Ski Southeast Messageboard

I have an idea, how about yield signs to go along with those speed limit signs......haha



Better yet the next time that I go work a fail to yield collision,,, I'll tell the guy driving down the road minding his own business that the person that pulled out from the side road and hit him didn't have to yield!!!!!!

teledave wrote:
SkiCop, don't get me wrong. I too wish there was some way to get the people that don't belong on more advanced slopes off of them. However, I'm pretty much a libretarian when it comes to rules and laws, are these people hurting anyone more than themselves? In most cases they are not, in other cases they are and that is where the legal system gets involved. There are already laws in place that preside over skier to skier collisions, why do we need more?



PS: I'm an advocate of skiing fast and not turning your back uphill whenever you are stopped on the slope. That will pretty much protect you from the out of controllers. They are a fact of life everywhere, watch your back and be careful out there.





Don't get me wrong Dave. I don't think we need new / more rules or restrictions. More effort could be made by the resort to better ensure safety in my opinion. Enforce the slow ski zones. They are obviously there for a reason. Lifties could enforce the rules that are posted on or near most lifts saying, for example, "This lift accesses advanced / expert terrain. A good rule of thumb would be: if you can't load onto or unload from the lift in an acceptable fashion, we will mark your ticket and you will not be allowed on this lift the rest of the session. I understand that if I get in the lift line at Ober that accesses Cub Way and Castle Run that I am sharing that lift with people that are riding a lift, any lift, for possibly the irst time in their lives. I accept the fact that the lift may stop due to inexperienced skiers. To me, the other lift that only accesses the more advanced terrain should rarely stop for such reasons. In reality, we all know that it stops way more often than it should. No system is perfect, but most systems could stand at least a little improvement. Safety comes first. There is nothing in the world, that I have found, including skiing. that is worth a trip to the ER, and if skiing continues to rise in popularity and the slopes become more and more crowded, some sort of a solution to the already existant problems will have to be developed. My limited experience would prevent me from doing anything but speculating about such a solution, but I am willing to compromise, at least to a reasonable extent, for the good of the skiing community as a whole. I have enjoyed our little "debate" and respect your stance and experience. I would like to encourage everyone to think about the ways that skiing could be improved for everyone and voice those opinions to whoever would listen. Things will only go our way if we nudge them a little.

The skier responsibility code requires you to ski/board in control, so you can avoid anyone down slope from you, and watch for merging traffic. There are other requirements, but these come into play most often.





Here is the Safety Code from Beech's website:

http://www.skibeech.com/safety.htm



Control doesn't mean I'm making good turns at mach 10. Control means being able to avoid and/or stop to avoid an expected OR unexpected person in front of you. Just like driving. You have to drive in control as well as defensively.



Collide with someone, and most likely, you will loose your privileges for the day, sometimes for the rest of the season. Even worse, you may subject yourself to personal civil liability and/or criminal charges. For your family, they may get to pay their last respects.



I have discussed the ramifications of reckless skiing/boarding with numerous individuals, and asked them what would happen if they had hit one of my daughters. Most have the right answer, someone would get hurt badly, at which point I remind them of my profession and the aspect of a lawsuit for their conduct. Most have never equated skiing recklessly to driving recklessly. Favorite line is "Just when did you realize you were out of control?"



Each year in the southeast, there are a few snowsports related deaths. The biggest part result from collisions with stationary objects and/or other persons. There are many more injuries that result in something short of death as well. Almost all could have been avoided by skiing in control.



There is a time and place for everything. Bombing the hill on President's Day weekend will certainly get you an afternoon off the slope to relfect on your actions. We actively patrol for reckless and/or out of control skiers, and pull tickets routinely. And, of course, get cussed when we do. Hey, I don't like getting run over any more than anyone else, but typically we will have one or two patrollers a year injured by reckless skiers that prematurely ends their ski season for the year. Hit a patroller, and you're probably done for the season. We all firmly believe the cross acts as a target.



I'm not an advocate for a speed limit. But I am an advcoate for using good judgment, common sense and skiing or riding in control.



Ken

TNKen wrote:
I'm not an advocate for a speed limit. But I am an advcoate for using good judgment, common sense and skiing or riding in control.



Good stuff Ken. I've always said there are different rules for local weekdays and yokel weekends. There are really no absolutes, other than ski in control at all times. Everything else is pretty much situationally dependent.

Thanks. Don't think for a minute that we don't like to rip as well on good snow. You just have to engage the brain first.



Lots of folks don't realize you don't always stop on snow when you fall. Lindsey fell a couple of years ago in the Heuga race. She had straightlined down Shawneehaw in a tuck, and her ski chattered off as she sat an edge just above the lift tower near the bottom. (And yeah we had cranked up the bindings) The guys that saw her said she was probably running about 60 mph when she fell. Her speed and race suit caused her to slide all the way across lower Shawneehaw, and she ended up in the trees in the island between Shawneehaw and the Mradows. Scared the crap out of everyone. Only thing I heard on the radio was "skier down" Nobody would tell me who it was. Finally got it figured out when she didn't show at the lift.



She slid nearly 150 yards and still was stopped by a tree. Lucky she slid in feet first. Point is, it doesn't take but a split second for you to get in trouble.



Ken

Quote:
doesn't take but a split second for you to get in trouble.



Amen to that..... and thanks again Ken for warning me about that bombing foo'

http://skinc.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=3846



Hey I believe that this is the guy that blind sided me! I didn't know there was a bounty on his head

Look what I found for $85.99. I now 'own" you guys. 8)



Ken



http://www.opticsplanet.net/buve10frups.html

TNKen wrote:
Look what I found for $85.99. I now 'own" you guys. 8)



Ken



http://www.opticsplanet.net/buve10frups.html



That's boooomber for $85. Could definitely stop a lot of fish stories about "I know I was doing at least 70" when in fact they were going 20.

my gps calculates speed........i got it up to 62 at discovery basin one year......it is broken now.......