Hit and Run!

[Little Lightning]

Today, I was hit and run by a boarder. I was sking down Northwoods run at Vail. The slopes were deserted, so no one forced him into me. I was in a left hand turn and beginning to go right when this boarder hit the side of my left ski and my left shoulder. For a minute we were face to face and actually on the same path. I steered my skis away from him but caught my edges and eventually fell or sat down. The impact shot me across the run and I couldn't hold on so I wound up falling on my right side. There was no way I could avoid him as he hit me from behind.

The guy didn't bother to stop or even look back to see if I was ok. I yelled and yelled for him to stop. According to Colorado law, if you hit someone you are required to stop. Not stopping is considered a "hit and run" just like in a car.

I reported him to ski patrol but they didn't write down any information, so he's free to hit others. By the way, there were no ski patrol or slope watch even though there were slow signs posted in the area.

This year I've had 5 near misses with boarders because of crowded early season trails and inattentive boarders. In all the years I've skied I've only been knocked down 1 time and that was by a run away board.

I'm not angry because the guy hit me, I'm angry because he didn't have the common courtesy to check and make sure I was ok. Behavior like this gives the courteous boarders a bad reputation.

 

[ski diva]

Wow, that really stinks! Incredible that someone could have such flagrant disregard for someone else. Hope you're okay!

 

[Little Lightning]

Thanks,

I know of 2 other instances this season where skiers have been knocked down by skiers and boarders and they didn't stop.

I think I'm ok but my left shoulder is achey which is odd because I went down on my right side.

Vail has a sign posted and they've already given out 212 citations for reckless skiing. Of that no.186 were given out last week. Vail has been open about 3 weeks and 2 season passes have been pulled.

 

[Robyn]

This really is the most frightening part of skiing and even more so when I coach. I really fear that someone will do this to the little guys and they'll be seriously hurt.

On Saturday I accidentally got my kids (5 and 6 year olds) into a challenging but not undoable situation on a run. It's normally a green slope but it had been bumped out which I've never seen happen on this run before and couldn't see before we'd already committed. So I had 6 kids with me, the majority of which had never skied bumps before. Needless to say we were taking our time through them and picking them up as they fell. I was super proud of them but it was taking awhile. I was hanging at the back of the group to survey the action and help the slowest kids when an adult went flying by. The front kids happened to be right under the lift and a ways in front of me the guy got dangerously close to one of my kids and skiers on the lift started yelling at him for being a jerk. If I wasn't tied up with being the last adult behind the kiddos it would have been round one of me chasing someone down for threatening my kids. I've done it before and I'll do it again. I will not stand for people risking others safety, especially not small children.

 

[Little Lightning]

A few days before Thanksgiving I was at Keystone skiing down Schoolmarm. It was very crowded and an instructor was trying to get a group of kids (6-7 yo) down the run. He was trying to stay to the side and keep them together but adults kept skiing right though their line. The poor guy was so frustrated that he stopped and started yelling at people to slow down.

This has happened very often when I'm in my Wed. lesson. I've seen skiers come very close to my instructor or they ski between her and the trees if she's standing on the side. They also cut between us and ski into us when we're practicing. I'm constantly on guard when I'm in my lessons.

Last year at Copper a boarder came out of the trees and hit an instructor on the run below him. He knocked her into a wooden sign and broke both legs. The boarder said it was her fault because she was ahead of him.

I consider myself lucky I wasn't hurt.

I'm skiing this week then going back to Denver.

 

[Robyn]

Uh, that's just stupid that the boarder thinks she should magically know some random snowboarder is going to pop out of trees. Actually, a similar, but with no hit involved, incident was one of the times I chased people down last year. I was at the top of a knoll, talking with the kids about what we were working on. I finished and was about to start them on their way when a couple popped out of some trees without looking up at us until they were far enough out that if they had come out 5 seconds later they surely would have taken out at least 1 kid. I turned to the other coach I was working with and parents and said "I'll meet you at the lift" and off I went. When I caught them boy did I let them have it. People need to realize that they have the responsibility if they are coming out and merging onto a trail the code does state they need to look uphill and yield to those coming down the trail.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

I'm sorry that happened to you! I'm VERY fearful of being hit by a snowboarder (or reckless skier!). Steve skis behind me now, and runs clearance for me. I don't think I would have had the courage to ski again without that help. It won't be forever, but it sure does help right now.

 

[NannyMin]

LL- I'm glad to hear that you were not more seriously injured! I've noticed when I ski in the West that boarders seem to have much less regard for others and simply don't watch where they are going. I'm not sure why there is a difference? Sunday when I was skiing with Bob Barnes he even commented that the boarders were much more courteous.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Little Lightning---SO sorry to hear this happened! Second report of a collision on this board just this season - and it's not even "winter" yet!! Hope your shoulder feels better - remember to ice, then after 24 hours, heat. That sure won't help your anger, though....:mad: Seems like more of this is going on in the west, where I originally thought this was more of an east coast kind of problem (due to slope population density) - guess not. Hope you are feeling better soon!!

 

[num]

So sorry to hear that, Little Lightning! Was the situation such that you were able to give ski patrol a description of what he was wearing and stuff, and they weren't interested? That's nuts.

How's your shoulder?

 

[ski now work later]

I'm so glad you weren't hurt.

That rider needs to learn the rules of the mountain.

 

[Little Lightning]

Shoulder seems ok thankfully. I skied at Copper today and felt achy but no blatant soreness.

Since there wasn't a second party, meaning the guy got away, no proof, ski patrol wasn't interested in a report. At Copper a couple of years ago a runaway board hit me. I reported it to ski patrol and I had to file a detailed report. There were witnesses (Slope Patrol) but they were newbies and let the guy go without getting a name and address. They thought because I wasn't injured they did the right thing but it was against Copper's policy to let him go without a discussion with ski patrol.

Copper now has signs posted stating that if you ski fast and get caught you lose your pass until you go to class. You are required to go to a ski safety class to get your pass reinstated.

I'm surprised that Vail didn't at least enter the incident into a log. At least they would have data on the number of incidents on that run to see if they need full time slope watch or patrols in that area.

I couldn't identify the guys face but he had a very distinctive jacket. It had a white background with small black spots, possibly small squares. I looked all over the mtn for similar jackets and didn't see anything close.

Even though the areas are cracking down there doesn't seem to be enough personnel on the slopes to catch these people.

I've experienced some of the same attitudes on large bike rides so it's not happening in just the skiing/boarding environment.

 

[Little Lightning]

I'm so glad you weren't hurt.

That rider needs to learn the rules of the mountain.

And Colorado law!

 

[Native Vail Gal]

And Colorado law!

Hmmmmmm........