Skiing Pet Peeves....

[RossiSkier]

what about people who light up a cigarette while in the lift line? :angry: I once saw a guy smoking a cigar while skiing :lol:

Yeah the cigarette and cigar smokers in lift lines are nightmares. I saw it a Killington last time I was there. Its usually just around K1. Also went to Jiminy Peak on a weekend and there were so many smokers it made me sick. Blue jean powder pants, 70's ski equipment, hoodie for a hat, windbreaker that says Hoffmans Car Wash, and a butt out the side of the mouth. The great western Mass urban skier.

 

[Bandit2941]

One of my peeves is people who run up on the back of my ski's in the lift line. I mean, its not a big deal, it won't hurt my ski's or anything, but *why* do people insist on doing it all the time? Are they that lazy that they can't watch where their tips are? Its not going to get you on the chair any faster! I really want to have the tip of a nail sticking up out of the very back of my ski for that purpose, that'd be great.

Another is one I just saw yesterday at Belleayre. Riding up the triple looking down at upper yahoo I saw a guy(in jeans of course) and 4 little girls which I could only assume to be his daughters. This guy couldn't handle the terrain - fell and slid 15-20 feet from one of his ski's. That was pretty funny; however, the girls were in real trouble. The 2 older ones(by older, I mean, probably 10) were both on the ground near the skiers right edge of the trail...one started sliding, went into the woods, and hit a couple small trees. The other went to help her and did the same exact thing.

So of course when I got over top of the guy I gave him a few choice words as to how stupid he is. Then I went off and got ski patrol. Next run down I stopped and watched as the patroller collected the 2 smallest girls and brought them down in the sled. The 2 girls that were in the woods had gotten out and out of harms way by then. The idiot guy ended up sliding down part of the run on his ass on purpose b/c he couldn't handle it.

The trail conditions were hardpack/scraped off moguls. The stuff that the jersey skiers would call ice. Now, its one thing if you legitimately get in over your head. Get to a trail and realize its in rough shape and you will have trouble. But, this trail is DIRECTLY UNDER the lift! Why would you bring your 4 small girls down a nasty trail like that?! They could have been hurt badly!

Just needed to vent.....

Jamie

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Smokers, rude kids, reckless yahoos, I think most of mine are covered already. Rude behavior seems to be universally repulsive. I'll add a couple.

Skiing on weekends. (I'm fortunate, I almost never do.)

People skiing too close when I'm working a wreck. Along with that goes people skiing too close when I'm hauling a sled.

 

[smootharc]

Saw it today and remembered.....

.....folks with no awareness of where their pole tips go flying about when they move their arms in lift lines. I never ski without protective eyewear....

And folks who grab their skis from the racks outside lodges, put them on their shoulders, and proceed to turn this way and that to chat and look around, as their metal edged lumber makes everyone within 10 feet duck. All the while, they're blissfully unaware of the dangers they pose....

 

[TeleGrrrl]

People who throw litter off the chairlift.
People who stop in the middle of the trail, especially on a blind crest or corner.
People who smoke in lift lines.
People who huck big air into skier traffic.
People who unload off the chair and don't move ahead.

Apre' ski bars with lousy beer on tap.
Life is too short to spend it drinking crappy beer :beer:

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Re: Saw it today and remembered.....

And folks who grab their skis from the racks outside lodges, put them on their shoulders, and proceed to turn this way and that to chat and look around, as their metal edged lumber makes everyone within 10 feet duck. All the while, they're blissfully unaware of the dangers they pose....

"Gnyuck!, Gnyuck! Hey Moe!"

 

[loafer89]

One of my biggest gripes with skiing, is snow reports that are an outright lie. Killington used to be notorious for this. I have not skied there in three years so I do not know if this is still a problem. Even last weekend I had to laugh at Sugarloaf's claim of 30" of new snow, Sugarloaf did recieve 22-24" of snow but certainly not 30", it may sound trivial but to me it is dishonest. Saddleback was also reporting 100% of there terrain open last weekend when in fact at least one trail that I came across (Muleskinner) was closed.

