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The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 10th, '24, 17:16
by Southside_Bobby
https://mountaintimes.info/killingtons- ... TGYi1aphbg

The safety crew will be part of what they are calling their "Ride another day" campaign.

"Recognizable by their black and red vests, they will seek to have an overall positive influence on guest decision-making by sharing information on Your Responsibility Code and the three tenets of the #rideanotherday campaign."

"This team will use a very deliberate strategy to realize its goals without relying on the implied threat of suspending skiing privileges. This is not to say that no passes will be pulled. If a guest is found to be in violation of resort policies or is disrespectful to staff, they may be subject to a pass suspension. "

"Our Mountain Safety attendants will take a unique approach to monitoring skiers and riders. Instead of evaluating guests on their perceived speed, style, relative skill level, or being ‘out of control,’ they’ll seek to evaluate decision-making and behavior relative to the trail density in the immediate area. For example, skiing fast on an empty trail may be deemed acceptable, but doing the same in a busy area is not."

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 10th, '24, 17:27
by ANGUS
1. Do they carry guns?
2. From the article. They look fat and out of shape.
3. If I'm not skiing like a jack @ss? Can they pull me over?
4. Are they mall cops?
5. Meow!

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 10th, '24, 17:31
by Killington_Lover
As long as they aren’t as aggressive as the yellow jackets I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea. We only (unfortunately) can ski on weekends and the “decision making” we witness leaves us dumbfounded.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 10th, '24, 18:04
by Bubba
When Facebook pages like Killington Locals has stories of collisions and injuries on almost a weekly basis, as it seemed last year, something needed to be done.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 05:40
by makemoreturns
Angus, I hope those folks don’t see your mean-spirited post.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 08:01
by easyrider16
Killington has more busy intersections than any other mountain I've skied at. Trails like KLink, the bottom of Great Northern/Bunny, Home Run, High Traverse, Nivis Walk, and others have skiers crossing other skiers' lines. It's great for getting around the mountain when things aren't busy, but on a busy Saturday, many of these intersections are downright dangerous.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 08:37
by hillbangin
makemoreturns wrote: Jan 11th, '24, 05:40 Angus, I hope those folks don’t see your mean-spirited post.
I didn't take it as mean spirited........I took it more as ....

They look like Mall Cops - my Dad was a mall cop semi-retirement so I say that with respect!

In all seriousness - I'm all for the safety stuff. Too much drinking, dope, and reckless skiing on the hill early season.

More open terrain usually fixes that.

Stay off of GE and GN and chances of getting clipped from behind drop dramatically.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 09:22
by KingsFourMan
Killington_Lover wrote: Jan 10th, '24, 17:31 As long as they aren’t as aggressive as the yellow jackets I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea. We only (unfortunately) can ski on weekends and the “decision making” we witness leaves us dumbfounded.
I wouldn't ski Killington on a Saturday past 10:30 if you put a gun to my head.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 10:13
by Killington_Lover
KingsFourMan wrote: Jan 11th, '24, 09:22
Killington_Lover wrote: Jan 10th, '24, 17:31 As long as they aren’t as aggressive as the yellow jackets I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea. We only (unfortunately) can ski on weekends and the “decision making” we witness leaves us dumbfounded.
I wouldn't ski Killington on a Saturday past 10:30 if you put a gun to my head.
It truly sucks. In college I set up my classes into 3 busy days and skied 4 days almost every week. Hit 60, 80 and even 100 days. Now we are lucky to get 30 and take what we can get. 10 years out I have fond memories of the good ol days, and my knees when they worked better! I couldn’t tell if I have just slowed down some or if the hoards have lost their collective mind. Lots of out of control people out there and I don’t blame anyone who avoids the clown show.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 10:53
by nsvencer1
Killington_Lover wrote: Jan 11th, '24, 10:13
It truly sucks. In college I set up my classes into 3 busy days and skied 4 days almost every week. Hit 60, 80 and even 100 days. Now we are lucky to get 30 and take what we can get. 10 years out I have fond memories of the good ol days, and my knees when they worked better! I couldn’t tell if I have just slowed down some or if the hoards have lost their collective mind. Lots of out of control people out there and I don’t blame anyone who avoids the clown show.
I do wonder if this is a Killington phenomena or more broadly at other major resorts in the NE. I'm all for "policing" the behavior at the bad intersections and allowing liberal decision making on open advanced trails away from intersections.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 11:00
by snoloco
It's definitely not specific to Killington. In fact, I think it impacts the Epic and unlimited Ikon resorts more. When everyone has a season pass, demand is much less elastic. While more people always come when there is fresh snow, more people will come on the bad days because they already have a pass that they want or need to use. So you get much bigger crowds on days with limited terrain, which means higher skier density, and a higher risk of collisions.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 11:09
by makemoreturns
Weird how “they look fat and out of shape” isn’t considered mean-spirited on this forum.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 13:30
by CRR321
makemoreturns wrote: Jan 11th, '24, 11:09 Weird how “they look fat and out of shape” isn’t considered mean-spirited on this forum.
Right?! No one looks great in a uniform when you’re also wearing a chest pack with a radio.

I know two of them, and know who a 3rd is. The two I know (and I just know them- I’m not a close friend going to bat for them) are incredible skiers, very accomplished professionally/academically, and top notch people.

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 13:49
by MrsG
easyrider16 wrote: Jan 11th, '24, 08:01 Killington has more busy intersections than any other mountain I've skied at. Trails like KLink, the bottom of Great Northern/Bunny, Home Run, High Traverse, Nivis Walk, and others have skiers crossing other skiers' lines. It's great for getting around the mountain when things aren't busy, but on a busy Saturday, many of these intersections are downright dangerous.
Agree totally! I think some “Look Up” with an arrow signs could be helpful!

Re: The Black and Red Vests

Posted: Jan 11th, '24, 15:01
by SPORE
Let's see them actually address the problem group on the mountain - until then its just lip sevice.