On trail signage at Park City Mountain Resort Photo: Jon Weisberg
Several years ago, SeniorsSkiing surveyed its readers about their biggest fear on the slopes. The overwhelming answer was being hit by an out-of-control skier. It is my greatest fear as well.
Whether he/she may be drunk, stoned or skiing too fast for the conditions, or on a run well above his/her ability, or whatever the cause doesn’t matter. It is reckless and doing puts everyone on the trail in danger.
Think about it. A 150 lbs. person traveling at 20 miles an hour packs a wallop. The force of impact is equal to the object’s kinetic energy divided by the distance. Kinetic energy is the object’s mass (150 lb. person) times the speed (20 mph) squared divided by two, or in this case 30,000 Joules or roughly 22,133 lbs. of force.
The unknown is how far the person has traveled at this speed because he/she is traveling downhill and possibly accelerating. Even if the out-of-control person has only traveled a few feet, getting hit by another person with 22,133 lbs. of oomph may cause serious injuries.
Unfortunately, ski areas do not adequately police their slopes for out-of-control skiers. Their view is that when you step into your bindings, you assume the risk of injury to yourself and to others.
Most of what ski areas do to counter reckless skiers do is reactionary and defensive in the form of snow fences and warning signs. Stationing employees around the mountain who have the authority to take a lift ticket or season pass is something ski areas are loathe to do.
To further protect is ski areas against lawsuits, Colorado passed a law several years ago that made it much harder to sue a ski area if you are injured. And, if you are injured by someone who slams into you, you must sue the individual who hurt you. The ski area defense is “We weren’t involved.”
So, what does a senior skier do? Here’s my list of eight:
1. Ski with your head on a swivel.
2. When you stop, either stop on the side or by a ski slow or trails merge sign.
3. Wait until groups pass and there’s a gap.
4. Ski midweek and avoid weekends and holiday.
5. Don’t ski at the most popular areas. There are many ski areas where a long lift line are the two people who just arrived at the bottom of the lift a few seconds before you did.
6. Pick trails that aren’t crowded.
7. Ski along the edges. All those who ski in New England a lot will tell you that’s where the best snow is!
8. Get to know the mountain before you put on your skis, i.e., study the trail map to know where you want to ski BEFORE you step into your bindings.
Marc is a former Associate Editor of SKI Magazine and certified ski instructor. Today he is an award-winning novelist with 17 books in print, five of which are Amazon #1 Best Sellers.
