Bird Patroler took my pass

[Tippster]

People don't like Lawyers, Cops, or Ski Patrollers... until they really need one.

[Bunion 2020]

Definately are some good patrollers out there and then there are some dicks.

Definately are some good locals out there and then there are some dicks.

[Cyber Cop]

People don't like Lawyers, Cops, or Ski Patrollers... until they really need one.

Exactly, no fucking respect.

[Bodhi]

Ego + unfair situation + authority figures = rudeness (the quit-picking-on-me-syndrome)

Being a high school teacher and being on the "other side"...No matter how hard it is to suck in the pride vs authority, politeness always helps. Most times, my on-the-spot discipline decisions revolve around the verbal attitude of the student I am addressing. If a student does not agree with my discipline, they have the right (and I admit sometimes I am wrong)...but as soon as they tell me to Fuck off, they are instantly put into the wrong.

Decisions from the side of authority are not always going to be agreed with (usually never are), and sometimes they truly are unfair and rashly created, but...THE DECISION DOES NOT MAKE THE PERSON, EMPLOYEE, OR LARGER GROUP STEREOTYPE-ABLE.

I say the next time you see any of the ski patrol at the Bird, be sure to tell them how great a job they have done this season doing their vastly unappreciated jobs, including the work that is often unpopular.

I know how much this feeling of appreciation can mean...

peace,
D.

[Bodhi]

People don't like Lawyers, Cops, or Ski Patrollers... until they really need one.

You can add high school teachers to that list.

[cj001f]

You can add high school teachers to that list.

Teachers are fine... guidance counselors are different ball of wax.

[Cyber Cop]

Teachers are fine... guidance counselors feel different fondling your balls.

12345678 12345678 12345678 just keep counting, it will be over soon.

[cj001f]

12345678 12345678 12345678 just keep counting, it will be over soon.

sounds like someone went to a catholic school.

[Cyber Cop]

sounds like someone went to a catholic school.

yeah, and trust me, your mother was no saint.

[pde20]

Pro Patrolled for three years and even from the inside I would have to agree with these points that have been generally made:

- National/weekened warrior types are more likely to be overzealous (and many of them ski at the same resort for 30 years) in terms of power tripping, wearing of unnecessary gear, etc. Which is not to say that I didn't work with some great weekend nationals.

- You can get a douchbag on pro patrol, but they generally get berated and heckled by their own if they have a tendency towards being aggro. Most patrollers don't want to deal with you if at all possible, be it in an accident, a closed area or an altercation. They would rather be skiing or working with ther partners out on the hill somewhere.

- The tone that a patrol director sets goes an awful long way in how a moutain is run.

I only got in three pass clipping situations in three years, the last one was great. Park City hosted multiple olympic events. In preperation for that they closed pretty much the entire king kong side of the mountain (about 6 groomers) about two weeks prior to the games for race training. On the day that that area is closing the race crew is out setting fences and roping off runs. A group of three kids gets in an altercation with the race crew head over the newly closed areas...defaulting to "fuck you nazi" from the get go. This happens at the top of the lift about 20 yards from the patrol shack. Out I come to try to broker some peace. Race guy wants them "off the mountain"...he is fired up as one might imagine. I take the kids aside and with the intention of clipping a corner and sending them on their way as a warning, ask to see their passes. We are instantly back to "fuck you nazi" mode which very few people take kindly to, me included. At this point they decide that the best thing to do is have a high speed chase, so off we go down into a dead end only exit is by lift area. They apparently don't know that we have radios and they will have to ride a lift to escape, but i am happy to have the entertainment of tailing them down to the lift and then calling up what chair # they are on. After they get a ride down to the bottom on a snowmobile, it turns out that they had either a stolen pass or were borrowing a friends or something, so given the stellar attitude the mt. manager brings in the po po regarding theft of services.

Long ass story...moral = most patrollers are solid and don't want to deal with bullshit anymore than you do, but sounds to me like you were on the receiving end of one of the douches.

[cj001f]

yeah, and trust me, your mother was no saint.

pegging dudes definitely isn't saintly

[Bunion 2020]

So pde20, ya worked for Billy Gray eh?