Spitting, both on the lift and while skiing is a major gripe with me, it is disgusting.

 

[TeleGrrrl]

Loafer89, Sugarloaf always seems to sugar coat their trail reports. Sad... I hate being lied to :angry:

 

[smootharc]

Today was great, but....the parking lot idiots were out in force....

.....including those folks who, to save walking 50 or 100 or a few hundred feet more, decide it's fair to park in that one last spot near the lodge that causes a bottleneck and makes all vehicular navigation a nail biting, "hope I can clear this gap without hitting anything" proposition.

A few years ago I saw one of these errant parking jobs, a really blatant one, and in the equivalent of "keying" the car, I watched one guy casually walk by the offending vehicle (I recall one of those Rhode Island sized SUV's with plates from a particular unnamed state), while his skis just scraped and scraped and scraped along the car's side. The five or six witnesses who saw it, myself included, should have said something, or turned the vandal in....we really should have, but we didn't..... :lol:

I wonder if the message was ever received by that person.....I was tempted to stick around to witness them seeing what happened, but I needed some Ibuprofen and a shower....

 

[bigbog]

I'd love to hear some other folks pet peeves. Stuff you see that bugs you the most....In the parking lot, the lodge, on the slopes, the lifts, apres ski.....


Here's a new one for me....last Sunday, paused with one of my little guys at the edge of a trail, a middle-aged guy skied by while talking on his cell phone. I mean, on the lifts, whatever, or standing at the top, whatever, but....while skiing???

Have to say I laughed with purposeful volume at him as he went by (making crummy turns, by the way)

Smootharc, you need to chill out before you leave the city.... Someone talking on THEIR OWN cell phone ticks you off...... :roll:

Telegrrl..."People who throw litter off the chairlift"
You're not kidding!!! Has to be #1 with me..

 

[smootharc]

Bigbog....I reply....

I'm generally a fairly chilled out, "live and let live" kind of person.

But I think there's a factor of danger if someone is talking on a cell phone while skiing. I was brought up that skiing was a privledge that demanded certain responsibilities from a skier to those on the slopes below him or her. And it only took a few losses of that privledge early on in my ski career to cure me of any mindlessness toward this "golden rule".

I see this responsibility broken every time I ski, by the "young and clueless" to the "old and should know better". I guess you could say it's one of my pet peeves....

Someone chatting on a cell phone WHILE SKIING is compromising their ability with regard to the awesome responsibility they have to me, you, your loved ones, my kids, etc. There's numerous headlines every year where an inattentive skiier from "above slope" does serious damage to an unfortunate person "down slope" (who deserved that inattentive person's utmost attention). Sad stuff....

Anyways, not to be a downer, or to sound like the old man I guess I'm inevitably becoming, I should probably have clarified the reason I felt the "cell phone use while actively skiing" kind of bugged me....

Smootharc
:dunce:

 

[MsMtSnow]

Pet Peeves

Ohhh loving this thread!!

The one I hate the most and I think everyone pretty much knows is when we have a trail closed off for race training and people either duck the ropes or go through the woods and end up on the trail and in the way.

Kids who don't listen drive me nuts, and usually their parents are even worse.

Beginners on expert trails.

People walking down the side of the trail with their equiptment. I'm glad they're not killing themselves or hurting others by skiing out of control, but it still irks me, and I know it irks the guys on the snowmobiles who stop to pick them up.

People who ski out of control into the back of my students and then say the kid was in their way.

Ahh, keep um coming!!

Jess

 

[cyrk007]

people who hate on boarders... people who are so close minded that all they see or care about is their concentration of skiing..

 

[thetrailboss]

OK, let me turn this conversation to a positive note...despite all the negative things that I see people do, if I see someone take a fall or trip up on a trail, I always ask if they are all right and offer any assistance. I know it is a small thing to do but it means a lot to those who may not be familiar with my hill or are out for a second or third time. Leaves a positive impression about the sport and the place...and it takes me 10 seconds usually (I do have some WOFA training though if needed).

In January my brother actually spent ten minutes and walked a novice down off of a beginner trail at Pat's...she had sprained her wrist. Turns out she was up with a church group and had never skied before...she was scared to death but he was able to get her stoked about the sport.

