A friend of mine was out at Snowshoe yesterday and sent me the following note:
"By the way, I did go out to Snowshoe today with my daughter”¦ it was an interesting day. Pretty good snow overall considering the warmth. However, shortly after we got there, we were over on Western (Cupp Run) and while riding up the lift, we heard a guy yelling for help over and over again! After the Ski Patrol at the top brushed me off and said “it’s probably nothing”¦ but yeah, sure we’ll check it out”, my daughter and I went slowly down each side since the wind and noise of turning on snow would drown out any yelling from the side”¦ the ski patrol lady in front of us completely missed him and had gone on ahead of us”¦ my daughter found him”¦ in a deep ditch ”“ couldn’t see him from the run itself. And he couldn’t crawl out because his legs were broken in multiple places”¦ both legs ”“ compound fracture in one. He was probably yelling for at least 20 to 30 minutes."
That guy is very lucky your friend and his daughter were willing to keep paying attention.
marzNC wrote:
That guy is very lucky your friend and his daughter were willing to keep paying attention.
And shame on the Ski Patrol for brushing off any request for help. That's unprofessional and reckless behavior on their part. I hope the OP's friend reported this behavior to the Patrol Director or to the head of mountain operations.
songfta wrote:
She is planning on contacting Snowshoe. Good idea to directly contact the Patrol Director - I'll pass it along to her.marzNC wrote:
That guy is very lucky your friend and his daughter were willing to keep paying attention.
And shame on the Ski Patrol for brushing off any request for help. That's unprofessional and reckless behavior on their part. I hope the OP's friend reported this behavior to the Patrol Director or to the head of mountain operations.
wgo wrote:
the ski patrol lady in front of us completely missed him and had gone on ahead of us”¦ my daughter found him”¦
Snowshoe ski patrol - snowshit joke. Put in a complaint for $47,000 and settle for $38,000 . They can afford it.
Crush, I feel a rebuttal is in order about your comment...
Unless you were there and personally witnessed the accident situation it is unfair to damn the patrol and folks that tried to locate the injured skier/boarder, or folks that can specifically figure out what happened, how and when! In other words, your comments were, in my opinion (FWIW) a bit of a cheap shot. Thank God the outcome appears positive albeit painful. I basically agree with the couple that trying to get Ski Patrol attention/help should not have been so difficult, even if there had been previous unobserved reports, If this is true, then there is a Problem that good leadership can overcome! I personally was severely injured in a collision with an out o control snowboarder that ended my ski season 6 weeks ago. I have some suggestions for SS management on how they might better minimize excessive speeding and friendly racing near the bottom of Cupp Run which I will forward to SS management asap.
The Colonel wrote:
Crush, I feel a rebuttal is in order about your comment....
Yay i love to argue (again in my next lifte i'll be a laywer, tho i don't think trial because i'll a little volatile). This is a bit rushed so my research may be crap but -
Your arugment is senimental; much has been devoted to what goes on when Ski Patrol renders aid to a person and that is pretty much covered by Good Samaritan Law (typical ref http://farwest.org/DocumentLibrary/GoodSamaritan091016.pdf ). That being said, the matter is really thorough investigation of all accidents and to obtain the identity of everyone involved - a matter that could be argued (typical ref O'Connell v. Killington, Ltd. http://law.justia.com/cases/vermont/supreme-court/1995/op93-394.html ). This is more of an employee's ski area/HR policy but you have two good defendants one could name (ski area and individual patrollers) that may be remiss in this aspect. i did have pretty good material from the Actuaries area on estimating personal injury torts but I can't seem to locate it now - I recall that my numbers were not out of their estimates but can't prove that until I dig it up.
There might be a case here but again it depends on witnesses but WGO's friend could probably be a strong witness to supporting the above.
Really curious how the injured skier ended up in ditch so far from trail, and where exanctly he/she was. Have you heard anything? Sounds like he/she might have been going pretty fast. A speeding snowboarder is what clobbered me near the base of Cupp. Easey to build speed and suddenly find self in heap of trouble from icy patch of another slider.
No knowledge of the specific incident - but I will say I've generally been very impressed by the ski patrol at the shoe.
I've reported people down on a few occassions and they have always asked for specifics and put out a radio call right away. Generally, shortly there after I have seen them with the incident. Anytime I've stopped for someone they have been down for just a few minutes and have never had to wait long for patrol to show up.
Lift operators/watchers - well there is some room for improvement there with the seasonal workers. The operators that are there every year do a nice job, but as soon as they are on break/not staffed there and it is all seasonal things breaks down pretty quick.
Only limited time at Shoe this year due to accident, but I would concur with your observations. When the tall, long-time employee black man directs the huge Ballhooter lift line things run amazingly smooth, when he has to leave for break or whatever then chaos begins to creep in. I apologize for using race to describe this employee, but I do not remember his name. I am sure all of us who have ever stood in the seeming endless Ballhooter lift lines recognize the gentlemen to whom I refer. He must be "liftee of the year" (year after year)!! His actions and attitude show that training can pay off! He should be in lift management!!
MorganB
Mike! He was in their promotional ad last season saying "welcome to ballhooter".
Yup, I recognize him. Certainly been there as long as I've been skiing the Shoe (15 years).
Mike is the man. I didn't see him the last two days though. I guess he takes his days off during the week. Sorry to hear about the accident but the put down of the Ski Partrol is really not warranted.
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