Skiing Hit-n-Run at Breck

[AmyPJ]

Had an incident last week with a kid jumping and almost landing on my better half. The kid yelled at him to "get out of my way!" So, he chased the kid down, and told him that he in NO WAY had the right of way. Kid's dad skis up, says to him that he needs to "shut up and go F yourself, old man."

The attitude and environment is changing, and it's not just on the ski hill...

 

[slowrider]

Having a mt uniform on has its advantages. No funny business at our little mom & pop resort. Keep it fun, keep it safe.

 

[Jerez]

Had an incident last week with a kid jumping and almost landing on my better half. The kid yelled at him to "get out of my way!" So, he chased the kid down, and told him that he in NO WAY had the right of way. Kid's dad skis up, says to him that he needs to "shut up and go F yourself, old man."

The attitude and environment is changing, and it's not just on the ski hill...

The hill and human foibles have not changed that much. That nearly exact scenario happened to us maybe 25 years ago when some jerk jumped on my kid and when my husband chastised the kid, the kids father came over and, yelling and screaming, tried to physically hit my husband.

 

[scott43]

Never underestimate the depths human nature will sink to. The veneer of civility is remarkably thin.

 

[slowrider]

From a poster on pugski, sorry forgot his handle.

No matter how good your plan is, there's always a better fool.

 

[Tricia]

One of the many things that stood out for me was that the impact from this child was significant enough that she hit the tree hard enough to break bones in her arm and face AND she was wearing a helmet.

Sending positive vibes that she heals well.

 

[Tricia]

Had an incident last week with a kid jumping and almost landing on my better half. The kid yelled at him to "get out of my way!" So, he chased the kid down, and told him that he in NO WAY had the right of way. Kid's dad skis up, says to him that he needs to "shut up and go F yourself, old man."

The attitude and environment is changing, and it's not just on the ski hill...

I had an incident that @SkiNurse witnessed at Arapahoe Basin last May.
The guy skied over the tails of my skis while I was actively making turns. He stopped to yell at me for "turning in front of him"
I called him names, we yelled back and forth, then I asked him to meet me at Patrol.
He got there ahead of me so I walked just in time to hear the patroller say, "No sir, she has the right of way. The uphill skier has the responsibility to avoid downhill skiers"
We both apologized for the name calling and the whole incident.
He flagged me, Phil and SkiNurse over to chat on the next run and we ended up finding out that we had mutual friends, ...turns out he's a nice guy. We've been in touch since.

 

[CalG]

VT State law is that collision 'participants' exchange ID and contact info. Just as with motor vehicle "fender benders", but no one does ....

I recently was witness to a "mild collision", even as one party regained an upright position while painfully holding his knee, and the other party was visibly dazed and rattled.
After checking with each party about their well being, I advised them that they were REQUIRED BY LAW to exchange contact information. My intent was to soothe somewhat the seething animosity and contempt that I could feel between them. "blame"! I is difficult to hold in feelings while looking at another eye to eye.
Both parties were very evasive and reluctant to comply. Then a companion of one of the parties "getting fresh" with the idea that there even was such a requirement. I was forced to threaten that person with his skiing access privilege just to get him to pull out of the exchange between the two involved .

Such is the state of our indifference to our fellow skier. Collisions are worse than powder days!

With that, what to do? What to do. Patrol can not be omnipresent cops. And what is the enforcement or penalty for losing control for a moment? We all do! Sometimes at risk to others, but not often. What is fair judgement for 'the time when it went badly"? And if it is a kid? 'just trying to enjoy the skiing experience while themselves being scared? Well, How many lashes are to be met out? All this under the jurisdiction of mountain management that wants to enhance customer experience. ALL customers!

A moat in ones own eye casting shadows on the defects of another.

 

[jzmtl]

Need speed bumps...

 

[James]

A moat in ones own eye casting shadows on the defects of another.

Nice, where's thst from?
Typo: mote

 

[Wendy]

You are right about that! My neighbors and many of their friends who are older just said enough. They moved over to skate skiing and XC.

My husband had enough after someone ran into him and shattered his shoulder.

 

[Seldomski]

And what is the enforcement or penalty for losing control for a moment? We all do!

Well this is the kind of attitude that leads to accidents. Yep I have fallen due to any number of factors. I generally ski slow enough and with enough spacing that a sudden fall by me or someone else won't be a disaster. But there are very few people on the typical blue or green run that have this mindset. There are even times like end of day when there is so much traffic that such spacing is not possible (good time to download!).

Not saying you specifically ski recklessly... but skiing such that a 'random' fall doesn't cause problems other than for the one falling should be standard. It's not.

I see a lot out there skiing at the edge of their ability to control. I try to ski well within my abilities if there are others around. I don't 'push the envelope' if it's crowded.

Sometimes shit happens. But OP is not really such a case. Guy was going too fast as evidenced by an inability to avoid an obstacle.

 

[Philpug]

Accidents happen..thats why they are called accidents. What happens after shows the character of the people involved. But this is one of the worst case of parenting I have heard.

 

[Average Joe]

I wonder if the epic pass somehow makes them feel entitled to do whatever. If one has a pass at a single mt maybe you feel more responsibility to be more accommodating of others.

Good point. The Entitlement Generation just bought themselves into another level of membership with zero affiliation to a home community.

 

[Tricia]

Guessing here, but I can't help but think that this is a case where a parent over terrains his kid because dad wanted to ski somewhere and had his kid with him.
Again, I'm guessing, but its something we see all the time.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I will expose my naiveness,, years back there was a thing called character and responsibility , and people were more likely to do the "right thing". Sadly the morality code has been compromised

There is little fraternity among skiers apparently.

Sad!

Character and responsibility disappeared after the advent of the baseball cap. People used to tip their hat in greeting. Now they keep them on even in restaurants. The new coach for the Denver Broncos talked about "death by inches" as a growing failure. Our society is dying by inches.

 

[slowrider]

Accidents from bad decisions have a way of eventually coming back on an individual. Unfortunately others are usually involved. With experience proactive assessments may defer these type of accidents.

 

[skix]

Character and responsibility disappeared after the advent of the baseball cap. People used to tip their hat in greeting. Now they keep them on even in restaurants.

If I may defend people who were born after the idealized 1950s ... clothing styles and greetings change. It doesn't mean that the young are immoral.

 

[Decreed_It]

Not the poster of this comment

Nice, where's thst from?
Typo: mote

But that's roughly Matthew 7:3-5

3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

Added emphasis is mine. This thread reminds me I need to continue to teach my kids safe skiing courtesy, we already work on the 'always look uphill' and ski in control but you can't over emphasize this.

Really shameful the parents that react emotionally (the F you to the other Adult trying to 'teach em up'). I get it, I get defensive of my kids but that reaction is the worst one.

 

[Core2]

So who here would turn yourself and your kid into the sheriff if this was you right now? Answer honestly. I would have some serious pause knowing a lawsuit and jail time would be coming. We don't have a culture where accidents are tolerated anymore and people can just get away with a life lesson and apologies. When the police and lawyers are always made to get involved with everything that happens it makes people do stuff like this.