What is the one thing that will cut your ski day short?

[James]

Yeah only people with two good eyes say, “seeing is over rated”

 

[KingGrump]

I'll do whatever I want and you can STFU about HTFU.

There is a big difference between HTFU and my suggestion of expanding the skill set.

HTFU is basically "Suck it up, buttercup."

Acquiring additional skills (expanding the skillset) to cope with varying conditions is finding a way to deal with the issues at hand. Rather than tucking one's tail between his/her legs and go home. No different than a groomer zoomer facing a bump trail.

If you feel you are too old and/or unable to learn anything new for whatever reason. That is your problem. Not mine.

 

[KingGrump]

Yeah only people with two good eyes say, “seeing is over rated”

First week in May at Mammoth, visibility was so bad, we could not see McCoy from top of chair #2. We still couldn't see McCoy until we covered more than three quarter of the distant there. It was still a vague shadow unless one was 20' from it. Didn't matter if one was old, young, one good eye or two good eye. There was nothing to see.

2017 gathering, many skied the huge bumps in Whistler Bowl in total whiteout with me. My advice on those total white out runs was, "Relax your eyes. Stopping looking for things you can't see. Feel with your feet." Again, nobody died. No injured.

2011 gathering at Vail. Group of us in the back bowls. Totally socked in. Not exactly the terrain with the strongest gravity. Several in the group asked "Which way is down?" I told them, "Make like an airplane with your arms. Bank your body and let your skis slide. It'll come to you."

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I will tell you that with true vertigo (which I did not have when I launched yesterday), none of that would work. The senses stop giving you correct information. You cannot tell up from down, fast from slow, or moving from stopped. I am not exaggerating ... when you lose all your senses, it is terrifying! When I have vertigo, I have to plant a pole to know that I am stopped. If I guess correctly which pole is uphill, then all is well. If I guess incorrectly, and plant the downhill pole but I am not stopped ... well, you can figure out what happens next! Even when I guess correctly, and know that I am stopped, I still feel as if I am moving. I don't ski with vertigo for my safety and the safety of everyone around me. It's a real thing and it's no joke. If you are ever with someone experiencing vertigo, have them ski directly behind you and look at your skis. That is the only thing that gives perspective.

 

[Posaune]

First week in May at Mammoth, visibility was so bad, we could not see McCoy from top of chair #2. We still couldn't see McCoy until we covered more than three quarter of the distant there. It was still a vague shadow unless one was 20' from it. Didn't matter if one was old, young, one good eye or two good eye. There was nothing to see.

2017 gathering, many skied the huge bumps in Whistler Bowl in total whiteout with me. My advice on those total white out runs was, "Relax your eyes. Stopping looking for things you can't see. Feel with your feet." Again, nobody died. No injured.

2011 gathering at Vail. Group of us in the back bowls. Totally socked in. Not exactly the terrain with the strongest gravity. Several in the group asked "Which way is down?" I told them, "Make like an airplane with your arms. Bank your body and let your skis slide. It'll come to you."

This thread is about what conditions will send you home, not what conditions will kill you. I've skied many, many days in the fog where you can't see anything but white, but if that's all I can ski, then it will send me home. I've never been injured because of it, but I've never enjoyed it either. It's a PITA.

On those days I head for the trees.

 

[Sibhusky]

I will head home on a zero chair day, but after this year I am better with one and 2 chair days. I just go slower and make more turns. It's the days I realize I am on a totally different trail than I thought I was that scare me.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

Skiing off an unseen drop off is never any days highlight .

 

[KingGrump]

This thread is about what conditions will send you home, not what conditions will kill you. I've skied many, many days in the fog where you can't see anything but white, but if that's all I can ski, then it will send me home. I've never been injured because of it, but I've never enjoyed it either. It's a PITA.

On those days I head for the trees.

Totally agree. Discretion is the better part of valor.

When fog and flat light rolls in, we often will retreat to the trees. However, we do get caught out in the open far from home on occasions. In those times, we ski a slow methodical round turn. Almost at a slow walking pace.

Part of our skillset is situational awareness. During last season's gathering at Snowbird, visibility was abysmal for the entire week of the gathering. My group stayed in the Gad 2 trees for the entire week. Some of the other gathering attendees decided to take on Hidden Peak. I believe there were some injuries.

 

[tch]

There is a big difference between HTFU and my suggestion of expanding the skill set.
HTFU is basically "Suck it up, buttercup."
Acquiring additional skills (expanding the skillset) to cope with varying conditions is finding a way to deal with the issues at hand. Rather than tucking one's tail between his/her legs and go home. No different than a groomer zoomer facing a bump trail.
If you feel you are too old and/or unable to learn anything new for whatever reason. That is your problem. Not mine.

Actually, writing "Seeing is overrated" is NOT suggesting someone learn new skills; it's tantamount to saying "you suck and I don't".

