KUNA, Idaho — Jason Haines of Kuna Idaho was killed last month after being buried in an avalanche while riding a Snowbike near Cascade Idaho. The accident took place on December 15 near West Mountain.
Ross Meyer and his buddy Jason had been riding snow bikes together for years. "We started riding Snowbikes together about the same time," says Meyer. "It's pretty cool to go places that really humans should not be, you know, in the middle of winter and that also makes it dangerous."
On December 15, Ross and Jason went to one of their favorite motorized snowbiking spots to explore the slopes on West Mountain near Cascade — but things took a turn for the worse.
"I noticed there was a slide when I saw it break out of the corner of my eye... all the snow beneath [me] turned to like quicksand, and my bike disappeared beneath me," says Meyer. The pair of riders had been caught in an avalanche.
"When it broke, Jason was behind me, so I didn't see what happened to him," recounted Meyer.
Ross says he was forced into a tree, damaging his bike but leaving him on the surface of the snow.
"I wasn't knocked out" but the adrenaline rush was akin to shock says Meyer. "[I] realized what had happened and then I immediately started looking around for Jason. I expected to see Jason on top of the snow just like myself but he wasn't and then I knew— we had a big problem," says Meyer.
Ross used his tracking beacon and avalanche rescue gear to find his friend, who was buried deep in the snow.
"I kept thinking, 'we're digging oh we're gonna get to him,' especially because we found one of his feet was up and I'm like, 'he's gonna be OK... We're going home and we'll joke about it later,' but it wasn't that way," recalled Meyer.
Jason died of his injuries on the mountain that day, but Ross wants to remember his friend by doing something they loved to do together.
"We're going to do a memorial ride up at the Anderson Creek Snow Park to the warming hut," says Meyer. He adds that it will be a choose-your-own-ride type of day but that they will "use that snow hut as a home base."
It's a way to bring friends together, share memories, and increase awareness of avalanche safety.
"You know— it's hard to get excited about going anymore," says Meyer. "He would say, 'Quit being sad, and get out there and go ride and have fun'. So, I'm gonna keep riding. It's just gonna be different."
