Props to Killington for pulling the season passes of 3 "sponsored" skiers

[Tricia]

I have to bring up the other side of this coin, the premise of false accusations. I can't count how many times I've been approached and falsely accused of "endangering" others. Over my many years skiing I've noted that it happens MUCH less if I keep my mask up, covering my face. I remember one time in particular at a resort in Tahoe during the spring, that I was screamed at by a lady in front of a full crowd at the outdoor bar, when a less melanated skier standing right next to me was the actual offender that cut her off and almost made her crash. I was well behind her when I witnessed the close encounter.
I calmly tried to explain this but........ it was traumatic and an experience I remember like it was yesterday...... she was poking me w/ her pole then w/ her finger after she took off her skis... I ended up apologizing for her experience but denying culpability. In other words employing de-escalation techniques.

Now when the false accusations happen, we employ Wifey in "Karen" mode... it never fails! They back off QUICK!

When solo, out of fear I generally suck it up bec if ski patrol or police enter into the equation and no Wifey... need I say more...
This is one of the primary reasons I generally actively seek out remote, uncrowded resorts, ski off piste and prefer intense storm days when the Tourists from out of town are indoors, can't make it up or can't ski the deep.

I've witnessed this as well, more than once.

One example: When I was working at Northstar, a bunch of us coworkers were out skiing one day. One was a snowboarder who was wearing a baggy kit. The rest of us were skiers dressed in traditional alpine ski wear. All of us skiers were faster than he was but the dude with the yellow jacket and giant foam finger stopped him and was going to write him up for skiing too fast and out of control. I was close enough to stop and explain that he was with us and we were always waiting for him so there was no way he was skiing too fast if we weren't skiing too fast.
Our snowboarding co-worker got off without being written up but I looked at that totally as profiling.

Example two:
We skied an entire day with Tanner Hall one day, along with his publicist. We even had a photo taken with him in front of a "slow area" sign. (Can't find it at the moment) A few days later someone was in the store chatting about Tanner Hall being at Northstar and how reckless he was including patrol having to pull his pass for putting others in danger.
Totally made up BS. Tanner was with us the entire day and never was even warned by patrol let alone having his ticket pulled.

 

[dbostedo]

explain that he was with us and we were always waiting for him so there was no way he was skiing too fast if we weren't skiing to fast.

It would have been funny if he agreed, and wrote you all up.

 

[Tricia]

It would have been funny if he agreed, and wrote you all up.

You better duck!

 

[skiki]

I was surprised about it being necessary until that night at Wachusett last year.

Was that a weeknight when the school busses were there? Two reasons I try to leave by 2-- the traffic once I hit 95 all the way home to Quincy and the gaggles of tweens/ teens once the busses pull in. If I did ski nights there, I'd probably also keep an eye on the event schedule for when they do college nights.

 

[fatbob]

I've witnessed this as well, more than once.

One example: When I was working at Northstar, a bunch of us coworkers were out skiing one day. One was a snowboarder who was wearing a baggy kit. The rest of us were skiers dressed in traditional alpine ski wear. All of us skiers were faster than he was but the dude with the yellow jacket and giant foam finger stopped him and was going to write him up for skiing too fast and out of control. I was close enough to stop and explain that he was with us and we were always waiting for him so there was no way he was skiing too fast if we weren't skiing to fast.

Yup. I even tested it once. Got yelled at by a yellow jkt to slow down on my board on an otherwise empty run to the Mill lot at Mammoth. Went and swapped my board for skis ( not just for this purpose) and next time I was headed down skied past faster ( not really super fast). No yell so I went over and discussed his biases with him.

 

[Lauren]

No yell so I went over and discussed his biases with him.

You can't just end your post with a cliffhanger like that...results?

 

[MissySki]

Was that a weeknight when the school busses were there? Two reasons I try to leave by 2-- the traffic once I hit 95 all the way home to Quincy and the gaggles of tweens/ teens once the busses pull in. If I did ski nights there, I'd probably also keep an eye on the event schedule for when they do college nights.

No, not a school bus night thank goodness. But it was definitely mostly tweens/teens. Though there were some adults too, which made it really hard to understand with how everyone was “skiing”!

 

[fatbob]

You can't just end your post with a cliffhanger like that...results?

Well it was pretty low stakes for me as I was done for the day on my day pass, but IIRC we had a fairly civil discussion about how it was objectively difficult to measure speed by eye. And I think I got as close as possible to an apology from him by him saying that they had a general problem with boarders or somesuch. So I took that as him admitting his biases and he probably thought he was justified in the yelling

 

[mikel]

After reading this, I went looking for an official statement on Killington's supposedly new speed or safety patrol and could find nothing. If they are currently out there with a two WROD resort, you think they would be able to control this behavior. Just another reason we don't ski weekends now that we are retired.

Pretty sure it's not new other than maybe the name and now they are paid? Mountain Safety has been there I'm sure. Seems to be a trend with Mountain Safety becoming a paid position. I think VR has been doing it for a couple of seasons now, at least here in CO.

