Resort Powder, Gone in 60 seconds

[tromano]

You gotta have fun with it. Looks like those guys were enjoying the competition. Nothing wrong with what they are doing. If you don’t like it go to another place.

 

[François Pugh]

That doesn't look like anything I'm interested in doing.

Speaking of laws and beacons etc.
I miss the freedom of the old days, when you could take a lift to the top, ski down the back side, out of bounds, off-property, where-ever, when-ever with what-ever or whom-ever (or nobody else) you decided to bring with you and nobody gave you any grief about breaking the rules, or tried to have you arrested.

Of course, back then if you called the tune, you accepted that you could have to pay the piper.

 

[Sibhusky]

That doesn't look like anything I'm interested in doing.

Speaking of laws and beacons etc.
I miss the freedom of the old days, when you could take a lift to the top, ski down the back side, out of bounds, off-property, where-ever, when-ever with what-ever or whom-ever (or nobody else) you decided to bring with you and nobody gave you any grief about breaking the rules, or tried to have you arrested.

Of course, back then if you called the tune, you accepted that you could have to pay the piper.

Well you can do it here, perfectly legal. And they've been looking for two weeks for the guy. http://www.kpax.com/story/37634814/...issing-flathead-skier-ramping-up-over-weekend

 

[Goose]

You gotta have fun with it. Looks like those guys were enjoying the competition. Nothing wrong with what they are doing. If you don’t like it go to another place.

And Im sure if someone doesn't care for that, they would indeed not bother with it. Id sure hope they were having fun. I thin we would all be fairly certain its why they were doing it.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I guess that in that situation you need good social skills!

 

[Jacob]

So, in Europe, you are either on an approved groomed trail, or totally out of bounds, with all that entails. There is no in bounds off piste terrain, like trees, bumps and bowls?

And when it snows and fresh powder lays on top of the groomer, are you out of bounds again?

Just asking.

Technically, when you go outside of the piste markers, then you're off piste. That said, there is some terrain just to the side of pistes that is controlled because it would cause a danger to pistes or structures below. Also, some terrain isn't steep enough to cause a real danger, and some terrain usually doesn't have any layers built up because it gets skied practically every day. So, there is a lot of terrain that is safe, but it's mixed in with terrain that can be dangerous, and there are no markers to indicate which is which.

If there's any powder on the groomers and the groomers are open, then you're fine. If there's a massive amount of snow that would make the groomers dangerous, which has happened a few times this year, then they'll be roped off or the lifts servicing them will be stopped.

 

[Tricia]

For what its worth, I think this thread was posted as entertainment, but its also a good discussion about powder etiquette and avalanche dangers wherever we ski on this planet.
The major slides we've seen in Tahoe this past week make you think about Pow days in general, rope drops, avalanches and etiquette, Oh MY!

Here's one report

 

[Core2]

For what its worth, I think this thread was posted as entertainment, but its also a good discussion about powder etiquette and avalanche dangers wherever we ski on this planet.
The major slides we've seen in Tahoe this past week make you think about Pow days in general, rope drops, avalanches and etiquette, Oh MY!

Here's one report

The last few days have been crazy as far as avalanches and tree well accidents go. I hope it was just a coincidence of conditions and we don't keep seeing this the rest of the season.

 

[Nathanvg]

Just curious is it the odds of an in bounds slide that is rare or that having a beacon would save your life?

Both but the odds of a slide are so low. Per outside magazine:

Since 1950, when we started keeping track of such things, 37 people have died in avalanches at ski areas, in terrain that was open for skiing.

There are 25 million skier days in the west US per year. Those are extremely low odds.

 

[Eleeski]

Both but the odds of a slide are so low. Per outside magazine:

Since 1950, when we started keeping track of such things, 37 people have died in avalanches at ski areas, in terrain that was open for skiing.

There are 25 million skier days in the west US per year. Those are extremely low odds.

Low odds? But I did just buy a lottery ticket.

 

[tball]

Just guessing, but 99% of those 25 million skier days are not going near inbounds avalanche terrain. And 99.9% are not skiing avalanche terrain on big powder days. If you are, your risk is probably two to three orders of magnitude greater.

