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Problems with mountain safety (yellow people)

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Eggbert
Posts: 329 - Karma: 46
Today, at Keystone, I almost got my pass pulled, for skiing down an open run. There is a bypass to get to the park, and it goes down a blue run. On one side of the run, they made kind of a skiercross course, with little jumps, rollers, and banked turns, and I hauled ass through that, because it was fun. there was a rope down one side so that if you were on the run you couldnt cross over, and vice versa. it was open on the top and bottom.

I rounded the corner, about to turn to go to the park, when I see a yellow guy, with a huge grin on his face yell to his partner "We got one!" then signal for me to talk to him. here's what happened.

me: 'whats up?'
yellow guy: 'what are you doing over there?'
me: 'skiing.'
yg: 'thats closed. why the hell were you over there? let me see your pass'

at this point i was kinda freaked out because i had a warning already and thought he was gonna pull my pass (more on that later)

me: 'sir, the run is open at the top. i have done nothing wrong'

he didnt believe me so he made me hike up to prove that it was open. then he accused me of opening it, but let me ski away.


Earlier in the season, i got an official warning for speed checking and spraying a tree as i exited the park.....


Keystone told me that since i didnt know their names, they cant do anything about it. neither of them were wearing a nametag.

SPARKNOTES: almost got my pass pulled for skiing an open run, then was accused of opening it myself. Keystone refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing.


Anyone have any other stories like this? particularly at keystone?


(sorry for long post)

Jan 7 2013 6:15PM
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geosom
Posts: 157 - Karma: 1,643
I feel sorry for you Americans. We still have the gaper problem, but patrol are only in place to take them down when they are injured. You could straightline the summit to the base and they wouldn't give it a second glance
Jan 8 2013 2:59AM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,500
I remember I was at keystones skiing very controlled turning down the mountain not bombing it all. And Mountain safety stops me and gives me a violation. I calmly explained no one was around and I was skiing in control and At a proper speed. The yellow jacket then proceeds to tell me that she can see my carving tracks in the snow therefore I was going too fast. Probably one of the dumbest skiing related things I've ever heard in my entire life.
Jan 8 2013 3:02AM
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Static
Posts: 8484 - Karma: 4,033
keystone's yellow jackets are awful. I like when they bring the big black guy over for intimidation. If they don't have the ability to discern who is or isn't in control and a danger the shouldn't have the authority to cite you.
Jan 8 2013 3:53AM
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doyle.
Posts: 1624 - Karma: 596
at whistler the safety patrol is only out in full force at the end of the day on the ski out to the base, all they do is wave their arms to tell you to slow down. Never happens to me but I ski respectfully because sometimes there are way too many people to go fast especially during the holidays
Jan 8 2013 4:26AM
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SkiFreshPow
Posts: 233 - Karma: 334
same
Jan 8 2013 4:46AM
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HolySchimmel
Posts: 1601 - Karma: 1,297
I feel kinda sorry for you guys. Over here (Austria, Switzerland etc.) I have never seen someone remotly close to what I think you ski patrol is. Only people annoying here are instructors and the smaller racing kids who think the mountain belongs to them alone. Noone here would think of pulling your pass or something (unless you do some seriously fucked up shit I guess, never seen it though)...
Jan 8 2013 4:53AM
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Bread.
Posts: 769 - Karma: 540
la fuck?!?!
Jan 8 2013 6:04AM
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Chron_Rabbit
Posts: 988 - Karma: 1,564
hahaha thats fucking great
Jan 8 2013 6:19AM
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oil.
Posts: 2255 - Karma: 1,254
this is bullshit. patrol isnt trying to hurt you. if someone is tackling you, there obviously something there you dont know.
someone i know on patrol one time tackled (pretty much clotheslined) a guy who was skiing way to fast. unnecessary? well there was a landed helicopter with a spinning rotor 30 meters from the guy. the guy was still angry and demanded my friend josh be fired. the stupidity of some people amazes me sometimes.
Jan 8 2013 8:20AM
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saxon
Posts: 1159 - Karma: 551
that's FUCKED.

i don't understand how they/others get off calling skiing switch unsafe. i'm sure the majority of us on here doing it can probably ski switch better than they can forward, or at least it seems that way at the hill i work at...

