Who is faster, a snail or Ski Patrol?

JGWI

JGWI

Active member
Ok this might just be a Midwest thing but I have noticed that ski patrol especially last year really enjoys taking their time to respond to a call. This is really apparent at the smaller hills. I can remember 3 separate incidences last year where I was honestly completely amazed at how slow ski patrol is.

A little girl broke her leg going down a black diamond. I went to the lift operator and told him to call which he immediately did. I went back up the lift and back down to her and waited 15 minutes for someone to show up. No they were not attending to someone else because there was about 5 people in total on the hill and it takes at Max 30 seconds to get from their building to where we were.

I have been to 3 hills in MN where this is really apparent and I honestly don't see the point in having medical attention on site if they don't even put in the effort to do their job. I'm positive if someone had a severe trauma that they would sit there in the snow and die before anyone came to help. Is this the case at larger resorts out west or just at smaller hills with less developed programs?
 
ski patrol at my mountain are on top of shit, some of them take their job super serious. i mean watching them operate is like watching an episode of "Bay Watch"
 
Unless the snail is riding the ON3P grizzlycorns switch with marker dukes locked into tour mode, Patrol has this one all day!
 
hmm.. I'd have to disagree with you and say Ski Patrol. Last season at Bristol Mountain I watched a kid break his leg while I was on the lift. My friend and I immediately went to ski patrol, which was nicely located at the top of their park lol. And they were down helping him within a few minutes.

I guess it depends on where they are at the time of the call?
 
At the hill I ski, I'd place my bets on the snail.

Besides a couple patrollers who rip around on tele's, I'm not sure if most of them would be able to get to the injured person without hurting themselves in the process.
 
ya some patrollers are super cool, others are just plain grumpy. i was hitting the park one time and this old patroller just started yelling at me. and a snail would for sure win lol
 
not at all, patrollers out west have to be on their game. they have to make sure zones are safe to ski for the public as well as get people off the mountain that are banged up. ski patrolling has to be one of the most difficult jobs on earth.
 
Maybe they took so long because they had to get together a sled, brace, etc. Not to defend them if they really were too slow, but it's not as simple as running over to the hill. When I stopped to help a guy who got hurt at Snowbird and someone called Patrol, they arrived quickly. I do remember someone with a concussion (?) waiting a long time for Patrol in Minnesota though, so maybe there is something to that. Keep in mind that most Midwest patrollers are volunteer (Mount Bohemia is the only exception I am aware of) whereas most Rocky Mountain patrollers are paid. That might be part of the reason.
 
On a serious note, at my mountain the ski patrol is really slow, and if the injury is serious it can be hours to get to the nearest hospital
 
Must say the ski patrol at brighton is on their shit. They will even wait at the base of cliffs if they see people about to hit them and think they may get hurt/need to get dug out. On an unrelated note, they will also high five you for throwing naked backflips under the lift.
 
besides causing that avalanche at Crystal that broke High Campbell, most of the Crystal ski Patrol are pretty good skiers. Also at Alpental there's the best tele skier I've ever met. It is insane how fast this guy can rip moguls on tele's.
 
13095458:Dragonslayer101 said:
http://www.trutv.com/shows/ski_patrol/index.html

Just gonna leaves this here
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I clicked that, saw the page, and immediately closed it. TruTV is notorious for having shit shows. QVC has better programming.
 
every so often it happens when it takes longer than it should to get to someone. if there are 2 patrol on duty and 3 accidents happen at once, what can you expect?
 
Hmm......maybe some 60 year old, kind of fat, volunteer from the midwest who is basically a weekend warrior and skis 25 days a season and treats ski patrol like a sewing circle/opportunity to make friends, sure, a snail is faster.

Head W-NW a few hundred miles and I promise you those guys and gals will eat you on skis, kick your soft ass up the skin track, drink you under the table, and all around pretty much dominate life on a level you'll never imagine, though.
 
13095490:Huck_E_Cheese said:
Are you telling me that not every trail in the Midwest is a park or green?
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Some hills that don't have a hill want to feel challenging. It would be an easy blue to most.
 
tumblr_lhcntslkJ21qzey9p.png
 
13095533:casual said:
Hmm......maybe some 60 year old, kind of fat, volunteer from the midwest who is basically a weekend warrior and skis 25 days a season and treats ski patrol like a sewing circle/opportunity to make friends, sure, a snail is faster.

Head W-NW a few hundred miles and I promise you those guys and gals will eat you on skis, kick your soft ass up the skin track, drink you under the table, and all around pretty much dominate life on a level you'll never imagine, though.
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good post, and even if they are slow as fuck, slow patrollers are better than having no one cart your ass off the mountain, soo thats that.
 
13095887:DeebieSkeebies said:
good post, and even if they are slow as fuck, slow patrollers are better than having no one cart your ass off the mountain, soo thats that.
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Well id have to agree with that.
 
They were doing some work on our park at the beginning of the day and no one remembered to reopen the park for like 2 hours so I went and told ski patrol. 2 hours later, the rope was removed from the top of the park.

Also the Spongebob rock above killed me.
 
So i mostly ski at this really small mountain, and yes some of the ski patrol can barely turn, much less rip. but, i like having them around, because id rather get to a hospital slowly than not get to a hospital. however, at the bigger mountains near me, Saddle back and sugarloaf, (Maine) The patrol is much less inept. still pretty inept though
 
13096917:AldenTheAlien said:
So i mostly ski at this really small mountain, and yes some of the ski patrol can barely turn, much less rip. but, i like having them around, because id rather get to a hospital slowly than not get to a hospital. however, at the bigger mountains near me, Saddle back and sugarloaf, (Maine) The patrol is much less inept. still pretty inept though
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so if you somehow got a compound fracture and were loosing large amounts of blood you would want to get to the hospital as slow as possible? makes perfect sense
 
"Patrooooool" Ab-Soul

I work at snowbird as a snowmobile guide and we go up and out in the early mornings with patrol. Might just be us, but we had some serious accidents last year and within 30 seconds there are multiple patrollers on the scene. And they don't get paid shit.
 
13095104:Sh4dow said:
Maybe they took so long because they had to get together a sled, brace, etc. Not to defend them if they really were too slow, but it's not as simple as running over to the hill. When I stopped to help a guy who got hurt at Snowbird and someone called Patrol, they arrived quickly. I do remember someone with a concussion (?) waiting a long time for Patrol in Minnesota though, so maybe there is something to that. Keep in mind that most Midwest patrollers are volunteer (Mount Bohemia is the only exception I am aware of) whereas most Rocky Mountain patrollers are paid. That might be part of the reason.
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Snowbird ski patrol come if they see blood or someone on the ground. Some of them are assholes
 
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