".

>>I thought I'd counted the days back fairly accurately to 1905. Did I miss a year?

Or maybe I miscounted. But I'm still wondering about that avalanche...?

Oh look, rush hour in Saskatchewan!

Aizlynne - that's not rush hour. A shot of rush hour would have one vehicle in the ditch at the far end of the road shown in the photo.

Saskatchewan is so flat, I think I can see Stephen Harper in the distance, NOT doing anything about Section 13.

Tis a wundrful ting I did when I moved from S'toon to the Okanagan.

So that the crop sprayers have time get under them when they're crossing perpendicular to the highway.

Posted by: Kate at January 18, 2009 3:17 PM

Thank you Kate!
I have been further enlightened by SDA.

-So that the crop sprayers have time get under them -when they're crossing perpendicular to the highway.

-Posted by: Kate at January 18, 2009 3:17 PM

-Thank you Kate!
-I have been further enlightened by SDA.

or sometimes the power lines follow railway tracks near to the road, rather than the road.

Power lines, fairwarning - spell 'cras' backwards.

Actually, I was making that up.

The part about the power lines being situated to suit crop sprayers - not the part about crop sprayers flying under them.

;-)

Great pic Kate. Looks like a mighty lonely road to travel on.

With all the -50C windchill warnings the greater danger is being assaulted by a big northern blow from the Arctic. This could lead to being flash frozen and an accidental placement in the super market meat counter.

When the crows circle in the spring, the coroner goes around picking up those who went missing during the winter.

Actually, that happened where my sister was on ski patrol, after it became too dangerous for the rescue team, the search in the mountains was abandoned for the out of bounds skier. The body was picked up the following spring.

Nature occasionally bites hard. Be careful out there!

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

Frankenstein Battalion
2nd Squadron: Ulanen-(Lancers) Regiment Großherzog Friedrich von Baden(Rheinisches) Nr.7(Saarbrucken)
Knecht Rupprecht Division
Hans Corps
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North"

The real reason the power poles are so far back is to keep cars from running into them. After all you sometimes have to go a long way off the road to avoid ruining your car/truck/tank on them NDP highways!

Actually from Sept 1, 1905 to Jan 18, 2009 is 38,125 days including the 26 leap years.

The poles aren't running along the road. They're running along the railway, which explains the distance.

It must be great to be FROM saskabush

and as I'v heard they used to have prisons with no boundery fences, now they fence wonderers out:-))))

...that can't be a picture from Saskatchewan, I can make out the road from the ditch

Thanks, Joe - I'll take your word for it!

There was an avalanche March 31, 1958. They called it John Diefenbaker.It was so powerful it almost swept the Liberals and NDP out to sea.

Nobody out here calls them "hydro lines". Our power comes from good old coal powered stations. We just call them power lines.

Whoever made the decision to set them back from the road allowances should have his ass kicked repeatedly. The phone cables are also buried out in the fields. They really get in the way when you want to keep an oilwell beside the road, and out of the landowners way. Utilities belong in a corridor, adjacent to government road allowances.

There, that's my pet peave.

Maybe it's a pet peeve.

dp...I thought living with a 66 foot easement for power lines here in Ontario was bad but that must be a nightmare for sure to deal with.

Perhaps they were set back from the road for a good reason -- like for future expansion when they decide to make that into an 8 lane highway. Someone was thinking when they put in those power lines.

Canadian Sentinal -- Prince Albert in a can -- you're showing your age. I was just saying that in Saskatchewan you can practically see forever.

...how did they plant those trees in such a straight row?

Must be very windy there also, I see they tie them together at the top.

Very neat province