Jan 8 2013 8:40AM
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Cebra
Posts: 505 - Karma: 35
Wow, I feel really bad for you guys. Is that only in America? Where I ski there aren't such guys and you can ski how you want (which is good but also a lil bit bad at the same time)
Jan 8 2013 11:05AM
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Abu_Hajaar
Posts: 2747 - Karma: 3,890
I hate these guys but it's so much fun to mess with them.
Jan 8 2013 11:33AM
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Bumblesteeze
Posts: 3092 - Karma: 748
I've had two bad experiences with snow patrols.

- One time I was skiing some trees at blue mountain with a couple friends and at the end of the glades there was a flat zone that stretches to another run. On that stretch there was about 5 snow patrols on their snowmobiles waiting to ambush us. They told us that we ducked under a rope to access the glades, which wasn't true. We honestly had no idea what they were talking about, it was complete bs. We eventually all got our passes clipped.
Apparently the glades were closed because there was going to be a race event on that day on the run following the glades. If you're going to close a run, do it properly..

- Last year at Mont Ste Marie I skied with my bro down a run that had the snow making machines on and as we get to the lift, this snow patrol starts yelling at us while pulling out his trusty pliers. "You guys aren't supposed to ski down that run!" I told him there was 0 signs or rope that indicated that the run was closed. Then he explained that it was common sense that when the snow making machines are on, the run is closed. Complete bs.. There is so many other hills that leave their machines on when the run is open, Tremblant being one of them. Thankfully we didn't get out passes clipped. It was still embarrassing as everyone was watching.. So unnecessary.
Jan 8 2013 11:41AM
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Randy_Quench
Posts: 5447 - Karma: 4,342
holy shit some of you west coasters have it rough.
If half these stories happened to me I would laugh in their face and explain that they cant fuck with the best skier on the mountain.
Jan 8 2013 11:49AM
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Session
Posts: 5315 - Karma: 21,334
I'm trying to understand the notion of speedchecking being a bad thing.

And I have never been told that skiing fast was against the rules.
Jan 8 2013 12:04PM
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SkierPT
Posts: 2175 - Karma: 4,701
Honestly I can ski switch better than over half the people at my mountain
Jan 8 2013 12:09PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
undefined
Jan 8 2013 12:12PM
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Randy_Quench
Posts: 5447 - Karma: 4,342
I dont think it is that speedchecking or skiing fast is the issue, its that "yellow people" see kids straightlining and speedchecking close to trees as being out of control.
Jan 8 2013 12:13PM
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casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,746
Then that means your home hill is wack as fuck, and your patrol is made up of gapers.

Most patrollers are loving life too much to give a shit about some 15 year old straight lining a green. Hey, you're ducking a rope and it's safe over there? I didn't see shit. You dipped into Avy terrain and proceeded to gape your way over a convex break above a notorious terrain trap where the snow pack is bullshit? I'm educating you, and if you're a dipshit with a fuck you attitude, beat it geek.

I find that patrols at small resorts that don't get involved in control work or higher level work in general tend to adopt a cop/captain buzzkill mentality and approach to their jobs. That is also true of many of the volunteers/nationals, though plenty of them are cool. If you go to larger, or more "serious" resorts, most of the patrollers aren't all that different than your average ski bum, honestly. When you're making up explosives and digging pits and worrying about the big picture, that petty bullshit is literally meaningless. In my opinion, ski patrol is there to make judgments about terrain, and bail people out of trouble, that's pretty much it. Patrol most places work really hard and receive very little in terms of gratitude and/or tangible monetary compensation. That leaves one reason why most flock to patrol...you guess the reason. Here's a hint: it's the same reason you spend all of your $ on passes, gas, junk food, and equipment.

Lastly, any patroller who rolls up and rains on a safety meeting is and always will be a square. When I did OEC, some clownshoe who thought he was law enforcement/Homeland Security (literally repped block letter alphabet boy t's every class) asked a q about what to do if he found kids getting high......jesus christ.
Jan 8 2013 12:16PM
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boo10159
Posts: 270 - Karma: 137
I was following an instructor off of side boosters and got stopped by the mountain popo. Pretty retarded
Jan 8 2013 12:22PM
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oil.
Posts: 2255 - Karma: 1,254
also i hate the impression that kids think ski patrol is a police force.
Jan 8 2013 12:26PM
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DERS.
Posts: 6299 - Karma: 1,293
fuck the fucking yellow jacket fucks. gave me a speeding ticket in november at keystone on river run standing right in the choke as your about to go around the corner blocking off 2/3 of the run. saying i was going to fast when i was going slow as fuck all i did was a cossack off a side booter.

