St. Anthony Dune Accidents

[Dune Dude]

Originally Posted by DJ (148,000,000 times) 

another article.

The first a-t-v accident of the season at the St. Anthony sand dunes claims the life of one B-Y-U Idaho student and sends another to the hospital.
The St. Anthony sand dunes are known as a great place to get out and have some fun but last night proves they can also be very dangerous.

22-year-old, Brian Jensen, and 18-year-old, Allison Brady, were out night riding with a group of friends.

"The shadows on the dunes and the lights from the atv's can be so deceiving."

The pair got disoriented and didn't see a sudden drop off in the dune.

"From where they left the top of the dune to the bottom, with the angle, I would say it was at least 40 feet."

Jensen was carrying a cell phone and called Fremont County dispatch saying he had been in a atv accident and that Brady was seriously injured.

"The young man had no idea where he was at so we ended up having to look for them and just by the grace of god we found them with ten minutes."

Brady was pronounced dead at the scene and Jensen was taken to the hospital.

Neither were wearing helmet at the time of the accident

"Even a quick little joy ride can turn into something you never thought it could when you come out here always were a helmet."

Officials want to advise people to stay away from double riding especially when riding at night.

"If you get into a problem it is usually a heck of a lot harder to control the situation or get it under control with another person on the back of the atv."

A night of fun turned into a tragic accident.

Brian Jensen has been released from the hospital.


Posted on: March 20, 2007, 01:09:57 PM
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SAND DUNES FATAL CRASH

Reporter: Kristi Henderson
Saturday Mar 17, 2007

[DuneJunkie]

Originally Posted by DJ (148,000,000 times) 

i was working on my post count! actually the server went down when I was trying to post it.
Posted on: March 20, 2007, 07:25:04 PMOregon City teen killed in Idaho ATV accident
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho - Friends are remembering a BYU-Idaho student from Oregon City, Oregon who was killed Friday night at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes.

Allison Brady, 18, was on an ATV with her boyfriend Brian Jensen when they went off a cliff, lost control of the machine and were thrown several feet.

Brady was killed instantly. Both were not wearing helmets.

On Monday, Brady's friends described her as soft-spoken, kind, and fun-loving.

Whitney Hunsaker, Allison's friend said "She had a really fun personality. She was really fun. She wasn't [one of] those that necessarily stood out in a crowd that needed the attention but she could definitely stand on her own."

A freshman at BYU-Idaho, Allison was active in her LDS ward and loved life.

That love of life that took her to the sand dunes with her boyfriend Friday night. Both got on the same ATV and went up a hill. What they didn't know was there was a huge drop ahead of them. They went off that drop and both were thrown from the ATV and landed on lava rock.

Sheriff Ralph Davis, Fremont Co. Sheriff's Office said "She was killed instantly when they hit those lava rocks...It was extremely violent."

Allison's boyfriend called for help and even though it was dark, officials were able to find the couple in about 10 minutes. Sheriff Ralph Davis said the number one thing to learn from this tragic accident is to always wear a helmet.

"No one should ever ride out there without a helmet. Not ever. I don't care if they're just going on a little short ride. That's what these kids were doing. They weren't out for a long evening - they went for a little short ride to the top of the sand dunes and it was tragic," Davis said.

Allison's boyfriend fractured his jaw and received a leg injury in the accident. He was treated and released at the hospital.

This year there are stricter ordinances concerning helmets. Officials will be out in full force making sure everyone is wearing a helmet.

[Sandflicker]

Another tragedy - We all know how those razerbacks can sneak up on you, and how important it is to check out your rout firs.  I sure feel bad for the families.

[DuneJunkie]

the most important things from those articles.........

Neither were wearing helmet at the time of the accident

"Even a quick little joy ride can turn into something you never thought it could when you come out here always were a helmet."

Officials want to advise people to stay away from double riding especially when riding at night.
"If you get into a problem it is usually a heck of a lot harder to control the situation or get it under control with another person on the back of the atv."

"No one should ever ride out there without a helmet. Not ever. I don't care if they're just going on a little short ride. That's what these kids were doing. They weren't out for a long evening - they went for a little short ride to the top of the sand dunes and it was tragic," Davis said.

[2fun]

I will be the first to admit that the St. Anthony sand dunes are VERY dangerous!  Definately NOT a place for beginners!  I have been going there every year since 2002.  It is an AWESOME place to ride, but you must ALWAYS have your wits about you, and NEVER ride over your ability!

I personally do not go on night rides at the dunes.  Too easy to miss a drop-off.

And as was already said, NEVER ride without your helmet! 

My thoughts and prayers are with the survivor, and the deceased's family.

[DuneJunkie]

I think you can put ANY dunes in that statement 2fun.........it dosen't have the be St. A's.......all the dunes are just as dangerous.............

[2fun]

I think you can put ANY dunes in that statement 2fun.........it dosen't have the be St. A's.......all the dunes are just as dangerous.............

DuneJunkie,
I agree that all dunes are dangerous.  There is no doubt about that.  I do however feel that the dunes at St. Anthony are more dangerous than most.  There are razorbacks all over the place, and there is also lots of lava rock at the base of many on the dunes there.  Sometimes the dune drops straight down into the lava rock, and if you are not good at side-hilling, or pulling out of that type of a situation, the results can be disastrous!

Of course, common sense (not always a common thing lol) will keep you out of most of the dangerous situations out there. 

[Towman 1]

DJ, what 2fun said is absolutely the truth. Those dunes at St Anthonys are huge. I guarentee you won't believe your eyes. But a lot of them have those killer lava rocks at the bottom of them. I mean that they might be so big and so many of them you can't ride through them. The razorbacks are everywhere to. I rode over some of them that were almost straight up on one side, peak, and almost straight down on the other side. You know, like an upside down V .  Like 2fun said, not a good place for the beginners.

Man, I want to go back again.