[pde20]

So pde20, ya worked for Billy Gray eh?

I did, and enjoyed every minute of it. What about you?

[Particle]

FWIW, I've skied that same line a hundred times and that rollover is definitely sketchy blind.

I worry about it every time I cruise through there at speed, but try to make a small turn or something to catch as much a glance of it as possible before lofting over that roll. That said I know plenty of people, including myself, who come cruising through that line all the time. Overall, getting you pass pulled over it sounds bunk to me.

[tradygirl]

In context of the usual bullshit happening on the lower half of the mountain at the Bird, your move seems pretty tame. The patroller probably dealt with too many collisions, hit-and-runs, and out-of-control beaters earlier in the day and wanted to take it out on somebody. It's like highway patrol trying to get their quota at the end of the month by ticketing for tinted windows or a busted headlight or some shit like that.

[Danno]

The patroller probably dealt with too many collisions, hit-and-runs, and out-of-control beaters earlier in the day and wanted to take it out on somebody..

That's certainly possible. Or maybe when he was skiing down a minute or 2 before he saw a 10 year old kid ski past there, and though about what woulda happened if that kid had been there a minute later.

[Bunion 2020]

from 84/85 to 90/91. You probably saw my name on one of the Awards in the summit station and heard my name in reference to losing my end of the season bonus for several years running for such acts as skiing Daley Bowls when McConkeys was closed or throwing butter and creamers at the end of the season banquet and defending my actions with such lame excuses as, "cmon.... butter is NOT food!"

I run into Billy about once every 3-5 years. He is still getting bigger.

Now that I am a Patrol Director I can see things from his view much more clearly.

Part of maturing I guess, I am still the most immature 48 year old I know.

[mnflyfish]

the thing is if you can afford to ski you don't have to be a buttroller--on the other hand,if you are an ass ,you might as well be a buttroller---

I suppose that might be true for some patrollers but in my case I became a patroller in High School in part to give back to the sport. I raced juniors, high school, and college and partolled when I wasn't running gates. Now 20 some years later, I'm still out there when I'm not running my company. Frankly it would be cheaper to buy a family pass for myself, wife, and kids(Ebay has better deals than I can get on pro-form for equipment) but for some reason I feel good about picking smartass' like yourself off the mountain when you get injured. Again, giving back to a sport that gave so much to me.

As for pulling passes, I can't remember the last one I took, might have been the drunk guy I found in the parking lot with his skis on looking for the lift.

Good Luck,
Jay

[yabyum]

Billy Gray is skinny as rail, no carbs for that boy, and yes the hyperactive patroller gets gooned indeed, as they should

[fluffballs]

Quick question, how much does the typical big mountain(alta, bird, mammoth, squaw, alpine....) patrol director make? I realize this takes years to get to, but it has always interested me.

[upallnight]

Just out of curiosity, is Aspen the only place that does the corner clipping thing?

Jackson does the corner-clipping thing. 4 clips and you are out for life.

Earlier this season, I was skiing fast but not mach speed through one of our "slow-speed" zones. Dumb, yes...but it was mid-week, late in the day, not crowded, etc.

There is often a patroller stationed at a "Slow-down" sign at this spot, and I'd thought I'd gotten good at looking way ahead for the patrol presence and slowing down.

This area is flat/no rollovers or blind-spots -- it's just the confluence of a few trails.

Well, I wasn't that good because I passed a patroller who must have just left his post. I stopped at the lift to wait for my buddy and the patroller skied up to me, definitely upset but not irate.

I apologized profusely -- said "Sir, I'm sorry -- I wasn't trying to dodge you, I merely didn't hear you calling to me to stop. I have no excuse. Yes, I was going too fast", etc.

He looked at my pass but simply gave me a warning. I let him vent, listened to what he had to say (I was wrong, for sure -- there are plenty of places one CAN ski high speed on that hill...or just go BC), did not argue, and showed him respect.

It didn't cost me anything to be polite, and it definitely saved me something that day. When in doubt, why not just be polite? Even if the guy's a dick, why not still just return that with a positive attitude? You can at least put something positive into the world, and it might just save your pass (even if you were totally in-the-right to begin with).