Yep, that's my snowmobile and it's crashed into a tree on a very steep hill.
Let's back up and I'll tell you what happened
It was around noon and my Dad, Me, and my siblings were boondocking (going off the trail) through the trees when we came to a REALLY STEEP hill with lots of big trees scattering it's hillside. Dad drove right up it with Amber (his passenger). I stopped and looked ahead at the hill. I couldn't see the top or even when the hill really stopped. I did not want to go up, but Dad was up there and so was Natasha with Trevor (her passenger) who had gone up some where else. I thought maybe he was just playing around (which I later found out that he was) and that I didn't need to go up, but Natasha had gone up so maybe I was supposed to. Finally I decided I would go up. My first big mistake!!! As I went up I felt my machine start to lose power and decrease in speed. I needed to turn around, but where. I veered to the left. My second big mistake!!! Unfortunately the place that I turned around on happened to be one of the steeper parts of the hill. It was all I could do to lean up hill and keep the machine from tipping over on top of both Me and Reed (my passenger). But that was easy compared to what came next. The machine shot down the hill. It was going too fast! I tried the brakes, but the hill was too much. I couldn't keep control. I steered it clear of the first tree, but then I hit a bump and the whole machine was thrown off balance. It was all I could do to hold on. I yelled behind me to Reed and told him to hang on tight and lean. Then I saw it... Right in front of me was a huge tree with two smaller ones at its' side. I jerked the handlebars to the left trying to avoid the trees, but my left ski totally ran over one of the smaller trees. Then I got up close and personal with the trees. I couldn't see and I felt Reed get ripped off behind me. Then I too hit both the small tree with my body and the big tree with my head. My helmet was torn off and rolled down the hill. I had crashed into the tree!
I uncurled myself from the base of the second small tree and sat up. My jaw hurt, but it wasn't too bad. I stood up and looked for Reed. He was slung around the first small tree in some what the shape of a boomerang. He said he was ok though so I looked down at the machine. I looked at the big tree and there in it's tree well was my machine. Some how when the ski had skinned the small tree it made the machine turn into the bigger tree's tree well and miraculously the machine stopped. About that time I heard and saw my Dad's machine coming down the hill toward me. As Dad came to the tree I was stuck on Amber jumped off and ran toward Reed and I to make sure we were ok. I guess Dad had seen my attempt to turn around and then when I hit the tree he only saw my helmet go rolling/bouncing down the hillside. Of course that freaked him out and he gunned it down the hill. Any way after Amber jumped off Dad tried to turn around so his machine could be pointed downhill. Unfortunately that didn't work and Dad's machine ended up side ways. He left it and ran over to me (Ohhhh what a good Dad). I told him I was fine (as did Reed) and so we looked at the machine. My snowmobile had just grazed the big tree's side. The only thing that was broken was the kill switch (on and off button). Luckily that was an easy fix.... if you have the right tool. Dad checked his tool kits, but we didn't have the right size tool. We couldn't start the machine without it. Then Amber spoke and (for once) words of relief came flooding out of her mouth. She said that when she came over the machine had still been running (I had still been to shocked to notice) and that she had turned it off with the key. Another blessing, because usually when the kill switch is torn off the machine turns off but it stayed on. Sense my machine was fine we went to attend Dads that was still on its side. We tied a rope to the back end of Dad's machine and then tied the other end to a tree. Then Dad and Amber flipped the machine upright.
They were able to get it pointed down hill. Then Dad started the machine (which we thought would be flooded). Of course the rope was taught so Dad positioned himself on the snowmobile and Amber cut the rope. Dad drove down the hill and parked at the bottom.
Dad walked back up the hill to us and drove my machine down. Everyone else walked down. Once we were at the bottom we drove off toward our next spot, this time I was a passenger. Toward the end of the day I drove again. It was definitely a trip that I will remember for a while.