 

[Wilhelmson]

That's why web surfing has become so popular. Unless you really piss someone off all hit can hurt is your brain.

 

[Ken_R]

wow! https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/watch-its-a-pow-calypse-at-alpine-meadows

 

[Vinnie]

I've never seen anything that bad in the PNW.
Snow falls must be spaced out a lot more in Utah than here.

President's Day at Mt Hood Meadows, 100-200 people waiting to drop into Twilight Bowl in Heather Canyon. Ski patrol did a great job of trying to get people not to stampede, but it probably looked just like the Mineral Basin video from a distance. It was the best powder I've ever experienced on Mt Hood, but it went by really fast.

 

[SShore]

wow! https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/watch-its-a-pow-calypse-at-alpine-meadows

Words fail me. Thank God I live in the middle of nowhere.

 

[James]

wow! https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/watch-its-a-pow-calypse-at-alpine-meadows

That's worse than the other one!

 

[Nathanvg]

Just guessing, but 99% of those 25 million skier days are not going near inbounds avalanche terrain. And 99.9% are not skiing avalanche terrain on big powder days. If you are, your risk is probably two to three orders of magnitude greater.

Say snowbird had 10k skiers on a powder day. If only .1% of skiers were skiing avalanche terrain, that means that only 10 skiers are doing so. That's clearly not true. It's probably closer to 20% if not more on a powder day.

Regardless, the odds are extremely low. You're more likely to get run over by a bus in the parking lot or drown in the hot tub.

 

[Mike King]

Say snowbird had 10k skiers on a powder day. If only .1% of skiers were skiing avalanche terrain, that means that only 10 skiers are doing so. That's clearly not true. It's probably closer to 20% if not more on a powder day.

Regardless, the odds are extremely low. You're more likely to get run over by a bus in the parking lot or drown in the hot tub.

Sure, the odds are extremely low when considered over all skier visits and all days. That being said, the odds are much higher when the snowpack is rotten, there's been little terrain open (no or little skier compaction of weak layers), and there's an event with a high load. So, is it stupid to wear a beacon inbounds? I'd guess that you've never set off a slide inbounds. Some of us have.

Conditions like this week in the Sierra and a few weeks ago in Colorado still have elevated in-bounds avalanche risk. There's a reason that some folk wear a beacon inbounds when you've had feet of new snow. That beacon isn't doing any good sitting in your bag. And you might want to think about your travel and ski decisions when the avalanche danger out of bounds is high.

Mike

 

[tball]

Say snowbird had 10k skiers on a powder day. If only .1% of skiers were skiing avalanche terrain, that means that only 10 skiers are doing so. That's clearly not true. It's probably closer to 20% if not more on a powder day.

Yeah, that's my point. The small percentage of total annual skier visits are at an avalanche-prone ski area like Snowbird. Only a fraction of those Snowbird days are on a powder day.

If you are skiing at an avalanche-prone ski area on a powder day it makes sense to wear a beacon inbounds, and ski patrol at those areas agree. Your risk profile is probably 100-1000x that of an average skier visit nationwide, the enormous majority of which are not in avalanche terrain and not on a powder day. The lucky skiers at Snowbird on a powder day are taking a much greater risk than the average skier, to state the obvious.

 

[Nathanvg]

Yeah, that's my point. The small percentage of total annual skier visits are at an avalanche-prone ski area like Snowbird. Only a fraction of those Snowbird days are on a powder day.

If you are skiing at an avalanche-prone ski area on a powder day it makes sense to wear a beacon inbounds, and ski patrol at those areas agree. Your risk profile is probably 100-1000x that of an average skier visit nationwide, the enormous majority of which are not in avalanche terrain and not on a powder day. The lucky skiers at Snowbird on a powder day are taking a much greater risk than the average skier, to state the obvious.

It's not really that big of an effect. Per bestsnow.net, 17% of days at snowbird have 6" of new snow or more. Even adjusting for powder days (6"+) and assuming only 20% of skiers on powder days ski avalanche terrain, odds are still greater than 1 in 1.8M that you will die on any given powder day. While not zero, the odds are still extremely low.