What happened to me at belleayre...unbelievable

[rpmk104]

So I was enjoying my first day on the slope for 07-08 at Belleayre on sunday (12/2). My gf was with me that day so we stayed only on the green trail (iroquois). We spent the day mostly just to remind ourselves how to snowboard again.

Belleayre had this slalom course going on the side of iroquois. It was not roped off and considering that the iroquois was a beginner trail, i didn't expect anyone to be racing through it.

So I was slowly following the slalom course and then all of a sudden i heard someone yell at me from behind...there were at least 3-4 skiiers, they were FLYING down the slalom, almost taken me out when they passed me. Then the last guy in the group, braked right in front of me and throw snow all over my face...that was how fast he was going...

Anyways, he was like "this course is not for you, get out of it!"....blah blah blah...telling me to get out of his way. and then before he sped off, he yelled in my face "I hate f""king snowboarders".


Jesus christ...good thing I had to wait for my gf, or else I would have let that guy have it.

I just don't get it....its a beginner trail, and your group speeds right thru it and expects everyone in front of you to clear a path??

What if there was a child in my place at that time? just curse him out and feel good about yourself?

I am happy to note that the slalom course was removed shortly after this incident. who ever put that slalom course there must have been smoking some good stuff.

I am really furious about this. I've never met someone this disrespectful during my time on the slopes.

Thanks for reading...I just needed to vent!

happy boarding and skiing!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You were in the wrong though for not looking to see if anybody was using the course..typically ski area liability insurance does not cover regular recreational skiers in gates...so a patroller would have also yelled at you. I wish more ski areas invested in brush gates so I could practice running gates more..

 

[skidbump]

They were brush gates and it was a coaches training clinic run by Jim Cardinal for the West Point ski area race coaches.If they did what you say then call,ask for someone in charge and complain. My experience with race dweebs is they are arrogant and dont care about other skiers on slope,truly believe they are told to use general population as gates when they are on mountain training

 

[riverc0il]

Dude, race courses are usually closed. What is unbelievable is that people ride into race courses that are not open to the public. Before getting pissed off take a look at your own actions. Race teams usually have permission where to lay a course and it makes for close quarters during early season when not much terrain is available (even I have gotten irritated about race course placement early season). If you don't like the placement of the race course, talk to mountain ops about it. But stay the heck out of a race course if you are not racing, especially entering mid-way. Go to the start gate and ask if it is a public course or not and if it is public, start at the start shack. NEVER jump into any race course at a mid-point, EVER. That is dangerous, and the danger is the person jumping in and racers have a right to be pissed off at you.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

You going into that course was not cool, but it sounds like you where not completely aware of racecourse etiquette. The person who spoke to you like that was wrong. I hate people who try to make others feel like assholes. There are a lot of racers who feel a sense of entitlement.

 

[skidbump]

It was in beginner area "1 trial was open" on a Sunday and trail was was narrow in first place.I see it as bad judgment on trainer.If mountain advertises trail as open "again a green and only green open" you shouldn't have gates setup in first place and coach training shouldn't have been on lower mt.You do not expect a large group running gates in a beginner area period.Bad decision by mt

 

[SkiDork]

They prolly should have roped off the course, or closed the trail

 

[KevinF]

You going into that course was not cool, but it sounds like you where not completely aware of racecourse etiquette. The person who spoke to you like that was wrong. I hate people who try to make others feel like assholes. There are a lot of racers who feel a sense of entitlement.

I've been racing when Joe Skier has jumped in half-way down. It's a rather scary experience for both the racer and the person that they're bearing down on. Just throwing 'em sideways in a rutted-up course isn't really an option.

Was the guy "right" to yell? Not really, but I certainly find it an understandable reaction. Have you ever muttered a few unpleasant thoughts when you've been cut off on the highway?

Yes, the race courses and instructor and patroller training all take up limited real-estate in early season. They need to do their training somewhere though. Crowded conditions are a reality of early-season.

 

[bvibert]

IMHO you can't put a race course on the only open novice run and expect the novices to stay off of the course without, at least, roping it off and putting up signage explaining that it's a closed course. How the hell are they supposed to know?

