Accident Avoided (by an inch)

I skied with my two boys Ryan and Drew 5&7.  We were skiing at Gore. on Saturday the 16th, just off the Straight Brook Chair making our way down.   I made the mistake of not keeping my eye on my kids nor the terrain (guard down).  My son Drew was under a knoll and out of sight.  The section of the mountain was the bottom an intersection where one should slow down due to congestion.  A bomber decided that this was a Tuesday instead of of a Holiday Saturday and hit the knoll at 30 to 40 MPH with air.  My son Drew had the effect of a bullet brushing by his head (does that say enough).  The guy did not even stop to register what he could have done.  I feel that the good Lord was watching out for him.  

After what I saw, which I could not really believe, we skied as fast as possible to the lift, but I could not locate him.  He knew what he did and got back up asap.   Then I saw him on double barrel,  on the way up and I let him have it.  He said he was sorry.  I still told him to slow down or he was going to kill someone.  He is probably a great guy and a great skier,  who forgot about everyone but himself.  I am sure he would not want an accident with a child on his conscience.    Bottom line we need to be very very aware where we put our kids and ourselves in peril.  There are always going to be bombers who just do not care.  Also,  I think mountains need to do a better job at slowing down skiers when and where it counts, and be more liberal about pulling passes (or subjecting bombers to one hour long movies about how unchecked speed kills)

SirSkier

this is all too common, It must be stressed that the downhill skier has the right of way. I hate to say it but snowboarders seem to be the worst , made all the more dangerous by listening to music , I'm not stereotyping in the last few days out  I have been hit by a snowboarder who was the only other person on a slope wider than a football field. I have been passed by inches while I was skiing close to the side of a trail which cliffed off, and saw a boarder crash into a skier who had been stopped at the side of a trail, now skiers aren't impervious to this type of conduct either but all must respect others on the slopes. Many of the best skiers and riders are dismissive of their less skilled slopes brothers. This is a terribly dangerous attitude , being good and skilled doesn't give you a license to ride roughshod over everyone else. When I saw the boarder crash into the stopped skier, another guy on the lift said hey sh+t happens, yeah, but this didn't have to happen. The skier who got hit wasn't getting up while we watched , that's just plain wrong. ps some of my best friends are snowboarders

No body likes pulling tickets.  How about a penalty box where you have to go sit for an hour with no electronic gizmos?

Glad disaster was avoided.  This is not a commentary on your episode, as I don't know the trail location very well.  If it was a slow skiing/congested/merge kind of area, especially on a crowded holiday weekend, skiers have to use common sense and slow down when circumstances warrant.  I'm sure the guy was in the wrong and you had a right to call him out.

That said, one thing I always stress with my kids when we ski together is knowing appropriate places to stop mid trail. Skiers coming down need to be cognizant of skiers below them.  However, skiers stopping on a trail need to know that other skiers will be coming down, so stopping in the middle of the trail, or around a blind corner, or anyplace where the uphill skier can't see you....bad idea.  Even though it's the uphill skiers responsibility to avoid you, I teach the kids not to put themselves in a bad spot.  Looking uphill before they start down again is another thing I have to remind them of..

Glad Drew is OK and that the Good Lord was watching out for him.  Thanks for sharing your story. As a volunteer patroller I don't pull tickets but it reminds me to have a friendly chat when I see someone bombing in a congested area

Skidds wrote

That said, one thing I always stress with my kids when we ski together is knowing appropriate places to stop mid trail. Skiers coming down need to be cognizant of skiers below them.  However, skiers stopping on a trail need to know that other skiers will be coming down, so stopping in the middle of the trail, or around a blind corner, or anyplace where the uphill skier can't see you....bad idea.  Even though it's the uphill skiers responsibility to avoid you, I teach the kids not to put themselves in a bad spot.  Looking uphill before they start down again is another thing I have to remind them of..

Quoting for Emphasis.

Yes yes - we snowboarders are a menace...

You know who else is a menace in high traffic areas?

Skiers that insist on showing off with their laid out ski school carves at the runout..
Really pisses me off...  Here I am just trying to make sure I don't end up on JPs shitlist for the sake of everyone who's strapped a deck on..  And I have to worry about some yahoo taking up way too much real estate and going way too fast...

The ONLY time I EVER hit someone was when a skier carved his way in front of me while I was riding the edge..  I crushed him..  Came in from behind and shot in front of me..  He had it coming...

dmc_hunter wrote

Yes yes - we snowboarders are a menace...

The ONLY time I EVER hit someone was when a skier carved his way in front of me while I was riding the edge..  I crushed him..  Came in from behind and shot in front of me..  He had it coming...

let me guess: he got in thru your blind side, which is essentially your full left or right side, shielding 50% off your view of what goes on the slope next to you. With music on.

An adult snowboarder crashed into my 10 year today on Showcase. She was skiing and he hit her from behind.

gkny wrote

let me guess: he got in thru your blind side, which is essentially your full left or right side, shielding 50% off your view of what goes on the slope next to you. With music on.

Nope... Sorry to bust your 1994 stereotype...

I was coming down to the lift... Checking my speed..   My back to the woods..  Facing out towards the trail... I ride regular.. I saw him coming making the big carves..  But i held my line against the treeline not making any changes in my line..