fucking fucker fucks!
Jan 8 2013 12:35PM
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seanahue.
Posts: 2141 - Karma: 3,366
all I could think of when I read that last sentence was Loren, covert special-ops lifty for Tline that stood on my skis trying to get a rise out of me... I'm sure there's more than a few Hood locals on here who know exactly who I'm talking about, I've seen that asshole ruin too many peoples' days with a smug smile... never wanted to punch a stranger so badly in my life
Jan 8 2013 2:21PM
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ktd619
Posts: 927 - Karma: 96
Big Brother is watching you...................at Vail Resorts.
Jan 8 2013 2:38PM
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corona
Posts: 12751 - Karma: 32,251
that's what I do when I'm patrolling. at the beginning of the day I pick out a few unsuspecting park rats and tail them until I catch them doing something wrong then pull their passes. normally I get them for something stupid like spitting off the lift or afterbanging a shitty 270 off.
Jan 8 2013 3:11PM
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geosom
Posts: 157 - Karma: 1,643
this.
Jan 8 2013 4:18PM
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SirBooley
Posts: 768 - Karma: 353
That course to A51 is so fun though…except when it's icey…then it's sketch
Jan 8 2013 4:29PM
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SamMcChesney
Posts: 2905 - Karma: 2,198
pretty much this.

My crew and I have gotten into fights with people at the mountain (one of my snowboard friends has an extremely fiery temper) but never really ski patrol.
Jan 8 2013 5:07PM
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SkierPT
Posts: 2175 - Karma: 4,701
This year I've had some convos with yellow coats and Feds and they've all been super chill. There is one prick yellow coat who has it out for any park riders though in swear.
Jan 8 2013 11:03PM
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saxon
Posts: 1159 - Karma: 551
This also I don't get. Speeding tickets ?!? Wtf we are skiing not driving. If someone is ripping a run and in control, they shouldn't be penalized for it. Even if they are a little out of control, let em work it out ffs.
Jan 8 2013 11:10PM
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alex=
Posts: 1738 - Karma: 2,835
My resort doesn't have yellow jackets.. explain
Jan 8 2013 11:10PM
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broto
Posts: 9039 - Karma: 25,658
my ski patrollers just ski down the mountain like normal skiers and really only do anything about people skiing in out of bounds territory (mostly warnings) or people who get hurt. last year they tried to implement a no inverts rule but it wasn't allowed because of something involving insurance.

there is even a patroller who we call "steezy ski patrol." he's a dude around 25 who has afterbangs and shitty 10 din bindings. last year we were hiking a box and he comes up (in his patrol coat and backpack) and goes "ah man it's been a while since I hit a box." then proceeds to completely eat shit on it. so funny, such an idiot.
Jan 8 2013 11:17PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,956
my ass still hurts...


at keystone the other day i noticed a trick to the yellow guys. the ones on the top of schoolmarm are usually chiller (and usually leave their post my 11:00), make sure you stay totally to the right, like so far tho the right that you almost hit the trees, next, give them a head nod and smile, act like you are having fun, and lastly, deliberately act like you are trying to stay as far away from the beginners as possible. And also throw in a few controlled speed checks, just hard enough to be loud enough to get their attention, but with as little spray as possible. But any other place on the mountain, especially before the catwalk to Montezuma, you are pretty much fucked. The only thing I can think of around Montezuma is to act like you looking for people, like turn your head uphill a lot and act like you have extreme mounts of control.

