What would you do?

[Nathanvg]

I had an interesting experience on the hill over xmas:

I was skiing Vail's Challenge run when I approached it's steepest part which was completely bare for about 20 feet. The bare part could be described as a small cliff followed by a steep black for another 50 yards or so. On the parts of the run that are covered, snow is thin and with densely packed moguls. I determine the run is skiable via some spotty snow on the very edge of the trail.

At this point, I notice a middle aged Woman and two kids (maybe 11 years old) who are also stopped. The Woman has lost a ski which offer to help pick up for her when she replies with, "No thanks, I'm going to walk down."

I'll let you know what I did and the outcome after people have a chance to reply with thoughts on the best way to respond.

 

[crgildart]

Tell her to wait there.. Ski down to the nearest lift (or call the resort and ask for patrol on cell if you can) and have the liftee call the patrol to go give them a "courtesy ride" down. Tell then DO NOT try to walk down.. stay put, help is on the way..

 

[Crank]

I ski away.

 

[Scrundy]

Tell her to wait there.. Ski down to the nearest lift (or call the resort and ask for patrol on cell if you can) and have the liftee call the patrol to go give them a "courtesy ride" down. Tell then DO NOT try to walk down.. stay put, help is on the way..

This is what I would of done, no doubt

 

[scott43]

Go to Whistler..

 

[fatbob]

Send a sweet corked 540 over the cliff and ride it switch to the road. Duh!

 

[Bigtinnie]

I ask what nasty thing she said to her husband to cause him to ski off after he convinced her “the run is not even steep - you’ll be fine”.

 

[mdf]

The Woman has lost a ski which offer to help pick up for her when she replies with, "No thanks, I'm going to walk down."

Do you mean she was just going to abandon the ski? Maybe she meant to say "no thanks, I am never going to ski again."

 

[Hypergruv]

I live in Vail full-time, I'm also and Instructor. Even if she had said no, I would have probably still called Patrol and advised them of the situation. IE someone over-terrained, and trying to walk down one of the more sketchy spots on the mountain. The fact that she had kids in tow, almost makes it a no-brainer for me. Coverage at that time was still not great, and while it may have been open, there were many parts of the mountain that were were advised to not take guests to - this being one of them.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

By her nonsensical response, I would assume she was confused and rephrase my offer of help. Wow. This looks a bit crazy for the kids ... how can I help?

 

[Joel]

OK, now I know I'm a noob, I don't even know what this means.

Send a sweet corked 540 over the cliff and ride it switch to the road. Duh!

 

[TheArchitect]

OK, now I know I'm a noob, I don't even know what this means.

540 degrees of rotation, landing backwards and skiing down backwards to the road. Don't know what the corked means but maybe tips down?

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Back over a decade ago my buddy was riding the Canyon Quad after skiing a run on a super icy Double Dipper. He watched a guy lose a ski near the top of Lower Double Dipper. From the lift he told the skier to wait right there and he would get ski patrol to help him and that it was too icy to try to turn with just one ski. Guy ignored the advice and fell resulting in a death slide headfirst into a snow making raiser pipe. He bled out at his final resting spot over near the trees. Giving good advice to a fellow skier is one thing. Getting them to listen is another.

 

[newboots]

Back over a decade ago my buddy was riding the Canyon Quad after skiing a run on a super icy Double Dipper. He watched a guy lose a ski near the top of Lower Double Dipper. From the lift he told the skier to wait right there and he would get ski patrol to help him and that it was too icy to try to turn with just one ski. Guy ignored the advice and fell resulting in a death slide headfirst into a snow making raiser pipe. He bled out at his final resting spot over near the trees. Giving good advice to a fellow skier is one thing. Getting them to listen is another.

Wow. R.I.P.

 

[Philpug]

Tell her to wait there.. Ski down to the nearest lift (or call the resort and ask for patrol on cell if you can) and have the liftee call the patrol to go give them a "courtesy ride" down. Tell then DO NOT try to walk down.. stay put, help is on the way..

I don't think Vail's Patrol can (will) give a courtesy ride down and more. My guess is it has something to do with liability.

 

[Kbat117]

Honestly, I probably would have shrugged after she refuses help and skied away and just felt guilty the rest of the day.

However, the smartest thing would probably be to recognize the fact that there are kids there and get ski patrol.

 

[Beartown]

I don't think Vail's Patrol can (will) give a courtesy ride down and more. My guess is it has something to do with liability.

I don't know about Vail, but my buddy got a courtesy ride down from the top of Lake Louise this past December. He's a novice skier and we were taking a blue groomer down from the top of the mountain, and his binding just came off his rental ski. Just pulled right out. No injury or anything, but ski was F'ed. We had about 2500' of vert to the bottom, and he can't ski on one ski AT ALL. Mountain host saw it and went to get patrol. They assessed the situation and strapped him into the toboggan. The patroller said he'd never taken an un-injured skier down the mountain in a toboggan, but I don't know how else he'd have gotten down. Of course, Canada is not the litigious hellscape that America is, so maybe that factored in.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Hmmm, what were her skis, any resale value?

 

[Sibhusky]

A little tough to answer since I'm not at all familiar with the area. But, if the only way is down that hill, since it sounds like it's dirt? I wouldn't have worried, but would probably have quizzed her about the route. And I might have whipped out my phone and called ski patrol IF SHE DIDN'T MIND. If she did mind, but I thought she was clearly crazy, I might have done it after skiing away. But, not knowing the area, it's hard to say. I'm trying to picture a steep, but largely dirt area here that I'd be so worried that I did that. Normally when people are over-terrained I've escorted them down, but there's always been a skiable route. I've only done the escort if the route was too complicated to explain. Pretty much every way here you can traverse long enough to get out of it.

 

[Chris Walker]

540 degrees of rotation, landing backwards and skiing down backwards to the road. Don't know what the corked means but maybe tips down?

As I understand it, a corked spin is an off-axis spin, so you're not vertical when you spin. I might be off my cork here.