What is your most irresponsible skiing moment?

[Abubob]

Some of these are hilarious. There seems to be a running theme: "When I was 14". Here's mine: When I was 14 and skiing at either Bousquet or Butternut I met a girl on the lift and we took a few runs together. I said we should ski in this glade and she said she shouldn't because she had twisted her knee earlier in the season. So I said something like 'We won't ski fast but take our time and just enjoy the softer snow.' Well wouldn't you know it - we don't get 50 feet and she falls twisting her bad knee. I left her in the Patrol lodge waiting for her Dad. Not wanting to get yelled at I just split.

Years later teaching at Powder Ridge I had a shaky beginner student. I spent a little extra time with her so she could turn and stop but it was a real struggle. I figured the best thing was to get her on the lift so she could just take laps and get better with practice. She got on okay but just crumpled off loading. I slid down to the bottom of the ramp before I knew what happened, turned around and saw her sitting up right in the way of the next chair. Before I could shout "Stop the chair!" it clocked her in the back of the head. She ended up with a concussion.

Maybe it's best my wife doesn't ski.

 

[ss20]

I like this topic.

1. When I was 11, at Catamount, coming down to the base lodge. Idiot me thought it'd be a good idea to turn my head around and admire the snowmaking on another trail... while still skiing. It would only be for 2 seconds. Well, I stayed turned around for 3 seconds. I hit something quite soft... it was a 4-year-old-girl. Knocked her off her skis, she landed in the legs of her parents. The dad yelled at me, the girl was OK (physically at least, don't know if she skied later that day), and I felt horrible. I even feel bad about it to this day. I manufactured a story to the dad that I slipped on some ice. If not, he probably would've killed me. In a way, it was a blessing... this happened 10 feet in front of the hard wood of the base lodge.

2. Racing side-by-side with my friend at Mohawk at night. If one of us fell, the other one would've clobbered him.

3. Using snowmaking mounds as jumps at Mohawk (with the same friend). They were making snow, and it was dark. I literally had no viability and was going full-speed down a trail.

 

[HowieT2]

spring break circa 1989. fly from syracuse to chicago to sf to boise. Get to boise late around 8 pm. send crew to pick up rental car while I hang at the bar. meet girl at bar who is stranded because friends cant pick her up from sun valley due to bad weather. she was cute so I offered her a lift.1 girl 4 guys and our gear in ford escort. weather was fine in boise. didnt notice any signs about road conditions, but all but the driver were drunk. about an hour out of boise, the snow started flying sideways. no cars on road, not even police or plows. full on blizzard like I had never seen before. I vividly recall the snow was so hard that all the signs were plastered with snow. we are driving for hours at 5-10mph. couldnt see the road or anything. about 6 hours later we are at less than a quarter tank of gas, its 3 am and we finally get to a motel. wake up the proprietor, who tells us that the highway was closed and they pulled the plows off of it before we left boise. so we nearly died, but the skiing was epic.

 

[snoseek]

This is just awful on so many levels. Many years ago At Loon I was drinking in the woods with a couple of friends while we ripped a pretty good fire. I finished my second or third 22oz sam adams and went to chuck it in the woods. I threw it really hard, it bounced straight off a tree in front of us and hit my buddy at full force in the eye. He was fucking pissed and should have punched me but amazingly kept his cool. I then proceeded to roll the most ridiculous joint because I felt bad. I have changed my ways since

 

[thetrailboss]

Speaking purely hypothetically of course

I was at one of the first AZ Gatherings at BEast in 2005 and our former ringleader thought it would be a good idea to ski down a roped off and closed trail. We all did and it was the WORST run ever....bulletproof ice. We skidded down, losing our fillings, and decided to go back to other stuff off the triple that was open.

Minor I know. I am a pretty good boy. Especially now that I have a wife and a 2-year old daughter.

There also was a funny incident when I was a young, impressionable 11-year old kid. While I was skiing at the the Lyndon Outing Club, my home hill for many years, I noticed that there was a trail sign that right along side the trail that said "Mixer". It pointed down the groomed run that I assumed was Mixer, but it was in fact Bunny Hop. Mixer was an abandoned trail that was fenced off and off-limits. Well, I thought I was all hot shit skiing "Mixer" because it was a black diamond.

