Skier traffic patterns at "crowded" ski areas

[JimG.]

Sometimes you can't avoid these high-traffic areas. In that case, use "defensive skiing" tactics...much like defensive driving. Overtake only when you can do so safely, try to communicate to those following behind you by using signals (a wave of the hand in the direction you're going works well) and always look uphill at trail intersections. Remember, there are a lot of inexperienced skiers and riders out there who really don't know any better. You have to take care of you.

Am I the only one here who skis by these practices ALL THE TIME?

For example, looking uphill at trail intesections seems to me to be a wise move all the time. It only takes one other skier/rider to create a collision.

Also, are my hubby and I the only people who look up before we push off to make sure we're not pushing off right in front of someone who has more momentum than us? IOW, if we look up and see someone skiing down, we wait until they're down hill from us before we push off? I can't tell you how many times I've been skiing down a nice line and had someone push off right into my path without even looking up. There are some who even look up and look you right in the eye, then push off right into your path.

Skiing defensively is something to do even when you don't think you have to. It only takes one idiot to ruin your day.

No, you're not the only one. But alot of people don't.

I think alot of folks ski the same way they drive.

 

[ctenidae]

I think alot of folks ski the same way they drive.

That's a scary thought. Mostly because it's true. They also walk the same way.

One of the things I like at Sunapee is the Sunbowl. Always comparatively uncrowded, and the snow's never as beat up and nasty as it gets on the front face. But hey, as long as people prefer to play bumper cars on Blastoff, more power to them.

 

[hammer]

One of the things I like at Sunapee is the Sunbowl. Always comparatively uncrowded, and the snow's never as beat up and nasty as it gets on the front face. But hey, as long as people prefer to play bumper cars on Blastoff, more power to them.

Are you thinking more about Ridge? I thought that the people playing "bumper cars" would be scared off by the drop at the start of Upper Blastoff...

You're right about the Sunbowl, though, especially since Wingding is soooo wide.

 

[tekweezle]

it can happen anywhere at anytime, not just on weekends at "crowded" skiresorts.

i was skiing on a weekday in Utah a few years back. One of the skiers in our group has a tendency to bomb down trails with no turns what so ever. We got onto a fairly wide trail by eastern standards but maybe a little narrow by western standards and she ran into another skier from behind who had been traversing the slope in an easy manner. Her response after hitting the other skier? it;s an "intermediate" trail so you shouldn;t be making S turns that take up the entire trail! i think we all kind of collectively cringed. no convincing my friend though. she;s kind of stubborn. oh yeah, she has a tendency to running into people who are stopped at the bottom of a lift.

 

[ctenidae]

Yeah, Upper Blastoff scares a lot of folks at the drop in. Some because it's steep (Oh Noes!), me because people scrape it bare half the time.

Wingding is nice when you don't have a 4 year-old class in front of you. I find Skyway to be the best- wide, plenty of pitch, and those rollers are great. Excellent cruising trail. I wish they'd cut some new trails on that side, instead of expanding the other way.

Goosebumps/Flying Goose/Lynx is a nice set, too- the bumps at the top of Flying Goose (why didn't they name the bump trail goosebumps?) scare a lot of folks off that lift entirely.

 

[hammer]

Wingding is nice when you don't have a 4 year-old class in front of you.

A 4YO class in the Sunbowl? Unless they're really good, kids that age should be kept in the South Peak area. :-?

The whole unloading area at the top of the HSQ at Sunapee can be a zoo...the best thing to do up there is to not hang around.