Killllington 🎿🏂🏂🎿🎿🏂🏂🎿😀

[jaytrem]

Yey these days they build jumps that will send you into the stratosphere and rails that will crack a bone like it's nothing.

 

[takeahike46er]

You think this because you usually ski at vail owned resorts.

Is it Vail policy to be conservative with rope drops?

I can’t speak to other resorts, but Whistler is extremely liberal, especially in the early season, but that could be due to differences in provincial and federal law.

 

[joshua segal]

Is it Vail policy to be conservative with rope drops?

I can’t speak to other resorts, but Whistler is extremely liberal, especially in the early season, but that could be due to differences in provincial and federal law.

Based on personal experience, it's a local management decision. Not corporate. That being said, this is a Killington thread

 

[joshua segal]

Guessing the much more litigious society we live in now vs many decades ago, has much to do with what at times may seem like being very conservative with rope drops

Agree, but my point is that it is an industry-wide issue: not something specific to any independent area or corporate entity.

 

[Smellytele]

Last time I checked, Vail did not own Killington.

Didn’t say they did. I said you were use to vail and them not opening questionable trails but others do more liberally.

 

[kbroderick]

Guessing the much more litigenous society we live in now vs many decades ago, has much to do with what at times may seem like being very conservative with rope drops

While I'm sure that risk mitigation and liability plays into many (or all) operational decisions, I'd put improvements in snowmaking and grooming in for a mention as a significant influence. Skiers and riders have much higher expectations now than they did years ago for snow surface, and while many of us are more annoyed by what we feel are overly aggressive closures, there are also plenty of skiers out there who get just as annoyed at aggressive openings.

IMO, if you put the MRG patrol in charge of trail openings at just about any major resort (using their normal standards), you'd have angry customers lined up at guest services complaining that the trail they skied should've been closed, and blaming the resort for their inability to ski between the rocks. Likewise, if you put just about any major resort patrol in charge of MRG at anything other than high tide, you'd have customers lined up to complain that skiable trails were closed (and/or they'd just be ducking ropes). IME, most places fall somewhere on a continuum with MRG at one end (and if a trail is closed at MRG, you can rest assured that there's a damn good reason); I'm not sure who owns the other end, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were somewhere Epic.

 

[takeahike46er]

I'm not sure who owns the other end, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were somewhere Epic.

Unless things have changed…ORDA, specifically Whiteface. I won’t go into detail because this is a Killington thread.

 

[benski]

While I'm sure that risk mitigation and liability plays into many (or all) operational decisions, I'd put improvements in snowmaking and grooming in for a mention as a significant influence. Skiers and riders have much higher expectations now than they did years ago for snow surface, and while many of us are more annoyed by what we feel are overly aggressive closures, there are also plenty of skiers out there who get just as annoyed at aggressive openings.

I suspect it is made a lot by people like us or patrollers more than actual litigators who I doubt are in the room with any frequency. I have asked a few litigators and none really buy natural hazards can be legal liabilities stuff.


My experience with ski patrol at Sugarbush is the decision is made by the top patrol leadership, for them the top patroller and the heads of each mountain, and requires the person to ski down each trail to inspect it. This is a slow process and not a top priority. Something like an especially serious injury will take precedent. This is why it often takes a few days to open trails after a storm. The standard there if ski patrol felt comfortable patrolling it, and they were definitely quite liberal. I don't think resorts save any real money keeping trails closed unless also requires running more lifts.