Wipe-out etiquette

I have absolutely no idea what a workable solution would be to reduce the number of collisions on the ski slopes short of a common sense brain implant becoming compulsary for all ....

I have always been a bit cautious of others - from driving, sailing, cycling and skiing. Probably my dad's fault - he always took the view that there is no such thing as a fault free accident, talking about driving mainly - awareness is the key, being prepared for the actions and reactions of others.

It is my understanding that in some USA resorts there is some sort of piste police, with spped cameras and the right to take away lift passes. Don't know if this is a good idea or not.

I do think that there will be some sort of change in how all of us are expected to use, or allowed to use, the slopes over the coming years. The increase in litigation between individual skiers/boarders etc and between individuals and resorts will probably lead to this.

I don't think that any particular group is primarily at fault - some "blame" the "inexperienced" - skiing too fast, others "blame" the experienced "skiing too fast", others "blame" those not following "etiquette", others "blame" drinking at lunchtime, others "blame" the resort for not marking/maintaining runs appropriately.

I just hope that changes come about in a way that is practical and pragmatic rather than driven by fear of litigation.

OldAndy wrote:I have absolutely no idea what a workable solution would be to reduce the number of collisions on the ski slopes short of a common sense brain implant becoming compulsory for all ....

I have always been a bit cautious of others - from driving, sailing, cycling and skiing. Probably my dad's fault - he always took the view that there is no such thing as a fault free accident, talking about driving mainly - awareness is the key, being prepared for the actions and reactions of others.

It is my understanding that in some USA resorts there is some sort of piste police, with speed cameras and the right to take away lift passes. Don't know if this is a good idea or not.

I do think that there will be some sort of change in how all of us are expected to use, or allowed to use, the slopes over the coming years. The increase in litigation between individual skiers/boarders etc and between individuals and resorts will probably lead to this.

I don't think that any particular group is primarily at fault - some "blame" the "inexperienced" - skiing too fast, others "blame" the experienced "skiing too fast", others "blame" those not following "etiquette", others "blame" drinking at lunchtime, others "blame" the resort for not marking/maintaining runs appropriately.

I just hope that changes come about in a way that is practical and pragmatic rather than driven by fear of litigation.

Now let me think, I am all for a first time warning but get caught misbehaving again then bring back the Guillotine ........ That should put a stop to it :thumbup:

Ian Wickham wrote:
Now let me think, I am all for a first time warning but get caught misbehaving again then bring back the Guillotine ........ That should put a stop to it :thumbup:

That is probably a view held by many Austrian Taxi drivers as well Ian.
:mrgreen:

OldAndy wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:
Now let me think, I am all for a first time warning but get caught misbehaving again then bring back the Guillotine ........ That should put a stop to it :thumbup:

That is probably a view held by many Austrian Taxi drivers as well Ian.
:mrgreen:

A lot of the mountain restaurant staff as well when I had a French day and only spoke french to them ..... :lol:

daved wrote:there have been ski police in Italy for years and coming back from 3V last week i notice may posters on the lift pylons advising of piste patrolers and the penalties..so something is happening...One of the reasons I am not keen on helmets is that it restricts your awareness....mind you people tend to ski round me as I am 6'4" and 115k

I have seen the posters but never the ski police and remember daved big is beautiful :wink:

Trencher wrote:I am now at the stage where if someone collides with me from behind, unless I'm totally sure that both my gear and myself are unscathed, I want contact info. It's often not until later that you find your skis have been damaged, or worse that you have an injury that was not apparent in the adrenalin rush of the collision. It's hard to have your wits about in that situation, so you need to mentally rehearse your reaction beforehand.

Anyway, glad you are OK, and what a great addition to the J2ski lexicon "what in fluffy snow's sake".

I have some sympathy for this Trencher.

At the beginning of our recent holiday, my girlfriend and I were skiing down a wide blue run in Sunshine Village with a friend on a bluebird day with great snow conditions for carving. I was slightly ahead of her and we were all skiing at some pace. There was hardly anybody else on the run. As I made a turn to the left I could just make out the clattering of skis and some shouting uphill to my left. Knowing there was no one else on the run, I knew it had to be my GF or our friend and so I slammed on the breaks. By the time I had traversed to where my GF and friend had assembled everybody had a chance to dust themselves off. My GF said she was fine. It turned out that somebody from another group that had been following us had skied straight over theback of my girlfriends skis and into her. They must have been going incredibly fast given we were going at some speed, and were obviously out of control. The other party had stopped slightly uphill from us when the person responsible thought it would be a good move to ski down and offer his apology. This was given in a very matter of fact 'oh everybody is fine but sorry about that' matey sort of way. Once my GF and our friend had skied on, I had a few chillingly serious choice words with this guy, basically telling him that he needs to ski in control and that he is very, very lucky that she was not injured. 'I do normally' he says....

Well that's just fine then mate. You ski in control most of the time, but we'll just forgive you when you almost kill or seriously injure our loved ones on the odd occasion you forget or can't be bothered. Remember, anybody could have been skiing this run.

He skied off without the matey "oh don't wory about it mate" response he sought and under no illusions that I was anything but extremely angry. Hopefully he was a bit more careful.

As it turns out, she was mildly injured. The adrenaline had masked the fact that she had hurt her shoulder. It turned out that she was fine after a couple of days (just some bruising) but we were initially not sure whether she would need to get it checked out.

The bottom line is that some idiot who clearly poseses the ability to ski in control but couldn't be bothered, had injured and thus affected the enjoment of her holiday for at least two days. It could have been much worse. Now I wish I had taken this guy's details if only to make him realise the seriousnes of what he had done.

There is only one rule when it comes to responsibility on marked pistes. If you crash into somebody ahead of you it is your fault. Period. It does not matter if you are a beginner or a level 4 ski instructor, or whether the person you crash into is a beginner or a downhill champion. It does not matter if it's a green, blue, black, double or triple black diamond run. It is your responsibility to stay in control and leave plenty of room.

Being a good resort skier isn't about being able to ski a black mogle run at 50 mph. It is about being able to ski any run safely and in control no matter what speed you are travelling. To be aware of those around you and equally to ensure that you don't spook people out. That actually takes some skill.

steverandomno wrote:
Being a good resort skier isn't about being able to ski a black mogle run at 50 mph. It is about being able to ski any run safely and in control no matter what speed you are travelling. To be aware of those around you and equally to ensure that you don't spook people out. That actually takes some skill.

Well said.

Boarder wiped me out a couple of eyars ago, he was uphill of me and should have given way, except he was looking up-piste and had his back to me.

Long story short, mahoosive bruise on my calf where his board slammed into me/my ski boot, he did ask if I was okay but then sped off.

Frightened the living daylights out of me and ruined our last day as I was pretty much out of action, added to that my gaffer had badly broken her leg skiing not 2 weeks previously to this. Couple of inches higher and I'd have had asmashed knee. Still a bit cautous when I hear the scrape of a board behind me....

scapula wrote:

OldAndy wrote:His fault Smartski - plain and simple.

In all conditions, no matter what the lower skier does - uphill skiers gives way.

However daft, unpredictable, plain crazy is the "route" of the lower skier - uphill gives way and avoids.

end of ........

I have to say I am in complete agreement with this ...however there are exceptions notably when a boarder on his back edge jumps onto the piste (off the lip) with his back to you i.e. not looking uphill ..What can you do? very nasty incident here last year involving this action
P.S. This is not a dig at boarders in any way could be a skier but the stance on a board makes you more "uphill blind"