Grizzly Needs to Lead to Get Out of Control Boarders/ Skiers

[Spyderman]

Killington is doing a terrific job laying down great snow and expanding coverage. However one very noticible issue this month has been the frequency of experienced skiers struck by out of control snowboarders and skiers.
Today another skier standing on the side of Highline was struck by an out of control boarder.

Grizzley's job is to proactively step up and marshall his Ambassador team to showcase a list of dos and don'ts at the key lifts. They need to get the word out that sheer out of control straight down the slope bombers, riding up into the woods on the edge of trails and then leaping back onto the slope and striking others will not be tolerated. The numerous terrain parks are for this aggressive behavior. It's time to get the Know The Code reinforced with more signs and announcements at the K-1 Gondola to be cautious and courteous to others.

A more focused Ambassador presence and calling out those out of control to modify their performance or face the risk of injury and potential penalties, will go a long way. Just knowing that people are watching for speeders and jumpers will help to mitigate / minimize future avoidable hit and runs.

[shortski]

Wow....

Lets not turn the ambassadors into Gestapo.

Lot of good points for discussion...but damn Grizz... Can be quite pain but he's usually right.

Throwing the flag.

Not called for.

No personal attacks, read the policies.

[GreenMtMan]

I agree. This is not new and it's not just at K. I have noticed a progression of poor behavior over the last few years and it's not getting better. If a skier/boarder can't wait for a more open and less congested trail to pop off the trail only to fly back in (usually in the air) I don't know what is going to stop them. Something should be tried even if it means someone at Killington hanging out in the worst areas and pulling tickets. There are plenty of parks to let it hang out,but I guess that would mean using too much common sense.

[Big Bob]

Shortski, I did not read this as an attack on Grizzly, but perhaps a little nudge that people are getting hurt badly for no fault of their own by others who are doing some stupid stuff. Yesterday while riding the Snowden Triple about two towers up from the bottom where it crosses lower Mouse Trap, two skiers were coming down when the up hill skier decides to make a quick left turn and almost ran right into the skier on his left. He just did not look first. Both were moving relatively fast, could of gotten both of them a ride to Rutland . I think people need to be reminded of some simple rules of the road.

[madhatter]

something should also be done about out of control whining and pseudo-vigilantism.

[shortski]

As I said lots of good points for discussion. I just don't think it should be the ambassadors that should be the ones to drive home the point of safety. Ski patrol would be the most logical or maybe even the upper and mid level managers getting out and pointing out what is and is not acceptable behavior. It wouldn't take too long before the word got out and a few tickets were pulled before reckless behavior stopped.

[brownman]

Traffic density and lack of good judgment are responsible for this, early season at nearly all resorts.
There was a bad side-swipe at Jackson Hole yesterday ... high-speed boarder took out a bowling pin. They have 4 trails open.
It's evident at K mainly because there's only a couple full descents. Once peeps get dispersed, this topic will fade to black.

Ambass and Patrol are not well-suited to take this on.
However...You can do something about it.
Carry wire cutters and a whistle.

[GSKI]

Policing the mountain is the job of Ski Patrol. They are more experienced and better able to judge "reckless" behavior. Ambassadors are not necessarily experienced skiers and do not have the credibility that Ski Patrol generally commands.

[brownman]

True, but I don't expect Patrol to do enforcement full-on with this traffic load. It's only one of their roles.
Fortunately, thusfar this year, they haven't had to do much Avalanche control.

If you want to give AmbASSdoors something serious to do, this would be a start.
I'm willing to bet that many on this board are default ambassadors every day ... helping wayward warriors out

[skiadikt]

patrol would carry more weight but they have their hands fall. perhaps expanding the role of the ambassadors a bit. to me the worse areas are caper, lower bunny, sections of great northern and the old falls brook. boarders love to hit and launch off the high side of those trails. for the most part those trails are narrow and high traffic zones. i got taken out by a boarder who did just that on caper and cut across the trail when he landed. perhaps some signage might help.

[Dr. NO]

patrol would carry more weight but they have their hands fall. perhaps expanding the role of the ambassadors a bit. to me the worse areas are caper, lower bunny, sections of great northern and the old falls brook. boarders love to hit and launch off the high side of those trails. for the most part those trails are narrow and high traffic zones. i got taken out by a boarder who did just that on caper and cut across the trail when he landed. perhaps some signage might help.

Out west on traverse trails they have signs "NO HITS" meaning stay on the trail and no hits off the sides. Penalty if caught by patrol is loss of ticket. Snowbird is one area that comes to mind using these signs.

[RENO]

Every season we hear this stuff at this time. Just not enough open. Also, this isn't a job for the ambassadors. A lot of them aren't even good enough at skiing/snowboarding to be able to track down idiots and clip their tickets. That's just not what they are there for. Placing patrollers all over the place chasing people and barking at people as they fly by and placing signs, fences, etc... to try to control/route people at certain intersections is just gonna make it 10 times worse!

[MrsG]

Reno, I really think the jumping and flying off sides of trails is not a "beginning of the season" issue . . . sorry, but more signage and moving ropes would help . . . the guilty jumpers know exactly where to go - they've formed a bump coming off Great Northern where it meets middle Chute - all that needs to be done is the rope moved out further - but, probably will not be done until someone really gets hurt - same thing happens off High Road where it meets the lower part of Upper Bittersweet . . . I just hope Killington is not ignoring these concerns because they do not want to become the mountain that "polices" too much to the younger skier/riders . . . I agree the Ambassadors are not the answer . . . 'caution' signs near trail merges, should read "merge" and other signs "no jumping' would help . . . as mentioned on this board several times, it is not noobs getting hurt, it's experienced skiers/riders . . . ok, rant over

[GSKI]

Sadly whenever there is ANY snowboarder in front of me even on the busiest traverse I assume the moron will go from one side of the trail to the other to go for some nothing of a hit. I am right about 85% of the time. I also think that currently there are more new to the sport snowboarders than skiers and that exasperates the problem. Then there is also the "cultural" aspect to snowboarding. Its a witches brew of clusterfarkery.

[Big Bob]

Yesterday I saw a bunch of ambassadors, usually paired up, observing. Perhaps the mnt management is already aware of a problem that exists.