Nearly Killed Today

I was skiing down Hellgate at Hunter and where it changes to 7th Avenue, there's this ledge where you can't see past it.  As there was a ski patrol with a sled, I went slow as there could've been someone hurt beyond it.  Just as I saw it was clear, I kept going.  Then I hear "FUCK" and this idiot in baggy pants on hotdog skis comes flying over the ledge going at least 50 mph.  He was literally over my skis and about 2 feet from my face.  Had I been 2 feet ahead, we would've both been killed or in the ICU at the nearest hospital.  These kind of close calls really piss me off.  How can people not realize that there are other people on the trails.  Patrol should start pulling people over and giving out speeding tickets

PS there were 3 other injuries/hauloffs the same run.

I would never ski at Hunter on a busy weekend if I lived out there. I remember what it was like and honestly, I think that experience totally sucks. I would rather go ride bikes or hike the dogs.

Busy ski runs scare me way more than 80 foot cliff hucks, 70 mph straight lines, or avalanche terrain.

I haven't been back to Hunter since some idiot gaper took my brother out over on West....15 years ago.  Nice terrain, but not worth skiing on a weekend.  

Lesson learned, young man. Never ski Hunter on Saturday. Just walk into the bar at 10 am, and you'll see why.

I don't know about the juju of this thread.  I mean today's ride is one thing. You could have posted in I'm not happy v1 or v2.

Unfortunately I am forced to recount my own experience.  I'm maybe three yards from the edge or Tannery at its widest point resting my telelegs.

Ad far as the eye can see there are only two snoriders me and the other guy. He was behund. I checked him out then turned to look downhill.  He must have made a sharp correction to come within six inches of me. He was airborne as he passed me.

I'm shocked to hear of a near-miss at a busy resort on a Saturday. Shocked, I tell you! The problem is of course that ticket prices are far too low. If only the wealthiest and therefore most deserving among us could afford to ski, it would solve all of the industries woes. Skiers should come together to ban multi-mountain accessible season passes and beg to make a daily ticket at least twice as expensive.

raisingarizona wrote

I would never ski at Hunter on a busy weekend if I lived out there. I remember what it was like and honestly, I think that experience totally sucks. I would rather go ride bikes or hike the dogs.

Busy ski runs scare me way more than 80 foot cliff hucks, 70 mph straight lines, or avalanche terrain.

Post of the year.

Hunter on a weekend considered more dangerous than 80 foot cliff jumps/70mph/avalanche terrain.

Not shocked, just the closeness scared me.  

Trails were not crowded.

ml242 wrote

I'm shocked to hear of a near-miss at a busy resort on a Saturday. Shocked, I tell you! The problem is of course that ticket prices are far too low. If only the wealthiest and therefore most deserving among us could afford to ski, it would solve all of the industries woes. Skiers should come together to ban multi-mountain accessible season passes and beg to make a daily ticket at least twice as expensive.

Oh come on now - that's just plain silly talk. Snow has got all those HSQ put in so that there is massive uphill capacity and no lift lines. Now all we need to do is get people to schedule their runs down the mountain, much like a metered entrance ramp on a freeway. Oh, I better hurry up the lift, I have a 12:45 reservation to take a run down the front side, better bomb it cause I only have the trail for 5 minutes.

Platty was beautiful today and uncrowded as usual. One day you will learn Sno....one day.

snoloco wrote

this idiot in baggy pants on hotdog skis comes flying over the ledge going at least 50 mph.

Probably one of those jocks you were badmouthing earlier...



This definitely deserved its own thread.  It's the type of quality I've come to expect from a ski forum of this caliber.  The other guy is posting on TGR right about this JONG who got in the way of his sick drop.

Hunter is not a TGR subject. If that dude posted, he would have been shamed back to mommy.

Way to take TGR and that joke way too seriously.

Thanks.

Blueboy!

Those damn baggy pants hot dog skiers

Maybe some orange netting would have prevented this whole situation?

Never go to Hunter on a Saturday. Just don't do it. I went on a Sunday once and it was too busy. I can only imagine a Sat. What Marcski said, Plattekill was empty today. Honestly it was sad, and I would have liked to see a few more people buying lift tickets, and beer today. I love Hunter but not on Saturdays. I spent my birthday there, last Wednesday, and it was just me, about 10 others, and 1 tele guy who I ended up spending most of the day with. What's up with me and old tele guys  Come to find out, he has a mid-week pass for this very reason, and he also likes to ski Plattekill occasionally.

I've skied Hunter on many weekends, probably more than most on this forum, and while it does get crowded, you can mostly avoid the worst of it and have a great time.  I like lapping the D-Lift to access the "Front Four" (Racer's Edge, Eisenhower, Gun Hill Road, Kennedy).  Never a line and the first three trails are less crowded.  I also like the F-Lift and West Side, but my favorite lift is the D.  I always spend most of my time on those lifts and rarely wait in line.  I also stay away from the main trails on busy days.  Today the D was offline and some of the trails closed, and many of the ones still open had reduced width, so a greater skier density.  The 6-pack had no more than a couple minutes wait, but they were filling every chair, so more people on the trails.  My close call was caused by some lunatic who wanted to break his speed record on his trace snow app, since there's zero reason to go that fast otherwise.  It could've happened midweek for all I know.

As with any mountain, you can 90% of the time avoid crowds on even the busiest days by riding the lesser lifts.  Go to Hunter on a Saturday and want to ride the 6-pack all day?  You're going to spend much of your day in line.  Use the D, F, and Zephyr lifts and you'll hardly stand in line at all.  Same story at every mountain.  There are also trails that are always less traveled that one can ski instead of the main ones.  Just know your way around and you'll enjoy the day.  

snoloco wrote

  Just know your way around and you'll enjoy the day.

Kind of contradictory of how this thread was started.

Your rehash of the situation seems like you could be at fault for being where you weren't visible. Did you not look up hill before you dumped over the ledge? Why would you dump in without enough time to clear what was approaching from above?

You're whining about something you chose to participate in.