On slope collisions

[dmc]

It may be easier for him to start on the heel side.. Facing down hill.
He was on all 4s - so he was facing up hill on his toe side..

I had to pull that maneuver on the Tucks headwall... Almost pooped myself...

 

[Chunk]

I spent a bit of time in Queenstown New Zealand last winter and saw some crazy collision! Theres so many beginner skiers and riders on slopes above there level! If you guys ever visit coronet peak just be sure to keep your eyes out cause I guarantee they wont!

 

[my poor knees]

I saw a guy skiing with jingle bells attached to his poles, I assume so people hear him, I bet he was ina bad accident. I think too many inexperienced skiers make unexpected dangerous quick turns without looking, sort of like how people drive their cars. I'm not ready for jingle bells yet but I do say left & right quite a bit, so far so good.

 

[WJenness]

While at Sugarloaf for the AZ Summit, I saw the worst on-slope collision I've ever seen under the Double Runner Chairs (Pretty sure it's a slow skiing zone) as I was riding up.

An older guy was skiing in the fall line (what little there is... it's a pretty flat trail) on lookers right of the trail (Boardwalk I believe... the one we had our race on last year), underneath the 'long side' of the chairs. He wasn't going too fast, but was cruising along.

Some guy on a snowboard was ripping across the trail at a pretty high rate of speed, and crashed into him broadside, causing the skier to lose both skis and do a front flip and land on his back... The snowboarder fell and slid into the woods.

I guess the skier would be the 'at fault' party here, all things considered... but the accident was likely exacerbated by both parties skiing close to the lift towers. Neither party saw the other until they popped out from behind the lift tower a fraction of a second before the impact. The skier was next to the lift tower, the snowboarder below it, as they saw each other, neither had time to react and the impact was sudden and violent.

The snowboarder seemed okay and popped out of the woods and ran over to the other guy who was lying motionless on the snow for a while, but I did see him moving around after a bit.

I hope they were both OK, but that was scary to watch from the chair.

-w

 

[Highway Star]

Maybe... or it could startle them into making a sudden turn...

Where are you guys skiing that there is all this traffic anyway? It sounds like NASCAR-style pack racing to me. Seems to me if I can hear another skier behind me then they are already too damned close.

It all depends on the technique and situation. A yell when someone (intermediate to low advanced) is traveling at a good clip in either a straight line or large turns on a cat track will usually result in straight travel, so you can get a clean overtake.

Beginners turning irraticly at slow speed and cutting across a cat track, when yelled at, will usually try to change direction and/or just fall down. I feel bad about this occasionally, but this is preferable to a 20+ mph closing speed collision. They do not have the right to ski dangerously and occupy the entire trail when people are trying to travel on it at a reasonable speed.

It should be noted that I quite often check my speed when there are large groups of people on a cat track. A yell is only effective when passing a 1-2 people.

 

[legalskier]

I usually stick to the side of the trail when others are present- it reduces the risk of collision and increases the chance of better snow. However, last season while doing this a young boarder literally launched out of the woods a mere couple of feet in front of me at about shoulder level, then landing on the trail at a high rate of speed. He almost took my head off. I pride myself on situational awareness but I had no idea he was there until he was in front of my face. That was a close one.

 

[bobbutts]

Yelling "On your right" or left is decent, you need to hope that the other person has received the message though. Navigating through other skiers is my least favorite aspect of the sport. One of the main reasons I like midweek and/or less popular resorts.

 

[Morwax]

Wow... as many post as ive seen now about yelling, clicking your poles etc... I still dont get whats so hard to understand.
1.Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
2.People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.

 

[marcski]

2 weeks ago at the top of Windham, a boarder, who was a large man, barely even moving, couldn't stop and at a slow speed, took my wife out, who was I think standing still after buckling her boots once off the chair. His board contacted her knee and gave her a small bruise. That was all she felt at the time. But later that night, realized her finger had gotten jammed too. Swelled up pretty good for a few days but went down. Got a little worried that she broke it...but doesn't seem like it. Just be careful. I am always telling my girls that they have to be careful of skiers below them and that they must stop and look uphill when merging onto a trail.

 

[bobbutts]

Wow... as many post as ive seen now about yelling, clicking your poles etc... I still dont get whats so hard to understand.
1.Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
2.People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.

The part you're missing is that erratic behavior by the downhill skier can interfere with one's ability to abide by 2. We can get into a long-winded argument about who is at fault, but there's really no denying that erratic turns on a crowded cat track is a good way to cause an accident. If the responsibility code says the other person is always 100% at fault in those cases, it's flawed IMO.

 

[BenedictGomez]

2 weeks ago at the top of Windham, a boarder, who was a large man, barely even moving, couldn't stop and at a slow speed, took my wife out

Similar story.

A few weeks ago at Plattekill, a young snowboarder on a Princess Barbie snowboard (true story) took out my girlfriend directly from behind. Went right into and under her from behind, knocking out and off her skis. Worse yet, the little snowboard queen grabbed my girlfriend, presumably to stabilize herself, and yanked her down. Her knee is still sore.

It's a child, she's learning, I 100% get it. Not even remotely mad at the kid. The father with her however, who saw all of this all happen, goes right over to the kid to make sure she's okay (she is), and says nothing to my girlfriend at all. No apology, nothing. Worse yet, nor does he yell at his kid for 1) Going too fast 2) Being out of control 3) Dragging someone down (literally) or even use it as a teaching moment of "what not to do" on the slopes. Unreal.

 

[Black Phantom]

Similar story.

A few weeks ago at Plattekill, a young snowboarder on a Princess Barbie snowboard (true story) took out my girlfriend directly from behind. Went right into and under her from behind, knocking out and off her skis. Worse yet, the little snowboard queen grabbed my girlfriend, presumably to stabilize herself, and yanked her down. Her knee is still sore.