 

[raytseng]

Well it was pretty low stakes for me as I was done for the day on my day pass, but IIRC we had a fairly civil discussion about how it was objectively difficult to measure speed by eye. And I think I got as close as possible to an apology from him by him saying that they had a general problem with boarders or somesuch. So I took that as him admitting his biases and he probably thought he was justified in the yelling

So maybe the bias is justified as different rules for different equipment, considering boards only have 1 edge and a blind spot.
Like trucks and trailers 55mph, passenger cars 65mph.

 

[fatbob]

So maybe the bias is justified as different rules for different equipment, considering boards only have 1 edge and a blind spot.
Like trucks and trailers 55mph, passenger cars 65mph.

Yes but boards stay attached in a fall and don't come off and somersault down the hill decapitating bystanders so it's probably a wash....


Plus y'know no one has ever defined what SLOW means quantitatively in the history of resort communications with the public.

 

[AmyPJ]

View attachment 215717

I’m doing my best to change that.

Dat you?! Nice turns!

Tonopah, NV. Speed limit through town is 25. Not 26, not 27. Word is out and most people go about 23 or 24 just to be sure.

Exactly.
Hmmm, new revenue source for the resorts? Fines for recklessness? (I jest...kind of.) Mostly due to the discussion above about subjectivity or a truly false accusation.

 

[Marker]

I will say this ( as not a fan of skiing Killington ), I get to travel / work at a lot of resorts and K seems to be leading the industry. They shut crossovers, created tunnels, re-worked parking, built a new lodge, have a great Ambassador program and have rethought the new skiers' experience. I have faith that their speed / safety effort will come thru as well.

The issue is that the hand that feeds also bits at K. I was uncomfortable when 5 drunk guys hopped into K1 w/ me in their tighty-whiteites 15 years ago. Now that I have kids, no freaking way would I feel that my daughters should be subjected to that.

Good to hear your perspective. After skiing in the Poconos where weekend crowds are even more insane, we found Killington busy, but you could always find a spot with less lines and low crowds. Hell, I thought Mt Snow was worse than Killington in terms of crowds. As for juvenile behavior and skiing styles, I suspect Killington attracted that crowd, so I hope they will continue to improve.

 

[Slim]

I think the jackasses might just be thinking that Candide video is real. But then I do question some of the stuff he puts out like the T bar slalom, no matter how carefully choreographed they are because of the impact on impressionable jackasses.

I have wondered exactly this in the past watching his skiing.

 

[dbostedo]

decapitating bystanders

 

[Teppaz]

Good to hear your perspective. After skiing in the Poconos where weekend crowds are even more insane, we found Killington busy, but you could always find a spot with less lines and low crowds. Hell, I thought Mt Snow was worse than Killington in terms of crowds. As for juvenile behavior and skiing styles, I suspect Killington attracted that crowd, so I hope they will continue to improve.

This thread seems to be extending to etiquette/behavior issues at resorts so I'll put it out there that Killington was the one and only place so far where I stepped into a gondola cabin and immediately got out because of the weed stench inside. It was my first time there and I was doing the free tour with a resort guide, who looked stunned. I've never experienced that anywhere else, including in substance-friendly Colorado. I don't partake myself but I don't mind, but the funk inside that cabin was beyond.

 

[Even_Stevens]

Was it ever established that these kooks were Parlor sponsored influencers; or were they just tagging the ski brand on social media?

Because theoretically one could buy Dynastars, ski fast and out of control & shoot video of doing exactly that, and tag the brand on social media and have no affiliation with the brand save having bought their skis.

 

[Philpug]

Was it ever established that these kooks were Parlor sponsored influencers; or were they just tagging the ski brand on social media?

Because theoretically one could buy Dynastars, ski fast and out of control & shoot video of doing exactly that, and tag the brand on social media and have no affiliation with the brand save having bought their skis.

The main person's bother works for Parlor but there is a very close connection to the brand. Again, this is where we tried to discern someone who has an affilaition with a brand verses someone who just tags a company. In this case, when the owner of the company is close enough to have a conversation with the person it is not just a random influencer.

 

[sparty]

This thread seems to be extending to etiquette/behavior issues at resorts so I'll put it out there that Killington was the one and only place so far where I stepped into a gondola cabin and immediately got out because of the weed stench inside. It was my first time there and I was doing the free tour with a resort guide, who looked stunned. I've never experienced that anywhere else, including in substance-friendly Colorado. I don't partake myself but I don't mind, but the funk inside that cabin was beyond.

Only place I've ever had a single ask "smoking or non?" before joining a group on the gondola.

 

[fatbob]

This thread seems to be extending to etiquette/behavior issues at resorts so I'll put it out there that Killington was the one and only place so far where I stepped into a gondola cabin and immediately got out because of the weed stench inside. It was my first time there and I was doing the free tour with a resort guide, who looked stunned. I've never experienced that anywhere else, including in substance-friendly Colorado. I don't partake myself but I don't mind, but the funk inside that cabin was beyond.

Ah the Ross Rebligiatti bin.