Basic Mountain Etiquette - a crazy story

[Tricia]

24.05.2016: Shattered Spring
This story that was shared by @cem on Facebook is crazy. I can't imagine being Minna Riihimaki, and going through the ordeal, from a skier who jumped into her line without using etiquette, to the wait for emergency crews while others were continuing to ski and create more slough for her to contend with, to..... the whole ordeal.

From her story
my return to the sporting world will be long and laborious, but at least i’m still here for the fight. i’m going to put my faith in medicine. i’m paying the price for the recklessness of others, for a failure to respect basic mountain rules. can’t you wait 30 seconds for someone to finish skiing their line and get in a sheltered spot? you shouldn’t even have to ask yourself that!


We debate the skiers responsibility code from time to time, but the type of terrain and skiing that is being talked about in this blog is terrain that you'd expect a Mountain Etiquette to be followed. Its critical!

 

[Kneale Brownson]

"i always lock my bindings to not lose my skis on a run. it’s a personal choice." So no binding release (except for the one that broke, thus preventing injury) meant big damage to the leg where the locked binding (whatever that means) stayed on.

 

[Core2]

So European skiers are d*cks but we already know that.

 

[SBrown]

"i always lock my bindings to not lose my skis on a run. it’s a personal choice." So no binding release (except for the one that broke, thus preventing injury) meant big damage to the leg where the locked binding (whatever that means) stayed on.

Having that one ski on quite likely prevented her from falling further, though, saving her life.

 

[Core2]

Having that one ski on quite likely prevented her from falling further, though, saving her life.

Maybe, maybe not. She may have had an easier time self arresting by digging her boot heels in which would be tough to do with one ski on.

 

[SBrown]

Maybe, maybe not. She may have had an easier time self arresting by digging her boot heels in which would be tough to do with one ski on.

Maybe. But the main reason skiers lock toes on exposed descents is that breaking a leg is preferable to dying.

 

[Monique]

That X Ray is ... ughhh.

 

[Monique]

Obviously she anticipated flak, which is why she added, "It's a personal choice." But I believe Tricia started this thread not to discuss the skier's equipment choices, but rather the fact that in big mountain terrain, etiquette isn't just a nicety - it's a matter of risking another person's life, not just your own.

 

[Core2]

Obviously she anticipated flak, which is why she added, "It's a personal choice." But I believe Tricia started this thread not to discuss the skier's equipment choices, but rather the fact that in big mountain terrain, etiquette isn't just a nicety - it's a matter of risking another person's life, not just your own.

I agree with that but as far as this post goes this lady is skiing off piste in one of the most core places to ski on earth. You'd think she would know by experience that idiots would be dropping in above her, regardless of big mountain etiquette, and that taking a fall where she did would be a very bad thing. People were obviously in a rush to drop in since it was their first runs of the day, her included. We've all been in those scenarios and seen what people do in the first run frenzies, etiquette goes out the window. Some of this incident can also be chocked up to sh*t happens, skiing is dangerous. It is easy to blame others when you have one of the crappiest days of your life I guess.

 

[fatbob]

Idris has some interesting eyewitness comments on snowheads. Certainly not as clear cut a issue of blame as the blog would hold out.

As for shitshow imagine the race for the fingers on a powder day if KT22 were served by a tram.

 

[Tricia]

Maybe. But the main reason skiers lock toes on exposed descents is that breaking a leg is preferable to dying.

I was thinking along the same lines. I've only had to self arrest once and it wasn't easy. Lets face it, if you are in a position to have to self arrest, you're not in an ideal situation anyway.

 

[Tricia]

Idris has some interesting eyewitness comments on snowheads. Certainly not as clear cut a issue of blame as the blog would hold out.

As for shitshow imagine the race for the fingers on a powder day if KT22 were served by a tram.

I haven't been on SnowHeads in a bit.
I just popped in to read this thread and find it very interesting..
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125854#2896756

 

[SBrown]

I don't know exactly what this descent looked like, but her account made it sound like she really needed to stop before ending up in the schrund. On the other hand (there is always an other hand), I'm just remembering that there was fresh snow, so locking toes when avalanche is a possibility isn't necessarily a good idea. As she said, personal choice, and there are reasons to do both. Hell, I came out of a locked Dynafit toe while skinning the other night. That was on the complete opposite spectrum of radness as skiing a couloir in Cham, of course.

 

[crgildart]

What exactly is the skiers code (informal here of course) for how much room to give and how to manage sluff when overtaking someone skiing powder? I would think on an avalanche risk day skiers would go one at a time for the entire run. However, I've never seen that happen anywhere within an easy hike of lift served skiing. It's a spit show where folks are just trying to avoid actually hitting eachother without much regard for what happens after a collision free pass.

 

[pais alto]

I was just yesterday reading accounts (I think in TGR?) of how in Chamonix there are so many people skiing and climbing that the normal 'rules' of not dropping in above someone aren't followed because there's always someone below you - you'd never get to ski anything. The customs that are common other places may not be in use there - which is to say, I hear Cham is a shitshow.

People without much steep ski mountaineering experience should probably refrain from comments on equipment choices, etc. There's a time for everything, including breaking rules.

 

[Core2]

From the other board.

"I was on the bridge on the Midi watching the events in the above unfold. Minna got hurt because she and others were very stupid. She did not get hit by anyone's slough, she was skiing much to wildly for the location, let alone the conditions (and I'll come to that in a min). The person in front - about 10 seconds ahead had just crashed spectacularly (something not mentioned in any of the blog or similar accounts I've read) so she should have already stopped. "

So she did to someone else what she is complaining about in her blog post?

 

[Tricia]

From the other board.

"I was on the bridge on the Midi watching the events in the above unfold. Minna got hurt because she and others were very stupid. She did not get hit by anyone's slough, she was skiing much to wildly for the location, let alone the conditions (and I'll come to that in a min). The person in front - about 10 seconds ahead had just crashed spectacularly (something not mentioned in any of the blog or similar accounts I've read) so she should have already stopped. "

So she did to someone else what she is complaining about in her blog post?

That's how I understand it.

 

[Monique]

TBH, in the first section of the post, I noticed that she talked about other people charging the tram and charging for first tracks without seemingly any awareness that she was part of the press. It is good to get balancing points of view. It still sucks for anyone to make a mistake and pay for it with such a disastrous injury - especially an athlete if she makes her living that way.

It's another reminder of how dangerous mountain activities can be, and how much good snow blinds us to our own risk and behavior.

I have also been in a situation where I felt that the other person had been in the wrong, but my friends were clear that I was as much at fault as the other person. Neither of us were scanning aggressively enough for an area with multiple vectors to the lift.

 

[cantunamunch]

So European skiers are d*cks but we already know that.

'coz nesting and offsetting lines is so common in the US?

 

[Nieve]

So European skiers are d*cks but we already know that.

I'm from Europe. Guess I'm not welcome here.