remember back when instead of the yellow guys they had that photographer with the sign and the giant flip numbers. That was so cool, they encouraged you to go faster.
Jan 8 2013 11:17PM
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Powdered_Donuts
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 187
you sound like a real douche let him have his fun
Jan 9 2013 12:14AM
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_Garagely_
Posts: 1937 - Karma: 3,181
I've never seen any of these yellow jackets in Montana. People bomb the shit out of blues and greens all day and nobody gives a fuck.
Jan 9 2013 12:41AM
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Firewood
Posts: 360 - Karma: 531
.
Jan 9 2013 12:56AM
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Mr.Sloth
Posts: 5091 - Karma: 13,469
ATP? Is that App?
Jan 9 2013 11:41AM
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Mr.Sloth
Posts: 5091 - Karma: 13,469
I ski at winterplace and snowshoe
Jan 9 2013 11:41AM
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PON3
Posts: 3817 - Karma: 783
I know a lot of guys on mt safey at keystone, I run peru half the time and a lot of them run through there on a daiky basis. They are super nice people, they are out there doing their job to keep you and every one else safe out there. So what if they didnt know if the run was open or not, they were just doing their protocol for closed runs. They treat every situation out there as if someone could get hurt, because when you dont is when some one does get hurt. They were doing thier jobs, not being dicks, you got awy so don't get but hurt about it
Jan 9 2013 12:15PM
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Static
Posts: 8484 - Karma: 4,033
their job is literally to stop people from having fun, that's a dick job, they are dicks
Jan 9 2013 4:16PM
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skibeest
Posts: 419 - Karma: 103
Click for larger image
Jan 9 2013 6:55PM
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.spaghetticat.
Posts: 4283 - Karma: 890
i hate yellow jackets, we have them at my resort they tell us to slow down everywhere and theres not a single slope i can ski without being yelled at. What makes me even more mad is the fact that im a way better skier than all of them.
Last weekend i was skiing down a closed run because i was at a friends who's condo is half way down the slope. When i got to the bottom the guy took my pass, threatened to call the cops, made up get into his car and he drove us back to his condo. As we were getting out of the car he told us to pick up our passes in the morning. The next morning they (mountain "SAFETY" patrol) wouldn't give it back. I demanded to talk to the president, and he was being huge dick, so we got into an argument. I still dont have my pass back which i pay alot of money for.

screw them
Jan 9 2013 8:45PM
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tripnip
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 482
I got hit last weekend by a taper right in front of a yellow coat on schoolmarm and instead if doing what he should have done I got the blame whe I got hit from behind. The guy was a total dick. I got his name and turned him in but he just let the gaper go. And I have had 4 warning from the patrol on the past 13 years. They are so bias and most don't do their job. Last season at vail my friend through a front flip over a roller and he got his pass pulled. Funny thing is his mom is the head if tickets or something and he got out of it. I have to many stories about these people they are just terrible. And most of them don't even do their job.
Jan 10 2013 12:22AM
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Sucka4Steeze
Posts: 68 - Karma: 49
Oh shit I fuckin lold
Jan 10 2013 12:34AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
recently, I was skiing in the park at sierra at tahoe

fell on a box and popped a ski, a ski which happened to not have a working brake, or a brake at all...
anyways, ski runs down the hill a ways, under a fence, for maybe ten feet and then out onto the run on the other side. a ski instructor picks it up and takes it a Mountain safety guy about fifty feet away

I ski under the fence thinking my ski might have stopped there, seeing that it hadnt I skied down to Mountain safety. he berated me for five minutes about how I had ducked a pointless fence and how he should pull my pass. Eventually he decides to let me go, and he tosses my ski down, my brakeless ICBM ski, it starts to run and he just stands there laughing. Never said a word about a serious potential hazard (the brakeless ski) but goes on about a pointless and completely safe situation.

Sparknotes: Mountain safety are retarded
Jan 10 2013 2:43AM
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doGelyst
Posts: 2491 - Karma: 508
eh, it depends on the mountain. as someone before said, the yellow j's on mammoth are pretty sweet and not a problem.

the ones ive seen @ key ,breck, and copper can be pretty douchey. I do like that they have seperate staff for this tho. I shouldnt be ski patrol's job to be giant douchebags on the mtn, they are there to help you out and save your ass (and others).

If i was injured and had a yellow coat from those places approach me, I'd tell them off. That aside, havent had a single issue with one in 10+ years of skiing colorado.
Jan 10 2013 3:01AM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
Man, I don't know if I'd want to ski in America
Jan 10 2013 3:06AM
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GrabsForFun
Posts: 1378 - Karma: 396
Last winter a kid here in sweden happened to wake up a bear and got attacked. just saying
Jan 10 2013 6:44AM
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DrunkViking
Posts: 154 - Karma: 53
As a European who has never seen a "snow patrol", is this real life?
Jan 10 2013 7:13AM
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Abu_Hajaar
Posts: 2747 - Karma: 3,890
I got kicked out of holiday valley for riding in the trees. Its honestly out of hand, all of those bastards hate park skiers and snowboarders so much.
Jan 10 2013 7:52AM
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