NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/rec/skiing/10142

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-28 | 2.0 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!das.wang.com!ulowell!m2c!nic.umass.edu!caen!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!paladin.american.edu!gatech!ncar!mimbres.cs.unm.edu!bbx!tantalum!hkelly
From: [e-mail] (Kelly Shuldberg)
Newsgroups: rec.skiing
Subject: Re: Helmets (again): Skiing Safety
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 27 Jan 93 00:22:22 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: EDS Research, Albuquerque, NM
Lines: 25

The best thing I think you can do is the same thing you do on the highway
-- try to be aware of all that's going on around you.  It's hard if someone
is directly behind you, but don't start out in front of someone coming down
the hill above you, especially if they're obviously not very good or skiing
at high speed.  This last week, during ski patrol training, we were
executing wide slow turns.  There was a kid across the slope from me, maybe
sixty yards away.  I started my descent, working into my turn, when this
kid just took off, straight dowhill.  I could see we were heading on a
collision course, so I made my turn sharper to get out of his way.  The
kid, either because of panic at the possible impact, or simple his
inability to control his speed, came apart in a tangle of limbs, snow and
skis off to my right a few yards.  When I got down to the trainer, he said,
"Well, he did everything he could to take you out!"  The only reason he
failed was because I was paying attention.  I did get smacked once by an
older guy at Powder Mt., Utah, when I'd stopped to help my then-beginner
son with his skis.  I looked up to see this guy coming and put my head and
shoulder down to take the blow.  It didn't knock me down, but this guy
exploded, pretty much like the kid.  It pays to look uphill once in a
while.

And lest you become the unguided missile, ski in control.

h. kelly shuldberg
[e-mail]
Albuquerque, NM