And recounting these situations:

First week in May at Mammoth, visibility was so bad, we could not see McCoy from top of chair #2. We still couldn't see McCoy until we covered more than three quarter of the distant there. It was still a vague shadow unless one was 20' from it. Didn't matter if one was old, young, one good eye or two good eye. There was nothing to see.
2017 gathering, many skied the huge bumps in Whistler Bowl in total whiteout with me. My advice on those total white out runs was, "Relax your eyes. Stopping looking for things you can't see. Feel with your feet." Again, nobody died. No injured.
2011 gathering at Vail. Group of us in the back bowls. Totally socked in. Not exactly the terrain with the strongest gravity. Several in the group asked "Which way is down?" I told them, "Make like an airplane with your arms. Bank your body and let your skis slide. It'll come to you."

and :

When fog and flat light rolls in, we often will retreat to the trees. However, we do get caught out in the open far from home on occasions. In those times, we ski a slow methodical round turn. Almost at a slow walking pace.
Part of our skillset is situational awareness. During last season's gathering at Snowbird, visibility was abysmal for the entire week of the gathering. My group stayed in the Gad 2 trees for the entire week. Some of the other gathering attendees decided to take on Hidden Peak. I believe there were some injuries.

and:

Shudda been with us the beginning of May '23 at Mammoth.
Everyone skied everyday. No one died. No one injuried. Everyone had a good time.
I think.
Go and review the Mammoth thread from last season and you can see the conditions for validity.
There is always a way. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it can't be done.
Note how many on this forum said thee is no way one can ski spring slush with FIS SL. Well, look at last season's Mammoth thread for spring skiing dates. Go ahead, prove me wrong.
Most will say one needs a wide ski to ski spring slush. It's just a expression of their limited skill set and understanding. Most need a wide ski to float to the top of the soft stuff and restore the 2D surface they rae so familiar with. Make everything a 2D groomer.

...is basically bragging that you have all the answers, are the superior skier, and are immune to issues that only less skilled skiers face. If only we could all be as good/smart/skilled as you.

This thread is about what situations will cause individuals to pack it in. People are openly sharing their specific issues, irrespective of their skill level. To lecture them about how they ought to "fix" those issues because you can and supposedly have and to say "If you feel you are too old and/or unable to learn anything new for whatever reason, that is your problem. Not mine" is arrogant and condescending.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Flat light. I had cataract surgery in the fall of 2022, and it made a huge improvement, but it's still an issue.

You give me hope! Looking at cataract surgery probably late summer. Not expecting miracles, but any improvement will be appreciated.

While HIs Holy Crabiness can sometimes be annoying, he responds well to teasing, so it tends to even out. An aspect to flat light skiing that doesn't get mentioned much is that it requires more work, physically and mentally, so while it may not preclude starting the day, you probably will quit early just due to exhaustion. Dog help you if you have an over-active imagination, because flat light is ideal for goblin attacks.

 

[Vestirse]

An aspect to flat light skiing that doesn't get mentioned much is that it requires more work, physically and mentally, so while it may not preclude starting the day, you probably will quit early just due to exhaustion.

I feel that. When it's really bad, I tense up because I'm trying to be hyper-aware so I don't fall. Then, any stumble that does occur is magnified as you try to catch yourself. Before my heated Tempest goggles, I'd often fog up because of my face perspiring from the anxiety. Foggy goggles in flat light... and when the vertigo kicks in, oy. Skiing like that is exhausting.

This is why I try to stick to the trees, as they help provide natural contrast on a day with bad visibility. But not every run is in the tree line and more importantly, everyone has their own comfort level - everybody should respect that. Listen to yourself. Pushing limits isn't a bad thing at all, but it should always be on your own terms and nobody else's.

 

[James]

Dog help you if you have an over-active imagination, because flat light is ideal for goblin attacks.

Yeah that’s what I figured out in Europe. It’s mostly mental. It’s like walking across a room you know when it’s totally dark. If you allow the goblins to come in, it’s now even harder.

The key is you have to just accept you can't see and stop trying to. Trying to see is just a treadmill of frustration and failure.

 

[Paul Lutes]

True; not seeing certainly isn't an obstacle for sleeping.

 

[David Chaus]

Closing the lifts early.

Like a power outage?

 

[DanoT]

Like a power outage?

In Canada, and I assume in the USA as well, chair lifts are required to have an evac motor as a backup that runs at slow speed for evacuating a broken lift. However many modern electric powered chair lifts also have a third engine that is diesel and can run a lift at slightly reduced power and speed that allows the lift to run until electric power is restored.

 

[Sibhusky]

They close lifts here due to wind and temperature. And then sometimes mechanical problems. Definitely if they close the lifts I'm leaving. Hopefully not needing a rope to do so.

 

[David Chaus]

In Canada, and I assume in the USA as well, chair lifts are required to have an evac motor as a backup that runs at slow speed for evacuating a broken lift. However many modern electric powered chair lifts also have a third engine that is diesel and can run a lift at slightly reduced power and speed that allows the lift to run until electric power is restored.

I was referring to a resort wide power outage that shut down Alpine the last day of the Gathering shortly after opening.

 

[DanoT]

I was referring to a resort wide power outage that shut down Alpine the last day of the Gathering shortly after opening.

We have had resort wide power outages at Sun Peaks, usually when someone crashes into a power pole on the access road. Diesel generators then automatically power something like 4 or 5 of 7 chairlifts, the Village Day Lodge and several hotels, so no real loss of skiing. I guess some resorts are better set up for power disruptions than others.

I recall one time the electric motor powering the Sunburst bubble chair died (the main chairlift out of the village) and the motor had to be shipped (I think via train) to Pennsylvania for a rebuild. It took a month for the repaired motor to be returned and reinstalled. It lasted about 2 weeks before it died again and had to be shipped back to Pennsylvania. Thankfully the diesel backup, although noisy and a bit slow, came thru resulting in no loss of skiing.