At Sugarbush I've also helped folks who are lost (the holding the trail maps up and scratching their head types).

I don't want to gloat or anything, but I just wanted to illustrate how easy it is to go out and make a positive difference instead of watching the silly things. :roll:

 

[bvibert]

You can watch the silly things and still make a positive difference I'm like you, I always try to stop and make sure people who have fallen are alright, or help people pick up after a yard sale. But I'm still easily annoyed by stuff.

 

[hammer]

I don't mean to go back on a negative note, but one thing that really irks me (I saw/felt it on Sunday) is kids who decide to bounce up and down on the lift while riding up. I normally try to be courteous on the slopes, but that one definitely prompted a loud "HEY" up the lift.

 

[crombie]

i might get flamed for this but I can;t stand the marijuana smell in the gondolas. i mean, Skiing is a sport with a natural high . should you be skiing with your senses impaired? same with drunks on the slopes. i like to crack open a beer like the next guy...after i am done skiing

I agree 100%. There's a time and place for everything, and getting messed up on the slopes while travelling at high rates of speed or around trees (or other people) is wrong. I'll have a (good) beer after a nice long day (or multiple if I'm not driving anywhere), but doing it on the slopes is just wrong and dangerous.

My wife fell the other day at Jay while by herself. Was picking herself up when some guy rode by her real close and real quick, so she yelled at him, and he said "don't stop in the middle of the trail". What a dumbass, she was pissed (she just fell too). I would have gone after him had I been around, but luckily (for him), I was in the trees somewhere

At Jay there seem to be a lot of rude people who cut lines or save entire tables, or ski too close to you. From my experience there the other weekend they were not from Vermont (Vermont tends to produce relaxed polite, and sensible people), but these people were mostly from another country I think. Other (southern) places we've been to in Vermont have been a whole lot better, minus some people I've encountered from below CT.

Anyways, the fact is that there are rude stupid insenstive skiers (and people in general) everywhere, I try to ignore what I can and stand for my own with the rest. At least that's how I see things.

 

[tekweezle]

My wife fell the other day at Jay while by herself. Was picking herself up when some guy rode by her real close and real quick, so she yelled at him, and he said "don't stop in the middle of the trail". What a dumbass, she was pissed (she just fell too). I would have gone after him had I been around, but luckily (for him), I was in the trees somewhere

hope your wife is okay. I am used to skiers in general being very courteous and helpful the furthur i get away from the big city "feeder hills". if someone falls and loses equipment, if i am in a position to help a stranger, I usually try to. whether it;s collecting equipment from a spectacular "yard sale", signalling others to beware so that no one just plows right into them or just asking if they are okay and offering to get the ski patrol if necessary, i will do it.

i can;t stand people who zip on by without indicating whether they are passing on their left or right,. you never know when the person in front of you, unaware that you might be sking 2 to 3 times faster than them might slow down or stop.

 

[crombie]

i can;t stand people who zip on by without indicating whether they are passing on their left or right,. you never know when the person in front of you, unaware that you might be sking 2 to 3 times faster than them might slow down or stop.

I agree, especially with snowboarders, who often have their back to where you're going, I always give an announcement like "on your left" as I'm about to go by. It's nice to hear others do the same when you're going to be fairly close to one another.

 

[dmc]

i can;t stand people who zip on by without indicating whether they are passing on their left or right,. you never know when the person in front of you, unaware that you might be sking 2 to 3 times faster than them might slow down or stop.

I agree, especially with snowboarders, who often have their back to where you're going, I always give an announcement like "on your left" as I'm about to go by. It's nice to hear others do the same when you're going to be fairly close to one another.

That doesnt make sense...
I snowboard - I keep my head pointed down the falline just like a skiier...

Also - I'm dyslexic.. Left and right can get a little confused..
As well as the fact I ski with a deaf person who will never hear your warning...

Why don't you just slow down and wait to pass?

EDIT: I guess one of my pet peeves is people who come screaming up behind you and shout "On your Right" and expect me to jump at their command...