This Trail is Closed

[awf170]

Has anyone ever poached a trail only to find the conditions so bad they wish they hadn't?

only once when i was really inexperienced and unfamiliar with the trail.

ya only once and it was last year at sunapee when i was so desperit to ski glades, all it was was about 6 inches of powder, i went about 50 ft hit a rock and fell on my face then had to hike out because there was so little snow. :dunce:

 

[riverc0il]

i learned a valuable lesson regarding this subject a while back: if you're gonna do it, but as discrete as possible. both in the execution and in spreading the word.

every area has different tolerences for opening trails and what constitutes "thin cover" vs. something that shouldn't be open to the public. i find most resorts tend to rope stuff that is easily skiable for the expert skier who doesn't mind some base damage. couple things to keep in mind:

first: don't F up. seriously. patrol likely has the trail roped cause no one on patrol wants to drag a sled down to haul your butt out. if patrol needs to come pick you out of a closed trail, you're likely to loose not just your day pass but privlidges for the season. next: you really need to "know" the trail well. seeing the trail without snow or at the least during spring skiing when the rocky patches are exposed is a tremendous help. finally, be ready to take some major base damage and be happy about it.

this is a tricky subject because i really really respect patrol, but think tolerences are to low for thin cover. the problem is, if the rope gets dropped and some upper intermediate who wants to ski "all the black diamonds on the mountain" gets in trouble on a knarly thin cover run. also, if the rope is up, you don't want that dude following you in thinking just because they saw someone else do it, the trail must be okay.

i always liked sledhaulingmedic's saying and approach to ducking ropes. i'll let him punch his line in so as not to steal his thunder. it's a serious issue ducking that requires some knowledge and respect for the terrain. also knowing the mountain is a good idea (i.e. i wouldn't duck at magic or mrg because if it's roped at these areas, it's for a damn good reason).

 

[skidon]

I never never ever EVER ski closed trails. It's dangerous and irresponsible and politically incorrect!! Nobody (else) should EVER ski closed trails. Oh, yeah, nobody (else) should EVER ski on a powder day either.

 

[ftrain]

I ski what I want, when I want, and how I want. Sounds selfish but keeping a trail closed and seeing a patrol guy go down it is not fair in my book.

I am a good enough skier to decide if I can or can not ski it and if I want to ski it. Last year I had two ski patrol guys try to yank my ticket. I laughed at them and skiied away. It turned into a hour of hot doging them, running tons of different lifts, and ditching the ski jackets. They were more upset about me out skiing them on their own mountain then me skiing the closed trail.

I guess they were too embarased that I waxed their asses that they never radioed in for other people to wait for me at the top of the lift. We were exchanging words a few times while heading up lifts and they were 5 or 6 chairs behind me. I offered them ski leasons and even pulled off a few big air jumps while turning around and pointing at them when in the air.

 

[ftrain]

It's dangerous and irresponsible and politically incorrect!!

I have been called worse and I think a judge used that line on me in court for my DTE (Driving to Endanger). He was not impressed with me doing a wheelie on my motorcycle in downtown Lowell and waving at a cop eating lunch on a bench as I passed him. Damn I wish I could ride faster then the radio. :dunce:

 

[RossiSkier]

Wow! Hey FTroop, do you drive a pickup truck with a Nascar number in the back?

 

[JimG.]

Wow! Hey FTroop, do you drive a pickup truck with a Nascar number in the back?

Wrangler Jane was a hottie.

 

[ftrain]

lol

 

[Bkroon9175]

We don't ski closed trails.I figure someone knows better than me and I don't want to set an example for my youngest kid. However, on Jan 17 we were at Tenney Mtn and there was no way to get from the double to the triple. No way. so we did jump a rope and skied cautiously to the triple. In my opinion the mountain should have maintained some sort of trail access from one lift to another

 

[ZackyJeff]

At Hunter Mountain, depends what the trail is. Something like Racers Edge or Hunter One-Would I need to continue?

 

[cyrk007]

i did today on the upper side of Olympic only to find it completely exposed and solid ice.. the wind did a job on it.. i skied some trees out to fallen timbers and reentered on the next entrance.. and boy did it rule.. that was a fun little mogul workout

 

[ALLSKIING]

I did yesterday ..and it was all powder I came back to the trail on the next run and they opened it. :x

 

[tirolerpeter]

Poaching

Hey cyrk007 I was at Mt. Snow yesterday (Friday) too. Hit the lift at about 9 AM. It pissed us off when they shut down the Summit Quad due to wind and left only four lifts open for a while. We popped over to the North Face as soon as they opened the lift. We avoided the top of OLYMPIC due to the ice, but took the first cut over through the woods. It was fantastic. We (three of us) were probably the second or third set of tracks through there yesterday morning. I know we were being bad, but the snow was fantastic! I hit some spots that were at least two feet deep and made me feel (almost) like I was out west.

 

[cyrk007]

yea it was awesome.. i skied northface from when it opened till about 4.. good times good times