Sunday 3/23/08 - Death slides on Lower Ovation!!!

[Highway Star]

Anybody enjoy the grooming on lower-O this weekend?

They groomed HALF the trail!!!!

This would be fine except that the ungroomed half was super slick shiny glaze ice. Deadly.

We took one run down it. The groomed half was fine, with a couple spots of real bad ice. No big deal. Real nice on the far left from what I hear.

I was scoping out the ungroomed side, hoping for some spots with blown in pow.....no dice...80%+ blown off to glaze ice. I spotted a woman about 1/3rd down the pitch, out on the ungroomed ice....she had taken her skis off and was perched on a tiny spot of soft snow. I stopped and asked if I could help - she said she had been standing there for 15 minutes....had accidently skied over there when she missed her turn.

I was trying to help figure out how to get her off of there, when a guy about 100 feet above us veered into the ungroomed at about 30-35 mph.....he promply fell and lost his skis, and slid all the way to the bottom bouncing off ice bumps, head first. Probably a good 500+ ft, at least 30-40 mph. One of the scariest crashes/slides I've ever seen. The guy looked banged up, but he got up by himself after a minute. Standard advanced level skier.

At some point the woman dropped one of her skis. She then started working her way over very carefully. After about 5 minutes, death slider #2 shows up, and we get a repeat. His slide looked even more brutal, but he got right up and seemed to be fine. Again, 500+ ft at 30+ mph. He managed to shower us with spray and made the women drop the rest of her gear.

Two near misses....

Finally, after a few more minutes, she managed to work her way over.....and then what? I told her her best bet was to just slide down on the groomed, and try to stay in control. She went down facing the snow (not what I was thinking...duh) and was generally ok but got pulled over to the ungroomed at the end. Seemed to be alright. Not much else I could have done....?

Man, I wish I had video.....

Anyway, we get down to the bottom, and finally a ski patroller shows up on a snowmobile. We told him what just happened, and he said he had witnessed it from the base and came up. We suggested they close the trail until they can get it groomed. He said he would go talk to his boss.....trail stayed open the rest of the day, from what I could tell.

Seriously.....what the HECK are they thinking????

We have dual failures here - mountain ops for not grooming that half of the trail, and ski patrol not using proper judgement in opening the trail.

They are extremely lucky someone didn't get badly hurt or die.....

[johnny the jibber]

same today, half groomed, half not. didnt see anyone skiing it...

[madvillain]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

[johnny the jibber]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

[madvillain]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

if the snow holds on and eventually turns to moguls...good job groomers!

the snow this weekend was so dry, it wasn't holding on to the base
send 30 people down lower O and whatever corderoy that was there is gone...voila!...ice.

[SPORE]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks :-x )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

if the snow holds on and eventually turns to moguls...good job groomers!

the snow this weekend was so dry, it wasn't holding on to the base
send 30 people down lower O and whatever corderoy that was there is gone...voila!...ice.

Or leave it completely ungroomed and voila!....a closed trail.

[RENO]

That trail is an icy deathtrap most of the time it's open. It's just not fun unless it's spring soft...

Speaking of scary crashes, saw a women STRAIGHTLINING lower Superstar (not on purpose) last week either Sunday or Monday from the lift. Skis flopping all over. Completely out of control. I thought, she's gotta slow down soon because she was approaching the bottom and the roped corral? Right? Nope. hit there at full speed went airborne. Yard sale. Body tumbled many many times missing several people (who should be thanking God!). I think she somehow missed the ropes and either went under or over them (don't know how?). Came to a stop about 50 feet past the ropes. Several people quickly went to her. She wasn't moving. Had to be hurt. I didn't see what happened afterwards because I went straight off of Superstar. Never saw someone that out of control. People just gotta know their limitations and also not listen to idiots who direct them to trails they just can't handle...

[Snowjob]

That's a horrifying story. I seem to spend more of my time these days looking up hill to ensure I don't get ripped by knuckleheads like the one you just described.

[Ski-N-Sail]

Anyway, we get down to the bottom, and finally a ski patroller shows up on a snowmobile. We told him what just happened, and he said he had witnessed it from the base and came up. We suggested they close the trail until they can get it groomed. He said he would go talk to his boss.....trail stayed open the rest of the day, from what I could tell.

Seems to me that they monitor the trail more closely for poachers when it is closed.

[sLoPeS]

Seems to me that they monitor the trail more closely for poachers when it is closed.

those damn people who know how to ski.....

[johnny the jibber]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

if the snow holds on and eventually turns to moguls...good job groomers!

the snow this weekend was so dry, it wasn't holding on to the base
send 30 people down lower O and whatever corderoy that was there is gone...voila!...ice.

yeah, you know we got a ton of r*in and ice late last week, most everything is extremely hardpacked with shaved ice on top...

[TheLurker]

Isn't Ovation a double diamond? The conditions stated above should not have been an issue for skiers who the appropriate skills to handle a double diamond. The problem is all the Killington skiers who don't have a clue what they're doing and don't belong on trails with this rating.

[madvillain]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

if the snow holds on and eventually turns to moguls...good job groomers!

the snow this weekend was so dry, it wasn't holding on to the base
send 30 people down lower O and whatever corderoy that was there is gone...voila!...ice.

yeah, you know we got a ton of r*in and ice late last week, most everything is extremely hardpacked with shaved ice on top...

Yep

F'n hardpack

[Highway Star]

HS - those icy death slides are exactly why i only ski Ovation L when it has descent sized bumps (haven't skied it in weeks :-x )

bastards keep grooming Ovation this much, yeah, they're going to have a very well-publicized death on their hands

would you rather have dirt and rocks in the troughs between the bumps, or a fresh groom to build bumps back up after significant ice? theres not that much cover on lower O, dirt was peaking through when we had a brief warm up a couple weeks ago. i think they may have a good grasp on what they are doing as far as the grooming on ovation, the half and half deal is strange though...

if the snow holds on and eventually turns to moguls...good job groomers!

the snow this weekend was so dry, it wasn't holding on to the base
send 30 people down lower O and whatever corderoy that was there is gone...voila!...ice.

You're missing the point kid. The groomed part was just fine. Edgeable hardpack. Sure, you could fall and slide on it, but it wouldn't be like sliding on a skating rink.

The ungroomed side was like a bumpy skating rink.

I've never seen someone accellerate like that down the hill after they fell. Never. One second they're more or less traversing, the next second they're zooming down the hill on their backs. Each of those guys easily picked up 20+ mph of downhill speed after they fell.

[Mtn Man]

Isn't Ovation a double diamond? The conditions stated above should not have been an issue for skiers who the appropriate skills to handle a double diamond. The problem is all the Killington skiers who don't have a clue what they're doing and don't belong on trails with this rating.

Ding ding ding!

I actually remember signs at the top of White Heat and Hardball at Sunday River stating that they were NO FALL ZONES and for EXPERT SKIERS only. Maybe they need the skull and crossbones at the top like in Kirkweed.

We see death slides all the time on Lower O. I wonder if anyone has actually died there?!?!

B)