 

[koreshot]

Sounds like pretty bad placement for the course indeed. I have seen race courses on trails closed to the public that were not roped off, but any race course that is open to the public should be roped to prevent people from ducking in. That's how it works. Anything less than that is bad judgement & laziness on the trainers' part.

I have seen Austrian, Swiss, Italian and US downhill teams train in slalom, GS and Super G they always had the race track roped off. No exceptions. Actually, at the resorts where I have seen proper training sessions being run, a course without the rope was officially an invitation for the mortal skiers to try their luck at a world cup course.

So cut the guy some slack.

 

[wa-loaf]

Trail should have been closed or the course roped off. The racers may not have been aware of this (that it wasn't closed off), due to their reaction. But the mountain and course setters certainly should have done more than what was apparent.

 

[ctenidae]

You know, if you'd dump that new-fangled snowboard and ski with two feet as God intended, these sorts of things wouldn't happen.

 

[Warp Daddy]

2 bad decisions: Theirs for not roping course off and your s for skiing on a race course without checking to see IF it was ACTIVE .

Yeah i've had experience with the issue too it can be NASTY

 

[Trekchick]

I'm not familiar with the terrain you're talking about, but at one my local hills, the lay out is not easy to lay out any kind of race course without having traffic issues. Yet, its one of the favourite race hills around here. The up side is that there are NO novices in this area. The down side is that you have to cross the course in some manner to get to the terrain park. So, the issue we see is the Park Players and the Race Geeks have occasional conflicts.

I'm not really a grown up but I play the roll of a grown up upon occasion.

 

[tcharron]

So I was enjoying my first day on the slope for 07-08 at Belleayre on sunday (12/2). My gf was with me that day so we stayed only on the green trail (iroquois). We spent the day mostly just to remind ourselves how to snowboard again.

Belleayre had this slalom course going on the side of iroquois. It was not roped off and considering that the iroquois was a beginner trail, i didn't expect anyone to be racing through it.

I think you're catching more flack here then you deserve honestly. Yes, it was a race course, and yes, there should have been some ropes or something to let you know what was going on. I'm guessing the guy was just upset because when racing at high speed, it IS dangerous as all hell if someone just pops out into the middle of the course. While it was a mistake to go out into the trail, it certainly wasn't intentional on rpmk104's fault. And the 'hating snowboarders' comment on the part of the skier was uncalled for.

 

[bvibert]

I think you're catching more flack here then you deserve honestly....
....While it was a mistake to go out into the trail, it certainly wasn't intentional on rpmk104's fault. And the 'hating snowboarders' comment on the part of the skier was uncalled for.

I Agree completely.

 

[ajl50]

You were both wrong. Nobody was hurt. Get over it.
You got snow on your face and somebody practing racing was slowed down. Worse things have happened.

moving on with life....

 

[SkiDork]

While it was a mistake to go out into the trail, it certainly wasn't intentional on rpmk104's fault.

So I was slowly following the slalom course

Not intentional?

 

[SIKSKIER]

The only time race courses are roped off completly are for races.Gates for race training are almost always set up without being totally roped off.The proper etiquite is to look uphill just as you SHOULD anytime entering a trail to see if skiers/snowboarders are coming.You don't enter another street/highway without yielding to oncoming vehicles.And that does not mean that if you see an opening you can go if you force them to brake or change direction.Period!LOOK UPHILL and yield especially when entering a course! I only go through a course if nobody is using it at that time.
Now the guys attitude is another story but it sounds like you are in the wrong.

 

[SkiDork]

The only time race courses are roped off completly are for races.Gates for race training are almost always set up without being totally roped off.The proper etiquite is to look uphill just as you SHOULD anytime entering a trail to see if skiers/snowboarders are coming.You don't enter another street/highway without yielding to oncoming vehicles.And that does not mean that if you see an opening you can go if you force them to brake or change direction.Period!LOOK UPHILL and yield especially when entering a course! I only go through a course if nobody is using it at that time.
Now the guys attitude is another story but it sounds like you are in the wrong.

sounds to me like the poster DID look up hill and saw nobody. Racers came by later, when the poster was concentrating on boarding the course.