How to Control Access to the Whiteface Slides?

Really. If you need to take a course to use a beacon efficiently you need to wear a helmet when you drive your car.

This is a great debate but was anyone in the slides today and what was it like?
I will never buy the equipment to be in there when needed but when I don't need it,I am there...if I can

Now I’ve seen it all!  MC comes in with his sadly predictable, contrarian liberal, anti-tall, anti-money, class warfare, #tRumpisfuckinguptheSlides blabitty-blah-🤮.....because, really, what else is a short, ugly, poor libtard gonna do ......and PT agrees with him!  Damn, did SJ hi jack PT’s account?

And we had to suffer thru that just for MC to say we should put the traverse in back where it used to be!



I’m just messing with you, Matt....you know that!

Why do you think I'm short?

tjf1967 wrote

Really. If you need to take a course to use a beacon efficiently you need to wear a helmet when you drive your car.

Multiple burials can be complicated. Avie 1 courses are great introductions to how complicated safe alpine travel can be sometimes. It does sort of seem like they are designed to scare the shit out of people.

If WF only requires you to have a beacon and not at least a shovel their policy is ridiculous. They are then blatantly admitting that it's a BS policy for thinning the heard and has nothing to do with snow safety. It's just silly!

I guess it's good for the guy in town that sells beacons.

People ruin everything.

Hello everyone,

I mainly only use this website for the weather section which is extremely helpful, and thank you to whoever created it. I have only posted maybe a few times when I first created this account and only check the forums once in a while to see peoples opinions on current conditions; however, reading through the arguement on the slides beacon policy had me wanting to post my 2 cents for whatever it is worth.

I disagree that the slides should require a beacon at all times. It pretty much blocks the slides from anybody who may not be able to afford a beacon. For example, I am a college student and do not have the financial means to buy a beacon right now; however, I am a pretty good skier, and I have skied the slides before on a sunny spring day a few years ago and it was one of my favorite skiing days ever. Just because I cant afford a beacon does not mean that i shouldnt be able to ski the slides, and the posts on here make it sound like many who want to require beacons all the time want this policy for selfish reasons like enjoying the slides with less people. Rentals might be a better option but i still believe making money the barrier is a terrible idea. There are plenty of great skiers that are not financially stable.

Now that I got that off my chest, I was thinking about skipping class later in the week to hit up the slides. Are conditions still holding up well or should i wait for it to warm up and soften a little bit?

raisingarizona wrote

If WF only requires you to have a beacon and not at least a shovel their policy is ridiculous. They are then blatantly admitting that it's a BS policy for thinning the heard and has nothing to do with snow safety. It's just silly!

I guess it's good for the guy in town that sells beacons.

People ruin everything.

We've all been just saying beacon to simplify the discussion, but it is beacon/shovel/probe.

Good post, Atomicski.

I mentioned the financial aspect because I also would have had a tough time coming up with the money when I was in college.

Unfortunately, whenever I say something about that, I'm a poor, anti-money, class warfare liberal to the guy on here who can afford to book trips out west one week in advance when the snow is good.

So, I'm sure he's ready to attack you for being "poor". God help you if you have a band aid on your thumb.

(Oh yeah, right, JTG. They're some of your hilarious "jokes". Real funny, man. Keep up the good work)

Guys I am serious about keeping the politics in the OT.

Unlike Snowhunter, I have no problem with Whiteface Conditions drifting into the Slides/Beacon discussion.

But I do not want partisan stuff in here. I don't ask for much, give me this.

Atomicski wrote

I mainly only use this website for the weather section which is extremely helpful, and thank you to whoever created it.

Atomicski, are you talking about the weather forum, or the 12 weather pages linked in the top nav? Or both?

If you are talking about the weather pages, I really appreciate you speaking out. I worked very hard to create them.

Next year we will be adding a very cool feature that I think you might dig, to be announced this summer.

Silver status officially requires beacon/shovel/probe.....but it doesn’t, really.  Yeah, I think once in all the times I’ve been in they asked to see my shovel, but they usually only check beacons.  On Saturday there were guys with beacons but no packs that were allowed in.

The idea of beacons to thin the herd isn’t really ridiculous in this instance, I don’t think.  For safety sake, and not avalanche safety sake, it is probably important to control the amount of traffic in there at times.  This is patrolled territory we are talking about, so Patrol’s ability to get a sled in and out if needed probably comes in to play.  Resources do as well.  Probably why you see transitions from Silver to Gold during a day, because activity gets easier for everyone, skiers and Patrol, once the Slides get skied in.

Sorry Harvey!  I’ll only joke with people who have a sense of humor, and I won’t do it here.

I'm calling bs if you can afford to ski you can afford a probe.  It's not a perfect system but it is fair.  If I have the gear I can get on the lift at Bridger bowl. No shovel and probe.

tjf1967 wrote

I'm calling bs if you can afford to ski you can afford a probe.  It's not a perfect system but it is fair.  If I have the gear I can get on the lift at Bridger bowl. No shovel and probe.

College Ski3 pass is $399. Beacons are $185 for the cheapest I can find? So, basically 1/3 of a year of skiing for a beacon? Seems like a lot of money to a college kid.

JTG4eva! wrote

 people who have a sense of humor....

I have a sense of humor, but "Hahaha, you're an asshole *20 emojis*" isn't a joke, man.

I wasn't calling you out specifically.

If you want to quote something here and paste it into the OT go for it.  Was not an easy decision to allow politics, as it definitely drives people away. I still think it was the right thing to do, but I don't want every forum to be a few people arguing the same points in every thread.

I don't think it's an underdeveloped sense of humor. I've invested a ton of myself in this place and I want it to continue to be valuable and grow.

He can go to his dad just like you did. Come on you can get them for 80 bucks. Less than a decent helmet.. or goggles or skis or boots. And if you truly can't afford it tough shit go collect cans until you have enough money.

Harvey,

Mostly all the weather pages, but I do check the forums for opinions on the weather data because I don’t have much experience reading models.

I cant wait to see the new feature this summer.