It's a child, she's learning, I 100% get it. Not even remotely mad at the kid. The father with her however, who saw all of this all happen, goes right over to the kid to make sure she's okay (she is), and says nothing to my girlfriend at all. No apology, nothing. Worse yet, nor does he yell at his kid for 1) Going too fast 2) Being out of control 3) Dragging someone down (literally) or even use it as a teaching moment of "what not to do" on the slopes. Unreal.

Did you yell at him?

 

[dmc]

did you yell at him?

yeah - kick his ass!!!

 

[Morwax]

The part you're missing is that erratic behavior by the downhill skier can interfere with one's ability to abide by 2. We can get into a long-winded argument about who is at fault, but there's really no denying that erratic turns on a crowded cat track is a good way to cause an accident. If the responsibility code says the other person is always 100% at fault in those cases, it's flawed IMO.

No flaws and no ambiguity about it either. If you can't stop, slow down or avoid someone who is making "erratic" turns, your at fault period. I often make tight turns followed by long carving tuns sometimes ill just throw the brakes on so stay off my azz.
As far as someone starting out or merging, without looking up thats in the code as well.
Theres no need to yell or bang your poles together

 

[BenedictGomez]

Did you yell at him?

yeah - kick his ass!!!

I wasnt on the trail. My gf is an advanced beginner, and so I was off skiing some of the tougher stuff. But the funny thing is with how small Plattekill is (and with only 2 lifts) you often see the same people again and again throughout the day. And the girl was an absolutely adorable, 7 year old toe-head in pigtails, on aforementioned Princess Barbie snowboard. Even if an argument ensued and it went really ugly, you'd have to be pure evil to beat up her dad in front of her. lol.

 

[x10003q]

On Friday at Stratton a little kid (5-6) popped out of the woods airborne and lands about 10 feet in front of me. I was on a flat section connecting to Polar Bear without a single person in front or behind me. I was hugging the skiers left enjoying some fresh snow when this kid comes out of nowhere. Another couple of feet closer and I would have killed him. His mother was about 100 yards down the slope out of sight waiting for him. I didn't bother to say anything. It scared the hell out of me. Sometimes you are just lucky.

 

[billski]

Similar story.

The father with her however, who saw all of this all happen, goes right over to the kid to make sure she's okay (she is), and says nothing to my girlfriend at all. No apology, nothing. Worse yet, nor does he yell at his kid for 1) Going too fast 2) Being out of control 3) Dragging someone down (literally) or even use it as a teaching moment of "what not to do" on the slopes. Unreal.

In the mighty USA common courtesy and generosity are dead.
Everywhere.

 

[whitemtn27]

Someone turning erratically in front of you isn't dangerous. If you are overtaking them at a speed and distance where you can't avoid hitting them if they suddenly change direction, you are being dangerous.

Normally we think of 'unexpected turners' as inexperienced people, but what if there's an unmarked hazard? What if someone launches out of the woods in front of the person you're overtaking and they have to swerve? Yes, it's less fun to slow down and hang back until you have a safe space to pass, but them's the rules. If you don't like it, find a less crowded trail and/or resort.

Getting rear-ended is another story. I got hit three times in one weekend at Killington this fall and I was stopped, visible, out of the traffic pattern for two of them. Just newbie skiers/riders that were out of control and couldn't stop. No injuries, but annoying anyway.

FWIW, my biggest gripe is when a mountain has all these 'mountain ambassadors' or whatever hanging around, yet they don't do anything about people out of control, launching out of the trees without looking, stopping where they can't be seen from above, etc. There needs to be a lot more of this 'heads up, know the code' campaign. The rule adherence has been getting worse lately.

 

[buellski]

Someone turning erratically in front of you isn't dangerous. If you are overtaking them at a speed and distance where you can't avoid hitting them if they suddenly change direction, you are being dangerous.

Normally we think of 'unexpected turners' as inexperienced people, but what if there's an unmarked hazard? What if someone launches out of the woods in front of the person you're overtaking and they have to swerve? Yes, it's less fun to slow down and hang back until you have a safe space to pass, but them's the rules. If you don't like it, find a less crowded trail and/or resort.

Getting rear-ended is another story. I got hit three times in one weekend at Killington this fall and I was stopped, visible, out of the traffic pattern for two of them. Just newbie skiers/riders that were out of control and couldn't stop. No injuries, but annoying anyway.

FWIW, my biggest gripe is when a mountain has all these 'mountain ambassadors' or whatever hanging around, yet they don't do anything about people out of control, launching out of the trees without looking, stopping where they can't be seen from above, etc. There needs to be a lot more of this 'heads up, know the code' campaign. The rule adherence has been getting worse lately.

+1 If I'm bombing down a trail and come up on a lot of gapers, I hit the brakes and pick my way through, slowly and safely. As soon as I get some open space, I get back on the gas. Common sense.

My son and I were skiing a little off the map in some fresh snow this winter at Sunapee when we came upon another rider in the woods. She asked if we had seen anyone back up the hill, and I stopped and told her no. My son and I then proceeded to head back onto the closest trail which was maybe 25 yards or so from where we stopped to talk to the rider. Once we got back on the trail, we stopped to :highfive: and talk about the run. No sooner did we stop when the rider pops out of the woods behind us and takes my son out. Knocked him flat on his butt. He was fine and the rider apologized profusely. The rider's excuse: " I was looking back in the woods for my friend." I reminded her in no uncertain terms that she needed to be aware of others around her and to pay attention to where she was going. Again, common sense.

 

[Black Phantom]

In the mighty USA common courtesy and generosity are dead.
Everywhere.

:flag::flag::highfive:

When are you heading back out on the hill buddy?:comfort: