More deaths at SR and BW

[Not Sure]

Mandatory in the future ?

I think the ski patrol evaluates this based on their ability to drag someone down the hill, so I kind of get it.

 

[Vortex]

I skied Blak Hole on Friday. It was smooth but ungroomed. Many were talking and sad about losing a local. Sat and Sunday it was closed in the Morning. Not sure if it opened later in the day as it warmed up.

 

[fcksummer]

I work with a guy who was with the snowboarder who died at BW. He was saying he overshot the landing on a jump and it looked like his body got out ahead of his front foot.

 

[CoolMike]

How many deaths does that make this year in New England? I can remember reading about 6-7 but there may have been one or two more.

7 in New England would be pretty exceptional. Nationwide there are about 45-50 per year and based on skier visits the "fair share" in New England must be around 3-4 deaths at NE ski resorts.

Personally I'm backing off on riding at top speeds lately. I had a pretty good wipe out at Mt. Ellen that spooked me. It was pretty miraculous that I was OK.

Of course I followed the wipe-out with a run through the park and biffed it badly jumping up onto a picnic table. That ended the day for me and boy was I sore!

Anyhow - I will be auditing my own riding habits to see if I'm taking any unnecessary risks. My guess is that my riskiest behavior is on crowded, groomed, blue square, cruisers. I never seem to fall or even really lose control on diamonds or double diamonds. I have had a few falls in the woods - once or twice falling forwards after snagging something underfoot - thankfully always at a slow and steady pace.

 

[deadheadskier]

Pretty certain I recently read there's been 5 deaths in the Northeast thus far. Not sure if that includes NY.

Some say it seems like a lot this year. To me, it seems about normal. Sad that it happens with the sport we all love, but it is a higher risk activity.

 

[Not Sure]

How many deaths does that make this year in New England? I can remember reading about 6-7 but there may have been one or two more.

7 in New England would be pretty exceptional. Nationwide there are about 45-50 per year and based on skier visits the "fair share" in New England must be around 3-4 deaths at NE ski resorts.

Personally I'm backing off on riding at top speeds lately. I had a pretty good wipe out at Mt. Ellen that spooked me. It was pretty miraculous that I was OK.

Of course I followed the wipe-out with a run through the park and biffed it badly jumping up onto a picnic table. That ended the day for me and boy was I sore!

Anyhow - I will be auditing my own riding habits to see if I'm taking any unnecessary risks. My guess is that my riskiest behavior is on crowded, groomed, blue square, cruisers. I never seem to fall or even really lose control on diamonds or double diamonds. I have had a few falls in the woods - once or twice falling forwards after snagging something underfoot - thankfully always at a slow and steady pace.

"Biffed it badly on a picnic table" Every time I see someone grinding a rail I get a nails on a chalkboard reaction.
Dull edges can't help when skiing fast!

 

[dlague]

While at Banff last week there were a couple accidents one resulting in a death where an experienced snowboarder lost control on a beginner level runout and hit a tree.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local...-say-of-snowboarder-killed-after-hitting-tree

The second incident the person got lucky after going out of bounds on Goats Eye. The cornice he was hiking on broke loose where he then tumbled 500 meters where he triggered a level 2 avalanche and then went down another 1000 meters or so.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Young+triggers+avalanche+falls+metres/10926670/story.html

 

[machski]

I skied Blak Hole on Friday. It was smooth but ungroomed. Many were talking and sad about losing a local. Sat and Sunday it was closed in the Morning. Not sure if it opened later in the day as it warmed up.

I never saw it open this past weekend, though I thought it looked skiable from the lift. I have seen a couple skier accidents from the lift on BH over the years and gone and helped when I was the only one to witness (often sliding skiers go right into the bottom of celestial glade and pinball off the trees). Most of these skiers were far too low level to be on that trail. But the headwall usually has differing conditions top mid and bottom making it easy to catch an edge or get thrown entering a turn.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Last year's numbers as a reference:

http://m.wamc.org/?utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/#mobile/86871

 

[SIKSKIER]

Did I miss something?I didnt see anything about last years numbers.I figured an average of 25 from the numbers they provided.Th aricle says ski area deahts spike in the northeast but show no comparison.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Did I miss something?I didnt see anything about last years numbers.I figured an average of 25 from the numbers they provided.Th aricle says ski area deahts spike in the northeast but show no comparison.

