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crgildart

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Do they not use park passes to keep people who aren't familiar with park features and protocol out of the terrain park area with the bigger features like a 22 foot half pipe? Park passes are usually free or like $5 but to get one you have to first complete a safety video and short test. Resorts here have the terrain park with the bigger features roped off and an attendant at the gate checking park passes of everyone entering up top.
 
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Coach13

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I guess I’m surprised it wasn’t separated from the normal slopes somehow to prevent an accidental ski in. Maybe that’s not realistic but this wasn’t your everyday recreational half pipe either.
 

GregK

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Every terrain park including this one is fenced off from the regular slope and there is an entrance with warning signs when you enter the Snowmass area this happened in. The jump lines are further fenced off from the half pipe area.

The half pipe is further down into this terrain park, so the skier would have had to pass by many rail and jump features to even get down to the half pipe. Doesn’t sound like a case of “I was just skiing along and ended up on the ledge of the half pipe” by the reports.

Sounds like the skier didn’t judge the steepness of the half pipe and hit their head or something going down off the ledge. Afraid half pipes are much steeper and harder to ski than they appear on tv.

Very sad but it sounds like he was still trying new things and living his life to the fullest at 83.
 

LiquidFeet

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from https://unofficialnetworks.com/2020...-after-falling-into-snowmass-resort-halfpipe/
Image result for snowmass resort halfpipe
 

crabjoe

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Coach13

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Every terrain park including this one is fenced off from the regular slope and there is an entrance with warning signs when you enter the Snowmass area this happened in. The jump lines are further fenced off from the half pipe area.

The half pipe is further down into this terrain park, so the skier would have had to pass by many rail and jump features to even get down to the half pipe. Doesn’t sound like a case of “I was just skiing along and ended up on the ledge of the half pipe” by the reports.

Sounds like the skier didn’t judge the steepness of the half pipe and hit their head or something going down off the ledge. Afraid half pipes are much steeper and harder to ski than they appear on tv.

Very sad but it sounds like he was still trying new things and living his life to the fullest at 83.

So if it’s fenced, how did he accidentally ski into it? Or are you saying he intentionally skied into it?
 

GregK

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So if it’s fenced, how did he accidentally ski into it? Or are you saying he intentionally skied into it?

I don’t know for sure of course but it would be pretty hard to miss entering a fenced enclosure, then passing under the trellis type entrance of that park, passing by numerous jump/rail features to get to the top of the half pipe itself and then skiing up to the wide ledge(instead of just skiing down the flat center of the pipe). Then dropping in from that 22’ tall ledge into the pipe where he apparently fell.
Even if you got “caught” on top of the ledge, you could just ski along the 15’ ledge(or away from the pipe completely off the sides) to the bottom of the pipe without having to enter the pipe itself.

Here’s pics of that pipe from the top and bottom with most Inexperienced riders starting from inside the pipe and maybe going part way up the walls. Only experienced riders drop in from the top ledge of a super pipe/professional height pipe like this.

5D0FA26B-A575-479C-A8A2-2AA6C0E3612D.jpeg

7080668F-96F5-4353-B8FB-27721A8200D1.png
 

crgildart

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It's foggy. He's skiing along under the chair and decides to cut across left not realizing the trick ditch is there.. then :geek:

1581770945901.png
 

Kneale Brownson

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To ski under that chair he'd have to pass through the terrain park entrance. To get into the pipe from the side in the "decided cut across" scenario, he'd have to encounter the outside wall of the half pipe before he could get into the center. I'd say he intended to do something in the pipe or along the groomed area at the top of the walls and made a mistake.
 

Tricia

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Lots of speculating here. The only part of this incident that is clear in the article is that he was found in the 1/2 pipe, there were no witnesses, visibility was low.
Having just skied there a few weeks ago, its pretty clear where the features are in a fenced area.
 

Fuller

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There are plenty of really sharp, fit, 83 year olds that can still do a lot of things on the mountain but sadly for some folks at that age it's easy to get confused. Hell, I'm confused sometimes and I know I'm not as with it as I was as a young man.

But he died with his boots on - literally.
 

mdf

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A lot of jumping to conclusions here... We don't know how good a skier he was. We don't even know if he had half-pipe experience.
 

nunyabiz

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To ski under that chair he'd have to pass through the terrain park entrance. To get into the pipe from the side in the "decided cut across" scenario, he'd have to encounter the outside wall of the half pipe before he could get into the center. I'd say he intended to do something in the pipe or along the groomed area at the top of the walls and made a mistake.
Yeah, it's not like the half pipe is just sitting in the middle of a groomer without any warning. I've only skied at a handful of resorts but the parks have always been well marked at the entrances and have ropes running down the edges so that you can't just ski into them from another run unaware.
 

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