What would you do?

[Marigee]

This happened to me a couple weeks ago when I was working Mtn. Safety at Whitetail - our local hill.

As I came down one of our green runs I noticed a small child sitting in the middle of the run, at the bottom, in between two chairlifts in an area we call "the mixing bowl." Most runs feed into this area and three lifts are located there. I watched him for a few minutes from behind, both to protect him from other skiers and to try and figure out where his parents were. After a few minutes I approached him and tried to get his name, where his parents were, etc. from him. He appeared to be 3 or 4 years old. He was afraid and started to inch away. I then called ski patrol and they tried to help him. He started to sidestep up the hill quickly, they popped off one ski and he kept going. We basically had to surround the poor boy. We noticed he had a season pass and I was given the task of trying to read it. Meanwhile, it has been 10-15 minutes with no sign of an adult. I have to basically wrestle the boy to read his pass. Just as I get his name and pass number Dad skis up. I feel a little awkward because I am basically holiding his son down in an attempt tp get info. Dad is okay with this and everything is now hunky dory.

So - now my question. You are a parent skiing with an 8 year old and a 3 year old. The 8 year old, who apparently is a good skier, freezes up and won't ski, while "terror on skis" 3 year old takes off. As a parent would you stay with 8 year old to help him down - or make him stay put and take off after 3 year old?

My answer (and maybe this is just me) - the 3 year old every time. I can't believe this dad let a 3 year old go down and wait in this crowded area by himself.

This was just one incident among many of things I have encountered while working at our hill.

 

[Robyn]

Oh, yeah, 3 year old! Definitely. The 8 year old is first of all old enough to understand that he is creating a danger, second of all if that child needs to be left there for next loop around it isn't as dangerous. The 3 year old doesn't understand what has happened, where they are and can get easily disoriented. Even with the 5 & 6 year olds I coach we regularly review the procedure if they get separated and I always point out ski patrol (and introduce the kids to at least 1 patroller at the beginning of the season so they aren't intimidated) but it scares me to death when one gets significantly separated from the group.

 

[skigrl27]

That's a tough call.

Here in Aspen/Snowmass we call runaway children by a secret code word. Mostly so that guests don't know what the patrol radio is saying & that they don't panic thinking it's their kid. With 7 to 8 little children in a group - they get away more than you would think. I credit the instructors big time for doing as great as they do! However, the ski school & are loaded with waivers & contracts in their pockets (or we don't let them ski).

With children not in ski school - I suppose you just have to hope Ski Patrol & the mountain ops folks are on their game. I could imagine how easily such a little trucker could get lost at a busy base area though!! Scary indeed.

 

[num]

Not a hundred percent sure that I understood the scenario correctly. As I understand it, there are two children with good technical abilities, one 8 and one 3, and the 8 year old had fear issues and the 3 year old didn't, and took off.

In a case like this, I'd've stayed with three year old. If a child isn't willing/able/comfortable to communicate and cooperate with ski patroller in uniform, I want them extremely close to me. If for some reason I couldn't keep the three year old to stay with me and eight year old while we work on getting the 8 year old down, and I had to chase the 3 year old down, I'd make sure the 8 year old was in a spot where he'd be safe and visible to others and have him stay put for a minute while I retrieve the 3 year old.

 

[Jilly]

I'd go for the 3 year old too. The social skills just arent' there yet. The 8 year old is in school and knows how to communicate with others. Robyn - code word at Tremblant is "zulu" The kids know to find a instructor in red, no matter what!! The instructor either finds the right instructor, or passes them off to a radio equiped instructor, or heads into snow school with them. Usually happens - last run of the classes. I remember doing a free run and picking up 2 zulu's on the way down. Delivered them to kid's zone and the correct instructor before the parents found out!!

 

[Robyn]

Yeah, last year I had one snowboarder from our boarding team find me and ask for help and then had a kid lost in the trees when a parent helper skied right past him when he'd fallen. I wasn't with that group (we'd split for the afternoon) but got a frantic call so I left my group with 3 parent helpers I had and went flying down the mountain to do 1 run through the trees before calling in patrol. Fortunately he popped out of the trees right as my co-coach was leaving to meet up with me for that run. We teach the kids they are to first look for another coach in uniform, second, go to the lift we just came from (if possible) or head to the lift we were going to or go to patrol. It's absolutely frightening as a coach to look around and realize you are missing a child and will get me in to panic mode faster than almost anything else.

 

[Sheena]

I got a funny image in my mind when I read about picking up zulus on your free run.

If I were the dad, I definitely would have gone after the 3 year old. I am always surprised at the number of really small children I see bombing down the slopes unsupervised.

 

[ritag]

Dad needed to make sure the 8 yr old was in a safe place and then capture the runaway 3 yr old. At 3 they have no judgement about where it is safe to sit. And obviously this one has been told not to talk to strangers without being told who isn't a stranger.

 

[Jilly]

I got a funny image in my mind when I read about picking up zulus on your free run.

Tremblant snow school is french based, so..... things are different!!

 

[smpayne]

Having 2 boys 4 years apart, I understand. It is a tough call, on one hand you have one kid in panic, while the other fearless one dissapears before you even notice he is gone.

Dad probably thought he could reason with the 8yr old fairly quickly and then catch up with the 3 yr old before he even got to the bottom. Did the 8yr old fall, then panic (my oldest does this) or just stop? If there was a fall involved, it only makes sense that dad would check him out first.

