After finishing 4th at Nationals & 3rd at the Canada Cup, Riley Suhan may have attained the results he needed to qualify for the UCI Downhill World Championships, held at Mont-Sainte-Anne, September 5th, 2010.

For now, its a waiting game... in the meantime, keep on riding like you do, Riley - fast & fun!! We're proud of you!

http://www.rileysuhan.com/

Take a minute to peruse thru the photos of All the wilDcaRd potentIAls aNd vote 5 points towards your favorite photographer... ok fine, we're a little biased, here at Darkside. But we're sure you'll agree, that all three of hisshots are sick, and he deserves the chance to compete against some of the best in the industry.

Do it!! You've got until midnight of July 23rd, 2010.

We'll keep you posted on the outcome... your support is muchly appreciated!

Best of luck Adrian!! We're all rootin' for ya!

www.pinkbike.com/contest/deepsummer/

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212009

http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/thegoldenstar/opinion/87864437.html

Please accept the below as a letter submission to your paper, thank you.

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As the author indicates, it is welcomed for this letter to receive any publicity, print or other.  I concur; it is an important view of the incident and should get more exposure.  Being that it is contradictory of your views and perhaps those of the Golden Star, I am wondering if your paper will print it?

In anticipation (and hopes) that the letter written by Carry White currently in the Golden Star is met with many more educated and relevant opinions, I thought that this link could assist with understanding an insider's perspective to the sport of sledding,  the back country in general, and the accident which occurred. 

The unfortunate repercussions of this accident (aside from the two deaths, multiple injuries, and monetary cost of the rescue efforts) is that the two most relevant opinions on the matter, that of the back country users that were in the accident and that of the search and rescue members who attended the scene, will take much longer to be heard by the masses because these people will actually put some thought and sensitivity into the matter.  The media, on the other hand, is very quick to paint an assumption based, one sided, dark, and blame ridden picture of the event and the accident and is conveniently in the position to reach the masses with their from the hip style of reporting.  Unfortunately for the future of the sport of sledding and our back country access in general this is the image and portrayal of the accident first heard and accepted by the general population.  Reports and opinions laden with no real facts and fanciful claims, example: "largest avalanche officials have ever seen".  Where did you get this information?  Did you attempt to verify this before printing it? 

In general the reporting of this accident has been opposite the attached letter from Susie Rainsberry, a very well written insider's perspective with no real means of broadcasting to the general population.  Hosting the letter on online sledding forums targets like minded persons, not the masses.  Please print this letter, it is such a valuable view for the majority of people, like yourself, who are not back country users, sledders, or maybe in general even risk takers.

When you mention that "the event is known to have a party atmosphere" is it just me or does this read as if you are trying to present that in a bad light?  Have you ever been to a sporting event?  Did you partake in any Olympic celebration?  Why do you feel a sledding event should differ, or is this again just a glimpse into your unknowingness about the topic of which you are writing?

There are many very professional and intelligent people from Golden that were involved with the accident; perhaps they too will offer some insightful words or letters.  In doing so, you may learn that the accident which occurred was not part of the Big Iron Shoot out event, that it happened outside of the area and schedule pertaining to the itinerary of the event.  Further, that to ride on Boulder Mountain costs $20 regardless of the day of the week, event or not, that it was not the event organizers charging the admission fee but the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club who were collecting their standard $20 dollar trail maintenance fee plus an additional $5 site clean up fee for this event weekend.

It snowed the week before this event, I would not be the least bit shocked to learn that there were 200 riders at any of our local riding areas, much like Kicking Horse was probably lined up to the convenience store Saturday morning.  Like skiers and snowboarders, sledders are snow seekers, and like Susie alludes to with much more elegance than I have the time to attempt, they seek this fresh snow and this thrill accepting the associated risks.  As many locals would agree, they too accept the possibility of accident or even death when their husbands, wife's, children, parents, friends, loved ones etc. go sledding, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, hang gliding, rock climbing, kayaking etc.  This list goes on and on.  And why do these people accept this potential for the unthinkable?  Because they can see that this significant person in their life is not complete without that activity.  That for them to live a life without that activity and those risks is to not live at all.  The average and mundane is not for everyone, especially in communities like Golden or Revelstoke.  Activities like those mentioned above are why many of us live here, and why many of us can respectively associate with each other and console each other when a tragedy occurs. 

The victims of the recent accident do not need you or other media outlets to point out that their families will suffer, all these families need, expect, and deserve is your condolences and support during this difficult time.  Portraying the Big Iron Shootout or the sport of sledding in a negative light is not helping these families to grieve, in fact is probably making this process harder for them as they, like you, question why they died at all, or maybe even start to believe they died unnecessarily.  It was an accident, and there is no changing that.  Whether or not these people died unnecessarily is on us; an accident is only truly an accident if nothing is learned from it.  This is not to say something similar will never happen again though, see above about a life worth living and accepting risks.       

I wholeheartedly agree with you in one regard, I hope that from this accident comes further accident prevention through education, awareness, and training.  Not restriction or regulation.  Let's embrace and support the back country activities that make our country, province, and town worth living in.  Let's hope that our government does not respond with a knee jerk reaction negatively impacting our way of life or our town's economy.  Let's hope that Bill 30 and any new similar laws stay shelved away in the filing cabinets of the Parliament Buildings where they belong, and not here in our back yards.  

Heartfelt condolences and respect to the families of the deceased and injured.

Sincerely,

Nathan Briggs

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