More Slides Please

[tjf67]

If you almost injured yourself avoiding people doing the snow plow then you were the one out of control. I do the snow plow all the time if you cant check your speed behind me then you are at fault not me. I have ben skiing them for year and I dont notice vey many people in there that dont belong. Yeah some are better than others but people have to learn somehow.

They should learn on some other trail, and then take what they've learned to the slides. I have no problem avoiding bad skiers (I do it all the time at Whiteface ), but I'd much rather that they weren't on the slides when I finally get my chance to rip em up.

So if someone is good enough to get down the slides but dont look as "cool" as you they shouldn't be in there. Thats BS.

[tjf67]

One think we forget is the Litigious Society we live in. I remember when we could ski just about anywhere with out repercussions. It comes down to lawyers and insurance company's

Come on! New York State's Lawyers for Whiteface are just as good as the lawyers that figured out how to make this work for Jay, Smuggler's Notch, Sugarbush, Stowe... Again the rules that whiteface has imposed do not make sense. They are unreasonable. Those standards are far out of whack with what other ski areas in our region use.

I don't know this for a fact, but I was told that the laws are more strict in NY for ski areas then they are in VT. For instance, you can't legally allow boundry to boundry skiing at a NY ski area.

In Vermont someone can't sue for lets say you are bald. In ny warrented or not they can. I forget what the legal terms are for it but it is BS

[I:)skiing]

Only been to WF 6 times in winter season. Slides have not been opened, so I have not skied them, but looked at them in a wishing kind of way.

Set up a becon access gate---to cull out "non-prepared" skiers. I know that anyone can get a becon at any time and snow plow, but as a general statement, this would not happen. When conditions are perfect----open the gate to anyone as it is now.

With this idea...maybe they could open the slides 10 or more days, more often per yr.


All this said....Mtn mgmt points to ski patrol who Must take the conservative approach. I would never blame Ski Patrol....

If the guidelines were loosed by mtn mgmt "in writing" then Ski Patrol could be more liberal with opening.

[mattchuck2]

So if someone is good enough to get down the slides but dont look as "cool" as you they shouldn't be in there. Thats BS.

I didn't say that . . . we were talking about a hypothetical skier doing snowplows on the Slides . . . That guy should definitely not be in there.

[mattchuck2]

I don't know this for a fact, but I was told that the laws are more strict in NY for ski areas then they are in VT. For instance, you can't legally allow boundry to boundry skiing at a NY ski area.

I heard that too (probably the same kind of place you heard it - "mountain management"). But in the New York State Law Concerning Ski Area Safety, the only thing I can find that would prohibit boundary to boundary skiing is this little nugget:

Inspect each open ski slope or trail that is open to the public within the ski area at least twice a day, and enter the results of such inspection in a log which shall be available for examination by the commissioner. The log shall note:

(1) the general surface conditions of such trail at the time of inspection (powder, packed powder, frozen granular, icy patches or icy surface, bare spots or other surface conditions);

(2) the time of inspection and the name of the inspector; and

(3) the existence of any obstacles or hazards other than those which may arise from:

(i) skier use;

(ii) weather variations, including freezing and thawing; or

(iii) mechanical failure of snow grooming or emergency equipment which may position such equipment within the borders of a slope or trail.

i.e. by law, Patrollers have to inspect every open area twice a day and write a report on it. It would require an awful lot of manpower (or an awful small mountain) to keep a boundary to boundary policy in NYS.

[Lbtchnlgs]

It's a tough debate. You can't push opening when there is moderate avy danger, if someone gets caught the isn't really worth it. Rescues take lost of trained professionals, money, and negative publicity. Look at what happened out West this past winter. People were afraid to ski in-bounds due to avy dangers.

Unfortunately you can't bomb in the adks or I'm sure they'd be open 70% of the time. It would be a MASSIVE draw and good for business, but it's just not possible.

[asland]

It's a tough debate. You can't push opening when there is moderate avy danger, if someone gets caught the isn't really worth it. Rescues take lost of trained professionals, money, and negative publicity. Look at what happened out West this past winter. People were afraid to ski in-bounds due to avy dangers.

Unfortunately you can't bomb in the adks or I'm sure they'd be open 70% of the time. It would be a MASSIVE draw and good for business, but it's just not possible.

How many days a winter is there significant avy danger at whiteface? Wouldn't this same avy danger close skyward, cloudspin...

Although avalanches are possible - maybe a few days per year.- anything is possible- and precautions should be taken - Significant avalanches are just not that big of an issue at whiteface.

Avalanche danger may close the slides a few days but the slides were closed every day last year.

[whitefaceman]

It's a tough debate. You can't push opening when there is moderate avy danger, if someone gets caught the isn't really worth it. Rescues take lost of trained professionals, money, and negative publicity. Look at what happened out West this past winter. People were afraid to ski in-bounds due to avy dangers.

Unfortunately you can't bomb in the adks or I'm sure they'd be open 70% of the time. It would be a MASSIVE draw and good for business, but it's just not possible.

How many days a winter is there significant avy danger at whiteface? Wouldn't this same avy danger close skyward, cloudspin...

Although avalanches are possible - maybe a few days per year.- anything is possible- and precautions should be taken - Significant avalanches are just not that big of an issue at whiteface.

Avalanche danger may close the slides a few days but the slides were closed every day last year.

didnt they even have a small avvy on upper skyward midway through last season?...yet it was still open for most of the second half

[NPN]

It's a tough debate. You can't push opening when there is moderate avy danger, if someone gets caught the isn't really worth it. Rescues take lost of trained professionals, money, and negative publicity. Look at what happened out West this past winter. People were afraid to ski in-bounds due to avy dangers.

Unfortunately you can't bomb in the adks or I'm sure they'd be open 70% of the time. It would be a MASSIVE draw and good for business, but it's just not possible.

How many days a winter is there significant avy danger at whiteface? Wouldn't this same avy danger close skyward, cloudspin...

Although avalanches are possible - maybe a few days per year.- anything is possible- and precautions should be taken - Significant avalanches are just not that big of an issue at whiteface.

Avalanche danger may close the slides a few days but the slides were closed every day last year.

didnt they even have a small avvy on upper skyward midway through last season?...yet it was still open for most of the second half

Yes.

It happened early a.m., before the lift was open to the public.

[SNOWHERE]

It is depressing how little the're open.I have a feeling the SV glades will be the same.But it's not just Whiteface,I'd like to know how many days the front four at Stowe were open.I'll bet not many,considering 300 inches ayear.