asland wrote:

Great times in the slides again this weekend. Why do the slides close at 2:00? On Saturday, I got tot the top about 1:55 and the slides were already closed. The four ski patrollers that were standing near the gate said they needed the time to sweep it. I know I'm just getting greedy now but it really bumbed me out. I men really - if it takes me 15 minutes tops to get to the bottom of the slides why does it take 2 hours to sweep the mostly wide open slides? This seems like a dumb rule to me. matt

The shadows hit the slides at 2pm, so they set up and conditions become much more dangerous. They prefer to sweep them before this occurs.

Quote:

The shadows hit the slides at 2pm, so they set up and conditions become much more dangerous. They prefer to sweep them before this occurs.

sounds good on paper but not a reality on the slope. The sun was still high in the air at 2pm. Very few shadows. Sun not setting to around 6pm these days so the sun is very high still at that point.

Also, even if it was true it would take a while for conditions in the slide to harden up.

matt

just a week ago the stuff in the shade got cruchy within 10 mins of the sun going away on them

we need to accept that msa knows what they are doing and will close the slides at the appropriate times. The slides need to be respected - they can be very dangerous in the wrong conditions and you have to respect that msa will have to take a sled in there to get someone that is hurt out

Its a huge area to sweep, so that is probably a bigger factor than it freezing up, although things can get crunchy in a hurry. I skied Hoyts at 3:30 on Saturday, in the shadows, and it was very crunchy, really set up quick. Not much fun at all.

All in all, I respect what they do with the Slides, closing time and all. They seem to know what they are doing. Remind me of that next time they close them for the season the day I get there!!

One thing they should do.......set the traverse into the Slides higher. To much great terrain up above the current traverse!

let's get totally crazy here and say that the slides are equal to the entire summit area of the mountain (skyward, Cloudspin, Polly's, and Folly's) . It's not even close to that big but let's just pretend. They close the summit lift at 3:30 or 3:45. leaving 15 -30 minutes to sweep. Compare to 2 hours in the slides. It just does not add up.

I respect ski patrol but realize that they are way too overcautious in this area. They are making decisions based on this overcautious approach. They are becoming less cautious though. As they get used to the slides being part of the mountain they are keeping the slides open in conditions that are good but in the past would have shut the slides down. All I ask is that as they get more and more used to the slides they re-look at the closing time and expand it.

matt

It may not be that simple. When they sweep the summit, they are sweeping 4 marked trails. There is nothing marked in the Slides. Yes, there is 1, 2, 3, 4 etc., but they arent runs per se. You can go anywhere you want below the traverse. From an acreage standpoint, sweeping the Slides has to be a much bigger task than sweeping the marked trails from the summit. Plus, should they find someone is in there, stuck in the Slides and in need of assistance, extricating them will be much more time consuming than throwing them on a sled and taking them down a marked trail. I can see why they close them when they do. Heck, it can take 45 minutes or more, from the time you start the traverse in at the summit, to the time you come off Slide Out into Skyward, for some people to ski Slide 4, and they aren't looking for injured and stranded skiers along the way.

yep and a sled rescue will take waaaay longer in the slides than on the trails. Not a good place to be after dark w/ a victim in the sled.

If your'e going in with groups of two or more,there should be no single parties to find in a sweep.