I went in the lodge and saw a family friend who was on the volunteer ski patrol. He asked me what I'd been skiing.

"Mixer." I said with a grin.

In response, my friend and all of the ski patrollers jumped up, ran out of the Lodge, and presumably up to be sure that Mixer was in fact closed.

Yeah, I felt like a gaper.

 

[Warp Daddy]

I take the Fifth !!! Too damn many to count and i got no excises like "when i was 14 " since i didnt start Downhill skiing till i was 50 , skied xc for many yrs .

I. Guess i had to make up for such a late start and lost time ...... hell every season i do something stupid as far as risk taking FOR my age

 

[4aprice]

For me, It was when I was younger (maybe 14 ?) and flew over a blind drop, literally sailing over a young girl's head. she was skiing with her dad and was probably six or seven years old.
.

This reminds me of a time at Smugglers Notch on Sterling lift line where I was not paying attention to what was going on above me. I was literally stopped with skis across the fall line but started sliding forward looking downhill when my dad shouted to me. I looked up just in time to see a ski (and edge) zip by my head at eye level having taken a jump just above me. A foot or more forward and I probably would have been killed.

On a lighter note I was at Stowe skiing with a couple of guys I know and came out (From Chin Clip on to Gondoliar IIRC) with good speed and spun my skis and body 180 to look back. The guy following me was not far behind but was looking up hill (as he should have been). How lucky we were is still beyond me, his skis went directly between mine and he hit me as hard as a running back running into a linebacker. In the perfect physics class experiment I was propelled backwards and kept my balance while he stopped abruptly.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[darent]

I was on flat ground skiing over to the trail signage and I couldn't make up my mind to go left or right around this women in front of me. so I ended up going straight and knocked her down in bear hug fashion, ending up on top of her. no one was hurt but I sure was embarrassed!!

 

[Boston Bulldog]

In my teens (guess what age: 14!) at Sunapee;

I was with a bunch of buddies and we were knocking around on the terrain park (A place where I wouldn't be caught in now!). After lunch, the park crew debuted a buch of new features and I was pretty stoked. They had this thing called a Whale Rail which was way out my league (The demonic thing goes up, down then back up again!). I got peer-pressured by my buddies to go try it out.

My first attempt I had way too much speed and when the rail dived down I went airborne. I almost cleared the little rise at the end of the rail, but my tips slammed into metal and it quickly devolved into a full out yardsale. I was *this* close to breaking my collarbone.

Despite this horrifying experience, I tried it again. This time I approached too slow and got stuck at the top of the rail. I did the splits and came *this* close to losing my manhood. I hurt like a motherf****r and the mock cheers from the lift didn't help. The worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. Needless to say, my adventures in the terrain park will no longer include the demonic Whale Rail!

 

[snowmonster]

Irresponsible moment? Let's just say that I see every rope as an invitation to jump.

1. Screaming down the Goosebumps trail at Sunapee, there was a class of small children walking along the cat track at the bottom of the trail. I didn't want to slow down and saw a gap in the line between the kids. I slalomed through the line as one of the adults yelled at me. I was in control and none of the kids were in danger of being plowed under. Not one of my proudest moments.

2. I took a ride and ski bus to Stowe on a powder day in February 2012. My plan was to ski down the Bruce, skin up the Overhill trail to the Devil's Dishpan then to the Underhill trail to the Steeple trail then Steeple to the cross country center. This all had to be done by 4pm because he bus would leave for Boston by 430pm. Well, long story short, I missed the cut-off to Overhill and skinned up another trail, the skinning up untouched trails was difficult and skiing downhill in heavy snow in low-angle woods was not a schussers' wet dream. I barely made it back to the Mansfield lodge to catch the bus. If I were five minutes later, I would have been stranded at Stowe.

3. Tried out for the Wachusett ski patrol. Did quite well on the ski and interview portion. I was done with the tryout and was told that I could ski the rest of the night. Figured that at 930 pm, there would be no one on the slopes. Decided to bomb down the family ski trail. Was going over a roller at full clip and, lo and behold, the ski patrollers and next group of try-outs were right there. I pretended not to see them and headed into the lodge. Apparently, the patrollers chased after me into the lodge. One of them yells at me: "We got you know, snowmonster!" Apparently, I was still wearing my name tag from the patroller tryouts. Needless to say, I didn't make patrol.