If you add up all the blurbs, there were 7 deaths by the end of March in 2014. So this year is actually less.

 

[WoodCore]

Did I miss something?I didnt see anything about last years numbers.I figured an average of 25 from the numbers they provided.Th aricle says ski area deahts spike in the northeast but show no comparison.

The article was dated March 27, 2014

 

[C-Rex]

While I certainly believe one needs to explore the "ragged edge" once in a while in order to progress, that's not where I have the most fun. I've found, over the years, that I don't need to be on the steepest, gnarliest trail, or going as fast as I can to enjoy myself. Do I like the challenge now and then? Of course, but I have much more fun when I pull it back a notch or two and simply let it flow. Where that "flow zone" is for each of us will be different depending on our skill, experience, and athleticism, be we all know it when we feel it. It can be hard for some, especially the alpha personalities, to hold back when they see someone go by them or their friends are riding a little faster and pushing a little harder. But I plan to snowboard well into old age and if I have to moderate my behavior a little to ensure I get a lifetime of riding, so be it.

 

[CoolMike]

One thing to learn from this is that if you fall while moving fast and are going to hit a rigid object do everything in your power to either slow yourself down or avoid a thoracic strike. I can imaging something as simple as getting a hand or arm in front of your chest (possibly shattering your wrist or forearm) will help to prevent deadly blunt force trauma.

I imagine you don't have much time to think In these situations but anything you could do may help.

I remember being surprised with how far I slid in my first real high-speed fall. Thankfully I was in the middle of a wide trail. As a snowboarder all I had to do was put my feet down to slow down - but I was worried about cartwheeling and so I let myself slide for just a second or two. By the time I did come to a stop and look up you could see a very faint trail marking my slide-path. It was easily 150 feet long. This was on one of these dust on crust days with 3/8th inch of powder on top of turbo-hard-packed groomers. I would estimate I was only going 35-40 - which was my peak cruising speed at the time.

 

[VTKilarney]

I routinely see skiers that would very likely die or suffer serious injury if they fall. They may be great skiers, but they are flying toward trees. A caught edge is all it would take. They are obviously comfortable with the risk, since it's extremely low. But when you take into account the thousands upon thousands of skiers who incur a risk by skiing in this manner, someone's number is going to come up every now and then. That's a real shame.

 

[yeggous]

One thing to learn from this is that if you fall while moving fast and are going to hit a rigid object do everything in your power to either slow yourself down or avoid a thoracic strike. I can imaging something as simple as getting a hand or arm in front of your chest (possibly shattering your wrist or forearm) will help to prevent deadly blunt force trauma.

I imagine you don't have much time to think In these situations but anything you could do may help.

I remember being surprised with how far I slid in my first real high-speed fall. Thankfully I was in the middle of a wide trail. As a snowboarder all I had to do was put my feet down to slow down - but I was worried about cartwheeling and so I let myself slide for just a second or two. By the time I did come to a stop and look up you could see a very faint trail marking my slide-path. It was easily 150 feet long. This was on one of these dust on crust days with 3/8th inch of powder on top of turbo-hard-packed groomers. I would estimate I was only going 35-40 - which was my peak cruising speed at the time.

I had a similar experience in spring conditions at Magic a few weeks ago. I slid well over 200 feet and made little effort to stop myself with my skis which I kept in the air. I was afraid that if I used them to stop myself I risked twisting my ankle or some other problem. When I finally came to a rest I turned around and realized I was about 6 feet from a tree of the edge of the trail. Oops, I really learned a lesson that day.

 

[Not Sure]

Self Arresting Ski Clothes