Responsibility: Driving vs Skiing

[Andy Mink]

The ones that scare me the most are people who fly out of the glades right into your path, but are technically downhill of you. Almost hit a guy once who flew off a 5 foot bank on the right side of the trail while he was holding a selfie camera, landed a couple feet in front of me. Was thankfully able to maneuver at the last second, but there is literally no time to react in those situations.

That falls under merging where the person on the trail has the ROW over the person entering the trail.

 

[justplanesteve]

This is one of the perspectives i have to keep thinking about regarding my accident.
From a car driver's perspective, we (senior instructor and me) would have been the 2 rally cars "weaving in and out of traffic" "lanes" including making turns clear across to the (completely imaginary AFA skiing) "fast lane" under a guy who was "staying in his own lane". From a drone camera perspective, the optics would not have been ideal to present a car crowd/civilian review or jury. The guy needs some ski lessons and a lecture on the skiers responsibility code. Big one being he skis faster on steeper slopes than he can realistically control his skis, except by having a clear, straight lane in front of him. Unfortunately on some days, that might be more than 50% of the skiers out there, even on the greens. But i keep thinking about how i should modify my situational awareness, including a reminder not to get "locked into" a drill or task on a moderately populated slope & to keep the scan going even occasionally uphill slightly AFA possible.

It's worth reflecting as well, how many minor "accidents" of every sort we all sometimes have many days of every year. Hopefully we can all get through life without causing any big ones or major damage to other people.

 

[Wade]

I was involved in a, bizarre but relatively low consequence “hit and run” yesterday.

My group and I had just clicked in and started skating to the lift in a reasonably busy base area. As I’m passing below one of many slow signs in the base area, I look to my left just in time to see a guy tail gunning directly at me at maybe 15 to 20mph. I had just enough time to brace myself and get my forearms up. I’m a bit bigger than the guy who hit me and was in a pretty strong position braced against my ski at contact, and I managed to stay on my feet while the other guy went down.

I ask the guy if he’s alright while my friends are asking if I’m ok. I tell them I’m fine (although now my rib hurts a bit) but the other guy doesn’t say a word as he’s getting himself together and back on his feet. I ask again and if he’s ok and get no answer. I assume he’s ok and move on to letting him know that there’s a reason they have slow signs all over the base area, and that he’s lucky he didn’t really hurt someone. The guy just looks at me and still doesn’t say anything. One of my friends says something to him along the same lines - the guy stays silent and starts to ski away.

I guess it doesn’t really matter given no one was seriously hurt, but what a weird reaction - I can’t imagine hitting someone hard like this guy did, and not only not checking if they’re ok and apologizing, but completely ignoring them and pretending like the whole thing never happened.

 

[Rudi Riet]

I assume he’s ok and move on to letting him know that there’s a reason they have slow signs all over the base area, and that he’s lucky he didn’t really hurt someone. The guy just looks at me and still doesn’t say anything. One of my friends says something to him along the same lines - the guy stays silent and starts to ski away.

I guess it doesn’t really matter given no one was seriously hurt, but what a weird reaction - I can’t imagine hitting someone hard like this guy did, and not only not checking if they’re ok and apologizing, but completely ignoring them and pretending like the whole thing never happened.

When this happens where I coach I immediately get on the Ski Patrol channel and call them in. The intercept happens at the top of the lift. Most times they are let off with a warning, sometimes the offender has their pass deactivated for the remainder of the day.

Most people are apologetic - it's a good teaching moment. It's also why all of my young racer athletes are read the riot act about skiing fast in slow zones. When they're in the roped-off and fenced-in training venue they're allowed to open the throttle to their heart's content. Anywhere else on the mountain? Slow going, do some low-speed drills to work on skills, help those who have fallen, be ambassadors for the sport and for the mountain (we even do this at mountains where we are guests).

There are some folks who just don't want to hear anything that bursts their personal bubble of "this is for me, all others can get bent." They ignore the fact that they agreed to Terms of Service and the Skier Code when they purchased their pass. Caveat emptor.

 

[crgildart]

I was involved in a, bizarre but relatively low consequence “hit and run” yesterday.

My group and I had just clicked in and started skating to the lift in a reasonably busy base area. As I’m passing below one of many slow signs in the base area, I look to my left just in time to see a guy tail gunning directly at me at maybe 15 to 20mph. I had just enough time to brace myself and get my forearms up. I’m a bit bigger than the guy who hit me and was in a pretty strong position braced against my ski at contact, and I managed to stay on my feet while the other guy went down.

I ask the guy if he’s alright while my friends are asking if I’m ok. I tell them I’m fine (although now my rib hurts a bit) but the other guy doesn’t say a word as he’s getting himself together and back on his feet. I ask again and if he’s ok and get no answer. I assume he’s ok and move on to letting him know that there’s a reason they have slow signs all over the base area, and that he’s lucky he didn’t really hurt someone. The guy just looks at me and still doesn’t say anything. One of my friends says something to him along the same lines - the guy stays silent and starts to ski away.

I guess it doesn’t really matter given no one was seriously hurt, but what a weird reaction - I can’t imagine hitting someone hard like this guy did, and not only not checking if they’re ok and apologizing, but completely ignoring them and pretending like the whole thing never happened.

Maybe he did not speak English?

 

[Wade]

Maybe he did not speak English?

I guess that’s possible. He also may have been mute or he could have had laryngitis. Given he made no effort (verbally, through hand gestures or even facial expressions) to apologize or to communicate in any way shape or form, Occam’s razor would suggest he was just a d!ck.

 

[François Pugh]

I guess that’s possible. He also may have been mute or he could have had laryngitis. Given he made no effort (verbally, through hand gestures or even facial expressions) to apologize or to communicate in any way shape or form, Occam’s razor would suggest he was just a d!ck.

or dazed and confused

 

[Rudi Riet]

or dazed and confused

Or had earbuds in that obscured outside noises - i.e. with active noise cancellation activated.

That's a big problem in participatory sports these days. I see it all the time on my bicycle rides and it's patently dangerous. On skis? Likely far worse given the more variable vectors at play.

 

[cantunamunch]

Am I the only one starting to suspect the impact was intentional and the guy was either too embarrassed that the knockdown failed or too into himself to say anything?

Herself has been hit by intentional tail gunners. At Rudi's home area no less.