Oh...
And i saw him coming from behind because I can look behind me while I snowboard..   You'd be surprised our field of vision...   I can see way more around me when I ride than when I ski or tele...

in all fairness, there was one time in my recent skiing years time when I accidentally really screwed up and if it weren't for a snowboarder with superb control, we would have crashed head on. He saved me and himself from serious injuries. But, this was a snowboarder at Whiteface.

dmc_hunter wrote

gkny wrote

let me guess: he got in thru your blind side, which is essentially your full left or right side, shielding 50% off your view of what goes on the slope next to you. With music on.

Nope... Sorry to bust your 1994 stereotype...

I was coming down to the lift... Checking my speed..   My back to the woods..  Facing out towards the trail... I ride regular.. I saw him coming making the big carves..  But i held my line against the treeline not making any changes in my line..

Oh...
And i saw him coming from behind because I can look behind me while I snowboard..   You'd be surprised our field of vision...   I can see way more around me when I ride than when I ski or tele...

Today on Lower Sunway, while coaching Soaring Swan (9 Yr. old bundle of Long Island joy) from Wedge Chrispies to direct-shin parallel, I checked my six with a half-spinny and YELLED "Whoa! Whoa! STOP!" at the Adolt 6'2", 230#+ Royal Blue Blur flailing at 15-20MPH that missed me by an angry inch and slid over Soaring Swan's tails, before auguring into Mother Earth.

The terrified look on his knuckledraggin' Gaper face said it all;  
Horror at what he had almost caused. In his defense, I believe he tried to avoid us, his skill set just didn't begin to match the move he thought he had and the speed he carried.  At least I like to think so.

Soaring Swan asked if he was OK as she slid by him, negotiating a near flawless move over ski-thing-a-ma-jig.  I paraphrased B. A. Barrabass; "Pity the fool, who gets to one of my kids".  No reply at all from the Royal Blue Blob.  I hope he reads this.

Thus endth the Lesson.

gkny wrote

He saved me and himself from serious injuries. But, this was a snowboarder at Whiteface.

??

gkny wrote

in all fairness, there was one time in my recent skiing years time when I accidentally really screwed up and if it weren't for a snowboarder with superb control, we would have crashed head on. He saved me and himself from serious injuries. But, this was a snowboarder at Whiteface.

What the F does Whiteface have to do with this?  

64ER wrote

B. A. Barrabass; "Pity the fool, who gets to one of my kids".  No reply at all from the Royal Blue Blob.  I hope he reads this.

Thus endth the Lesson.

End up in front of me... And I pity the fool as well...  
Like the guy that carved his way into my line - you will go down hard too..

This I guarantee..
Because if your a type A adult male...  And if the It's you.. Or me...
I'm going to make sure it's you...  And your going to remember it...

Have a nice day...

dmc_hunter wrote

64ER wrote

B. A. Barrabass; "Pity the fool, who gets to one of my kids".  No reply at all from the Royal Blue Blob.  I hope he reads this.

Thus endth the Lesson.

End up in front of me... And I pity the fool as well...  
Like the guy that carved his way into my line - you will go down hard too..

This I guarantee..
Because if your a type A adult male...  And if the It's you.. Or me...
I'm going to make sure it's you...  And your going to remember it...

Have a nice day...

 
Nice response, tough guy. You sound like you're a real blast to ski/ride with.

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

dmc_hunter wrote

64ER wrote

B. A. Barrabass; "Pity the fool, who gets to one of my kids".  No reply at all from the Royal Blue Blob.  I hope he reads this.

Thus endth the Lesson.

End up in front of me... And I pity the fool as well...  
Like the guy that carved his way into my line - you will go down hard too..

This I guarantee..
Because if your a type A adult male...  And if the It's you.. Or me...
I'm going to make sure it's you...  And your going to remember it...

Have a nice day...

 
Nice response, tough guy. You sound like you're a real blast to ski/ride with.

Well you'll never know.....  And I could care less..  I ski with a large group on and off and we laugh all day long..  
Hardly ever say a bad thing about anything...  You'd be surprised...

I'm just sick of righteous parents threatening people...
And I stand by my statement... If it's a choice between you and me and your are making some sort of turn that puts you in my way... Your going down...  Because I'm not taking the fall for someone else's type A - testosterone bullshti....

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

dmc_hunter wrote

64ER wrote

B. A. Barrabass; "Pity the fool, who gets to one of my kids".  No reply at all from the Royal Blue Blob.  I hope he reads this.

Thus endth the Lesson.

End up in front of me... And I pity the fool as well...  
Like the guy that carved his way into my line - you will go down hard too..

This I guarantee..
Because if your a type A adult male...  And if the It's you.. Or me...
I'm going to make sure it's you...  And your going to remember it...

Have a nice day...

 
Nice response, tough guy. You sound like you're a real blast to ski/ride with.

I'll be glad to ski w/ DMC any day of the week ---- smiling the entire time  

campgottagopee wrote

I'll be glad to ski w/ DMC any day of the week ---- smiling the entire time  

Hell yeah!!

I'm back in the game this year...
I've been a bit removed from riding the last couple years for some reason...

Stoked!

A similar thing happened to me a couple of years ago at Catamount.  My middle daughter was making steady, slow turns down a green hill.  A guy in his late 30s or 40s came barelling down, and brushed by her.  She fell down but he took a hard tumble.  She got up apologizing, and I told her not to apologize, she had the right of way.  He then said loudly, "Don't give me that crap, right of way.  She jumped out in front of me." Then she started crying.  It took me a year to get her confidence back.

To this day, I think of that guy and what he did (and could have done) to my daughter, and wish he dies a slow, painful death, abandoned by friends and family.

Petronio