 

[fbrissette]

I mostly have been a responsible resort skier. In my twenties however, did some pretty dumb lines in the Chic-chocs backcountry (Gaspé peninsula). We were young and totally uneducated avalanche-wise. Skied into obvious terrain traps and probably got lucky a few times. Another day, got stuck late in the day in a steep drainage we could not get out of (steep, too much snow, skins with old glue narrower than the skis..), with no maps, headlamps or anything. Went up an alternate route and managed to find our tracks back on top and made it back to the hut a solid hour after sunset.

Also got a lot of fresh tracks in the whistler backcountry with zero avalanche awareness. We skied flute bowl (before the harmony chair) one day and had an awesome time. Somebody died the next day skiing a nearly identical line. That was a bit of a wake up call.

Now in my late forties, after an avalanche awareness course and reading several books on the topic, I know enough to know to hire a local guide (preferably an old guy) when I go backcountry on ski trips.

 

[skiNEwhere]

I was near the end of my 5 year contract in the service, and I heard that Squaw Valley gave free lift tickets to service members! Sweet! The only thing that was holding me back was the 499 mile gap between camp pendleton and squaw. Not wanting to drive alone, I convinced a friend to come along. Initially he said no, but after I offered him a few jagerbombs he inexplicably changed his mind

There was still a little powder (6-8 inches) left over from a few days earlier, and I was having fun going over 5' to 10' cliffs, maximum. Whenever you got near a cliff, there were signs stating "Cliff area"

So I ended up taking a skiers left off the tram, and went by a "cliff area" without thinking twice. In the past, you could ski around the cliffs, but not this one. It was at least 30 feet high, probably around 35, and at least 200 feet wide (As far as I could see). I was pretty scared. I looked back up, the trail I went down (if you're thinking of the cliffs right under the last support tower of the tram, it was to the skiers left of that, in bounds and not roped off) was really steep, and it was very difficult to get my footing since the snow was firm, but when i put pressure on it, it would go up to my thigh. To make matters worse, since I was still in the service, if I got hurt due to being reckless or using bad judgement, I would get an NJP (possibly lose rank and pay). After scoping out the landing for 10-15 minutes, I said "f$&@ it, just huck it" There were a few people watching at the bottom too.

I jumped, and surprisingly stuck the landing in some stale, crusted over powder, but was going too fast at that point, and must have been leaning too far forward, because a few feet later one of my ski's went 90° into the snow and I did a minimum of a 720° forward shoulder roll.

Thankfully I was ok, but I grudgingly had to hike 30 or so yards back up to get my ski.





And I also had this......This was last season, at A-Basin skiing in very low visibility with boots that didn't fit, and nearly hitting my head on a rock after I started tumbling (still not sure why, the ground had gave out from under me) Full thread if you're bored

 

[thetrailboss]

I was near the end of my 5 year contract in the service, and I heard that Squaw Valley gave free lift tickets to service members! Sweet! The only thing that was holding me back was the 499 mile gap between camp pendleton and squaw. Not wanting to drive alone, I convinced a friend to come along. Initially he said no, but after I offered him a few jagerbombs he inexplicably changed his mind

There was still a little powder (6-8 inches) left over from a few days earlier, and I was having fun going over 5' to 10' cliffs, maximum. Whenever you got near a cliff, there were signs stating "Cliff area"

So I ended up taking a skiers left off the tram, and went by a "cliff area" without thinking twice. In the past, you could ski around the cliffs, but not this one. It was at least 30 feet high, probably around 35, and at least 200 feet wide (As far as I could see). I was pretty scared. I looked back up, the trail I went down (if you're thinking of the cliffs right under the last support tower of the tram, it was to the skiers left of that, in bounds and not roped off) was really steep, and it was very difficult to get my footing since the snow was firm, but when i put pressure on it, it would go up to my thigh. To make matters worse, since I was still in the service, if I got hurt due to being reckless or using bad judgement, I would get an NJP (possibly lose rank and pay). After scoping out the landing for 10-15 minutes, I said "f$&@ it, just huck it" There were a few people watching at the bottom too.

