Vail Resorts beefing up safety at its 6 ski areas
Vail Resorts is introducing an enhanced slope safety campaign across its six resorts called “Play It Safe, Play All Season”.
The announcement came the same week it was announced Heavenly Mountain Resort was being sued by skier who alleges having been severely hit by an employee on a snowboard.
“Our guests have been telling us that safety is a key component of their mountain experience, and their comfort level on the mountain relative to safety is one of the most important things we can affect,” Blaise Carrig, co-president of Vail Resorts’ mountain division, said in a statement. “Because of this, we’re launching the Play It Safe campaign across our resorts to encourage locals, destination guests and employees alike to ski and snowboard responsibly so that everyone can have fun on the mountain all season long. While everyone is ultimately responsible for their own behavior on the slopes, we can absolutely do our part in encouraging and enforcing responsible behavior and are committed to doing that.”
The Play It Safe campaign is a multi-faceted, comprehensive campaign aimed at addressing slope safety by communicating how guests can ski and snowboard more responsibly and still have a great time. All six of the company’s resorts, including Heavenly and Northstar, are implementing enhanced on-mountain Play It Safe messaging across a variety of channels and in critical locations, such as terrain park exits and areas where trails merge, to reach skiers and snowboarders of all ages.
Vail Resorts is also working on video communications with sponsored Olympic and world champion ski and snowboard athletes Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White.
Guests can also expect to see a greater presence of mountain safety and operations personnel at all six resorts.
In addition to the Yellow Jacket program, management teams across all six mountain resorts are also being provided with additional training to support the slope safety efforts and will have a larger on-mountain presence particularly on busy days.
Is there any rule of how close you should be to another skier/boarder based on your speed. I know it should be common sense, but it is a pretty gray area. Someone flying by, within 10 feet, scares the bejeezus out of me!
I realize everyone likes to ski/board at different speeds, but could you stay away from slower skiers/boarders, and if it’s too narrow to stay away, then slow down!
Hind Sight?
When you been exposed to negligence it’s time to play like everones doing their job correctly, but that’s after the fact.
Vail Resorts is very good at what they do and this is a good example of how they pay attention to what the public wants and needs. At Heavenly, there is a special concern for safety with so many trials feeding into each other, so many riders and skiers popping in from the tree runs, and a fair number of folks who never bother to look uphill when they start out. I’ve found that after around 11 am, conditions can be so unsafe, that my family and I try to get off the hill by then. Needless to say, we enthusiastically welcome this new emphasis on Playing it Safe. I also appreciate that last year on closing day, the staff checked for alcohol in daypacks and the result was a much safer and more enjoyable final day of skiing.
Threeissues here: employees,guests and the resort management.
Its inexcusable for an employee to run into a guest if they are trained and hired properly.
Guests need to be trained to ski on terrain they are capable of handling. Ski resorts do not address this. Second, guests need to be tutored on things like stopping on the edge of runs instead of the middle, not stopping in congested areas, etc. Basic mountain etiquette that their parents or instructors should have shown them. Ski resorts do very little on proper etiquette. One of the reasons snoiwboarders have such a bad reputation amongst experienced skiers.
Mountains need to limit the number of skiers/riders based on available terrian. If locals are getting off the mountain by 11 that is a pretty good indicator that the mountain and its runs are too crowded. Too many peoiple skiing/riding recklessly in too small an area. Ski resorts do not do this either.
Lots of room to improve on safety without placing more “slow down” orange gates.
Ski collisisons are going to happen no matter what Vail Resorts does. Be it education, ski cops, signage, slow down gates, there will still be accidents. It just comes with the territory.
Man, there is nothing else like making big fast GS turns on the Nev. side or better yet on the face after they cut the moguls…the 210’s just flyin’! Gawd how I miss it!
One last thing, Steve Kubby wrote how he “appreciated” Vail Resorts searching peoples packs for alcohol. I find this act to be intrusive. Now Mr. Kubby what would you think of someones pack being searched and some medical marijuana is found? Should they not be allowed on the lift? Just curious.
It’s bad enough we get searched at the airport and thanks to laws passed such as the patriot act we can be detained with out charges, wire tapped, e mails monitered…and now ski resorts searching your personal belongings? Where does it end?
Take care, Old Long Skiis
I agree with long boards,but remember Long boards, we all must have our medicine, special in the moguls if you can find any up there on a Cow paths they are calling ski runs!