Injuries are not uncommon in extreme wilderness adventures. In the mountains, I have witnessed many unfortunate incidents unfold, at arm’s length. But it was an entirely different situation when I knew and was related to the main characters of the story.

Recently my son and his girlfriend came to visit me for two days of heli-skiing. I noticed, with envy, that they were young, eager and fit. But they were not experienced in back country terrain or deep powder. So while working in my office at the Lodge, I nervously watched them lift off in the helicopter and kept an ear tuned to the flight watch radio.

After a few hours, the maternal radar heard the call, Level I Emergency, an injury requiring assistance. I instinctively knew that it was the helicopter my son and his girlfriend were on. I overheard them mention that ‘she’ had injured her back. For a moment I breathed a slight sigh of relief that it wasn’t Luke but then I almost puked when I found out that Allison was the casualty.

I helplessly stood by and could only listen as the toboggan was deployed; the spinal board and neck brace were administered. My years of aquatic first aid training told me that this was not a good situation, at all. The next thing I heard was that they were flying Allison and Luke to the hospital. A concerned colleague gave me the keys to her truck and off I drove to meet them.

Time really slows down when you have to get somewhere quickly, especially when there is a lot of adrenalin coursing through your veins. And so I had to work really, really hard to stay calm. I sang songs from camp, I prayed to my angels to scoot ahead to take care of them, I recited old grade school poems. I did everything in my power NOT to think about what I had no control over.

In spite of the record driving time, ninety minutes felt like forever before I finally arrived at the hospital. After a complete medical assessment and x-rays, the three of us slowly drove back to the Lodge. The injury, while excruciatingly painful, was not life threatening.

When Allison wiped out and knew she was hurt, Luke reassured her by taking off his jacket to wrap around her, and remained calm. When the Ski Guides realized she couldn’t move they took every precaution by immobilizing her, and remained calm. When I heard the situation unfold from a distance I kept my wits about me, parked the emotions and remained calm.

We will never know how things may or may not have turned out if one of us had reacted differently. But I do feel that the natural wisdom of remaining calm ensured the best possible outcome for everyone, especially Allison.

I sure hope my second visit with Luke and Allison will be less dramatic.

We wish to express a special ‘shout out’ to Matt Edwards for making things ‘smooth as butter’.