My DH said he would probably have done the same thing that this dad did. I have noticed, that guys are just not as paranoid about the little ones being alone for a few minutes as us moms. Let's face it, they just don't multi task as well as women.

 

[atlantiqueen]

Interestingly, it's not just the little ones you have to watch...
last year s-s # 1 who was 10 at the time decided he didn't like us and took off
Now, he can ski the whole mountain and does but never alone - it was a foggy, icy, miserable day and we had to try to find him while keeping s-s #2 (9 at the time) with us ...after a an hour or so we contacted ski patrol....

The nice thing about season passes is that they can be flagged and we had his de-activated for the day. Next time he got on a lift, ski patrol was notified and they brought him down the mountain.

THAT was an interesting day!

 

[Pequenita]

Yeah, last year I had one snowboarder from our boarding team find me and ask for help and then had a kid lost in the trees when a parent helper skied right past him when he'd fallen. I wasn't with that group (we'd split for the afternoon) but got a frantic call so I left my group with 3 parent helpers I had and went flying down the mountain to do 1 run through the trees before calling in patrol. Fortunately he popped out of the trees right as my co-coach was leaving to meet up with me for that run. We teach the kids they are to first look for another coach in uniform, second, go to the lift we just came from (if possible) or head to the lift we were going to or go to patrol. It's absolutely frightening as a coach to look around and realize you are missing a child and will get me in to panic mode faster than almost anything else.

Losing kids (at Whitetail, where Marigee skis) is on one of the other reasons I decided not to be an instructor this year. From what I could tell, there wasn't a protocol of what to do in case a kid wandered off from a class, other than "Don't lose the kid, the parents get upset." Even if I can rise to the occasion, I don't want the stress of wandering strangers' kids....

 

[AnnKH]

What a frightening situation!

My twin sons are 13 years old, and the first thing I did when we arrived at Whitefish this year (their first trip to the mountains) was point out the distinctive jackets of the ski patrol, instructors, and Ambasssadors. I also reminded them that lifties can help in an emergency, and we reviewed what to do if we got separated.

I can't imagine letting a 3-yr-old take off by himself, but I don't know the situation with the older child. My first thought was that there should have been another adult with the Dad, if there was a good chance that one or the other of the children would disappear.

 

[Kiragirl]

I think I would have done just what you did. I saw a 3 yr old girl standing by herself with no mittens, looking super cold, wouldn't answer me, so I kind of stayed with her til mom came back. what a fool.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

My first thought was that there should have been another adult with the Dad, if there was a good chance that one or the other of the children would disappear.

I thought this as well. We don't know what the situation was w/the older kid, i.e., what & where the "freeze-up" occurred. If in the middle of the run, what then? The father must have been between a rock and a hard place. I hope he doesn't try to do this again, re: taking both out, at least until the younger one totally gets the stick-together rule.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Here's another interesting scenario: several years ago, after a morning group kids' lesson, one of the kids gets left STRANDED. NO PARENT SHOWS UP. The little girl (8??) starts to panic. She is not left alone for 1 second. We tell her "mom's just a little late, let's go have some fun" and take her up a lift to distract her. Thankfully, mom's back by the end of this run....but oh that poor kid. Mom was a little worried, I felt like reading mom the old riot act, but we all dodged that bullet. Phew.

 

[ski diva]

Something like this happened to my husband not long ago. He found a very small child -- maybe 3 years old -- just hanging around outside the lodge at Okemo's Jackson Gore base area, looking totally lost. The parents were no where to be seen, and the kid had no idea where they were. There's a hotel there, so he took the kid in to the front desk. The kid went with him, too, which is also kind of scary. The parents are just lucky it was my husband who found him, and not some child-abductor-pervert-killer-maniac.

I know it's easy for kids to get separated from their parents, but I've also seen parents say to their kids, "Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes," and then take off, leaving the kid totally alone. And I'm not talking big kids. Little ones.

All I'm saying is, with all the weird stuff going on in the world, you've gotta be careful.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

wow

^^^That's even worse :mad: Had I been in his shoes, I would have totally read the Riot Act to the parents in that situation. Never, never, jamais, would I have left my young child (it's a "mom" thing) --- even now, if I'm in that situation with someone else's, I will not leave until there is resolution. Some people... ...

 

[Kiragirl]

Diva, too funny: (but true)

"some child-abductor-pervert-killer-maniac"

I wouldn't leave my DOG alone like that!

 

[Marigee]

We don't know what the situation was w/the older kid, i.e., what & where the "freeze-up" occurred.

According to Dad the 8 year old "froze" at the beginning of the run (hadn't fallen, wasn't hurt, just scared.) the family had season passes, so they must ski often. Dad said both were good skiers and called the 3 year old "Bode Miller." Now, with 650 feet of vertical on this mountain, the runs aren't very long, particularly the few green runs. Also, we have a ski patrol and a ski safety team member stationed at the top of this lift (and run)on busy days. Dad could've asked them for help - probably didn't notice them.) This was the Monday of MLK weekend and quite hectic. The mixing bowl area at the base of the lifts was extremely crowded. I'd be worried about my child being carted off - or hit by one of the many people there. The boy had a big fear of strangers and probably would've screamed bloody murder though. Dad probably hadn't pointed out the red jackets, white crosses, etc. to him.