I jumped, and surprisingly stuck the landing in some stale, crusted over powder, but was going too fast at that point, and must have been leaning too far forward, because a few feet later one of my ski's went 90° into the snow and I did a minimum of a 720° forward shoulder roll.

Thankfully I was ok, but I grudgingly had to hike 30 or so yards back up to get my ski.





And I also had this......This was last season, at A-Basin skiing in very low visibility with boots that didn't fit, and nearly hitting my head on a rock after I started tumbling (still not sure why, the ground had gave out from under me) Full thread if you're bored

Yeah...had those moments the last few years. I thought I was going to be a hero in 2010 on my first visit to Squaw Valley with my wife when I decided to hit some awesome deep snow on the side of a run off of Red Dog. Turns out it was a drift of heavy snow that ripped my skis off and sent me head over heels. I spent 15 minutes looking for those skis.....

Similar incident at Alta in March 2012 with Snowmonster. We dropped off of Supreme into No. 9 Express and my skis took a nose dive into the snow sending me face first. After a yelp for joy, I got up, struggled in the deep snow, and made like it was Alta of 1900 and mined for my skis. Fifteen minutes later I was on my way.

Now I have (fatter) rockered skis and powder cords.

 

[skiNEwhere]

What's scary too is that Squaw has taken away some of the best and most well know skiers in the last decade, such as C.R Johnson. Squaw is no joke

 

[thetrailboss]

What's scary too is that Squaw has taken away some of the best and most well know skiers in the last decade, such as C.R Johnson. Squaw is no joke

Damn straight. It's sad how many have died there. Snowbird took someone away two years ago almost to the date.

I didn't ski the area you were in, but I did see some pretty crazy stuff on KT-22 and in other areas. Yeah those are real cliffs. My first (inadvertent) wrong turn was at Alta in 2010 when I found myself at the top of a frozen, snow covered waterfall. With no way out I prayed, closed my eyes, and straightlined it down and out. I made sure to take pictures of it afterwards!

Found myself at the top of the "High Speed Double" at Snowbird a year later in really thin conditions. I followed some nice lines in the trees to the lip of that cliff and decided it was not for me. Took 15 minutes to backtrack out back to Chip's. After that I've been more cautious at Snowbird and have double and triple checked the map and aerial shots to avoid getting caught in the wrong spot......

 

[bvibert]

I was at one of the first AZ Gatherings at BEast in 2005 and our former ringleader thought it would be a good idea to ski down a roped off and closed trail. We all did and it was the WORST run ever....bulletproof ice. We skidded down, losing our fillings, and decided to go back to other stuff off the triple that was open.

I remember that, it was pretty sketchy! If that's the most irresponsible thing you've done though, you need to live a little... :lol:

You gotta watch our former fearless leader though... I can recall getting a little lost in Brackett basin at Sugarloaf, the hike back up to the condos so we could catch a shuttle kinda sucked...

My most irresponsible skiing related thing that comes to mind was ripping down some low angle bumps at Sundown a few years ago. These bumps were on the side of a trail that the beginner and intermediate trails from the top dump out onto, so lots of kids and beginners were always trying them. I decided to hug the woods side to avoid the people that dip in from the trail. I got almost to the bottom when a snow boarder pulled over to a stop directly in front of me. I had just enough time to mostly skirt between him and the trees, but I caught his board and possibly made some body contact. I don't remember if he got knocked over, but I came out of my skis and landed several feet down the trail. Luckily neither of us was hurt, and he started apologizing, but it was clearly my fault. I was going to way to fast on that trail during a relatively busy time of the day.

 

[Smellytele]

Not that crazy but as a parent probably irresponsible...
While at Gore last year we as a family had skied by this one trail a few times that had been roped off. Then as we approached it again 2 ski patrol guys were messing with the rope that at this point was laying on the ground. I told my wife and 3 sons i was going for it and to follow me. She being the wiser one said I should ask if indeed it was open. Of course I didn't skied over the down rope and was yelled at by one of the patrollers that it was indeed still closed and I better get my ass back up and off the trail. I climbed back up with my head hung low with my wife shaking her head. and my sons staring at me in disbelief.