# Skier Follows Tracks Off Cliff



## koi (May 16, 2013)

I don't know how to embed the video, but check this out. I'm not trying to hate on the skier (it was a shock for me and i knew it was coming), but he serves a lesson to people to learn the terrain and be aware. 

This Is Why You Never Trust Another Skier's Tracks


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## ryannorthcott (Dec 17, 2010)

Whoa that was intense! I can't believe he only got a 'minor shoulder injury', that looked like just about a straight drop off.


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## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

That would definitely make you shit your pants:laugh:


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## mhaas (Nov 25, 2007)

lol His panic voice cracks me up. Glad he's ok. That looked like a pretty far drop. Maybe since I knew it was coming I was looking for the cliff but it didn't seem to hard to find in time to stop. He should have made a decision sooner. Stop or spread your wings and fly. I went over a good sized cliff without knowing until it was too late last season during a white out. Scary shit. Luckily I landed in pow.

And the thing about it being too good to be true is so true. If there are no tracks in one area but tracks everywhere else, theres either a cliff or flat.


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

hahah what a spaz... i'd stomp that shit..

also, how did he not have time to stop - that was a pretty obvious cliff.. do you even lift bro?

also, nice southpark ref in the article: "That, and if you "french fry" when you mean to "pizza," you're going to have a bad time."


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

ShredLife said:


> hahah what a spaz... i'd stomp that shit..
> 
> also, how did he not have time to stop - that was a pretty obvious cliff.. do you even lift bro?
> 
> also, nice southpark ref in the article: "That, and if you "french fry" when you mean to "pizza," you're going to have a bad time."


I tend to agree with you, if you know you couldn't stop and are going to take a drop it seems better to launch and hope for the best rather than try to slide down it on your ass. But shit like that is easy to say from your couch. But still...


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

Technically, that's a cliff, I guess

He made that way worse for himself, by falling to the side just as he's going over.

That just sends him into some sort of under flip?

A bit bigger & I think he lands that trick I'm positive that's a trick

If he stays upright, he rides it out maybe wreck his skis?

Or possibly stomps the shit out of it?

I think he easily had the speed to clear it.


TT

Not to say that shit doesn't scare me when it happens.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Lmao, I saw this last week, we rode down this area, pretty sure it's prospect bowl, weekend before last and it's not a big drop at all. There are a lot of beginners that go to telluride and shouldn't be up on some of their terrain. They have shit that will straight up allow you to kill yourself right off the lifts.....


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

.... thank you gopro for all the epic failure footage you have and will continue to provide us with..


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Argo said:


> Lmao, I saw this last week, we rode down this area, pretty sure it's prospect bowl, weekend before last and it's not a big drop at all. There are a lot of beginners that go to telluride and shouldn't be up on some of their terrain. They have shit that will straight up allow you to kill yourself right off the lifts.....


I know you've ridden @ JH frequently as well,.. I read in a resort review that places like Jackson and others have plenty of terrain, "In Bounds" that can easily kill you if you're not familiar with the trails?

Not to negate this doofus's responsibility to know WTF he was going, I was just wondering how well those type warnings are posted. (...obviously you can't flag every cliff drop or gully, etc. but,) I mean is it fairly easy for a newb like myself, who isn't necessarily _looking_ for gnarlier terrain to wind up in a situation like that off of some otherwise skill appropriate blue trail or the like?

This situation reminds me of Pout's encounter with that ice covered death drop a season or two back. I remember being a little freaked by that as well!!! It just never occurred to me that within bounds of a resort, on/by a marked trail, one might not want to simply trust following along in others board tracks. I realized at that time,... _"JEEBUS!!!! That sounds just like something I would have done!"_ :blink:

I want to burn this and similar examples of "Dumb Assed, Full Retard Decisions" into my brain to be sure I avoid making the same "Spaz" mistakes when I finally get to ride some of these resorts!! :thumbsup:


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

Yikes! This almost happened to me the first time I went to Alpine Meadow. Took the Scott Chair intending to go down Scott Ridge Run, a blue. Trail wasn't very well marked and rode right to edge of the cliff at the top of Scott Chute, stopped myself just in time. I dropped to my knees and crawled back up, scared shitless! It's probably a good thing I wasn't all that good yet, or I might have been bombing it without being able to stop.


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## td.1000 (Mar 26, 2014)

it's totally landable, as long as you avoid those human-sized rocks at the bottom. dam that looks like fun. the worse thing that can happen here is end up in a parking lot


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## francium (Jan 12, 2013)

Following other people's tracks is never wise. We were heading down a valley a couple of years ago and at the end there's a cliff which is ideal to go off when there's plenty of snow and your the first ones down we went off it and by the time our group was down it was pretty bombed out. We then stopped for a break and watched a couple of skiers who'd followed our tracks get to the top of the cliff look over realise that it was no longer rideable and then proceed to hike back up one long ass hill.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

ShredLife said:


> .... thank you gopro for all the epic failure footage you have and will continue to provide us with..


Best reason to have them! Nobody actually gets GOOD footage out of them. :laugh:



chomps1211 said:


> This situation reminds me of Pout's encounter with that ice covered death drop a season or two back. I remember being a little freaked by that as well!!!


Yeah that's exactly what I thought of! I remember just having a feeling, and slowing down as I went through the tight trees, and OH THATS A FROZEN WATERFALL I'M ON TOP OF... 










At Fernie they put little orange "cliff" signs every 25 ft or so, or on a tree near a cliff. Basically the only way to trust a run is to ride it conservatively until you know it.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

I added the youtube embed of the video. I don't how you do that at Telluride, but dang that is a good sized fall he went for.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I know it's bad to laugh at the poor guy, but those were some phenomenal panic screams. :laugh:


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## ItchEtrigR (Jan 1, 2012)

poutanen said:


>



some places you arent allowed to fall....


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## Deacon (Mar 2, 2013)

thats about 60* isn't it?


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

The Deacon said:


> thats about 60* isn't it?


The pic I posted? Yeah at least 60 deg, notice how the trees in the pic are facing the upper left side of? The angle I took the photo on actually makes the waterfall look less steep.

This was inbounds at Whistler around the mid-mountain level. Fun area but it was my first day there, and I didn't stick to my advice of scouting out runs before hitting them!

That said, my rule this year has been "hit everything" and although a few times I've had a pucker factor once in the air, I haven't hurt myself yet this year.


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## stan_darsh (Mar 10, 2013)

i want that panic ring tone


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## Kenai (Dec 15, 2013)

That was some of the best flying I've seen yet. Right up to the point that you got killed.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

Meh........I always follow tracks at an unfamiliar hill. That's how you find the "goods". Just look farther ahead.........ride in control........and don't be a dumbass.


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## ajw (Mar 18, 2014)

I've had plenty of moments like this in life (not limited to snowboarding) and even still, I'm pretty much just along for the ride. When shit like that happens, you don't think about "oh what's the best way to get out of this" or "I should huck it big and gap this thing". All you think is "HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS GONNA HURT". So I'm not gonna rag on him for what he did.


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## cbrenthus (Feb 12, 2014)

Here's the YouTube link I found, the original didn't seem to work for me 

Ski Tracks - It's Not Always a Good Idea to Follow Others - YouTube


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