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chilehed

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scott43

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I don't know what the precedent is, but sitting in the cheap seats, it's pretty stupid to operate a grooming machine on an open slope. Call me crazy but..
 

Nathanvg

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Groomers on open slopes is a common practice. As far as I know these injuries are rare. Groomers also don't suddenly move as the plaintiff suggests. It's a sad injury but it sounds like the snowboarder got too close to the cat and either lost control or didn't anticipate the cat changing direction.
 
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chilehed

chilehed

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I don't know what the precedent is, but sitting in the cheap seats, it's pretty stupid to operate a grooming machine on an open slope. Call me crazy but..
It's not uncommon, and anyone skiing in control can easily avoid them. In my book, someone who skis close enough to get run over by one is grossly negligent in being there.
 

scott43

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Yeah maybe..to me it sounds like, hey, let's cut the grass using the tractor and mower deck during the football game.. Like, what could possibly go wrong? Just run around the tractor. Not wearing seatbelts was pretty common practice..doesn't make it good practice. But if you win the lawsuit, not much motivation to change, is there? :huh:
 

Kneale Brownson

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Can't get any fresher groom than just behind the groomer!! Not the safest place to slide, though.
 

scott43

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I have to say I've never seen an active groomer on an open slope in forty years. Seen a helicopter land on an open slope though .
 

Tricia

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Groomers also don't suddenly move as the plaintiff suggests.
I was thinking the same thing.
From a heavy equipment operator standpoint, this kind of equipment doesn't move suddenly.
It's not uncommon, and anyone skiing in control can easily avoid them. In my book, someone who skis close enough to get run over by one is grossly negligent in being there.
This.
Again, sorry for her terrible injuries, but her story doesn't seem feasible.
 

Tricia

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I have to say I've never seen an active groomer on an open slope in forty years. Seen a helicopter land on an open slope though .
Its not often, but I have seen a groomer on an open slope, probably a couple times in the past year.
 

KingGrump

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Lots of resorts run cats and snowmobiles during open hours.
She probably loss control and ran into the cat.
I can understand collision with a fast moving snowmobile. Cats move pretty slowly.

Vail routinely groom their slopes during the ski day with skiers on the hill.

vail-grooming.jpg
 

RachelV

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I have to say I've never seen an active groomer on an open slope in forty years. Seen a helicopter land on an open slope though .

Breck used to groom a run on peak 7 at noon. I, a very intermediate but overly confident skier of maybe 25 at the time, would absolutely FLY down behind it.

In summary: people are dumb, and I don’t know why any resort would do that without using ski patrol or something to keep people away from the cats.
 

François Pugh

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I was thinking the same thing.
From a heavy equipment operator standpoint, this kind of equipment doesn't move suddenly.

This.
Again, sorry for her terrible injuries, but her story doesn't seem feasible.

Skier is responsible for avoiding SNOWCATS ahead of her. Snowcats don't move fast, but they can turn surprisingly quickly given their size. I'm guessing she misjudged how quickly the cat could turn, just like someone snowboarding down a run and not expecting the skier to turn into their line.

Best to give a wide berth and not ski/snowboard anywhere that the skier/snowboarder/snowcat/moving tree/whatever ahead can possibly hit you no matter how they turn or what they do.

About 35 years ago I did see a snowcat coming up the hill on a run as I was flying over a rise on the way down. My skis got back on the snow just in time to avoid the cat. Yeah, sorry about that, Mr. Snowcat Driver; I didn't mean to scare the crap out of you.

The run may have been closed, but I didn't know. I had started from the top of the mountain with no idea of my path except down until I reached a lower elevation and could tell I was on a run. It was snowing and the top of the mountain, and at least back then it was all snow ghosts and nothing but deep snow everywhere with nothing to show where you were on the trail map. I probably came down in between runs and then came out on a closed run.
 

VickiK

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"Her attorney, Jae Y. Lee, said he thought the liability waiver should not apply because he believed the resort showed gross negligence in operating the snow tractor on a ski slope that was still open to visitors."

I've seen plenty of grooming taking place during hours of operation. It's very sad that happened to her but the resort is not at fault.
 

Bill Miles

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At Sun Valley on the fairly rare occasions that snowcats operate on open runs, there are always several ski area personnel behind it to warm the public away. I am not qualified to say whether this practice constitutes a legal or industry standard.
 

pud

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Mammoth always runs the snowcats during the warm spring days to groom and spread sodium chloride pellets . Its one of the features that makes Mammoth a great spring skiing area. If you run into a cat, it would have to be the skier/snowboarders fault.
 

graham418

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A few years ago in Ontario at a private club, a lady was run over by a sno-cat that was going back and forth digging a hole for the up coming spring pond skim, She somehow skied in behind it as it started to back up and was crushed. The machine had all the requisite flashers and beepers, but apparently that wasn't enough. There was a lawsuit (she was a judge to boot!) No more machines during open hours
 

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