I went skiing at night in St. Louis, MO recently. About 300' of vertical and a bunch of first timers. One of the preferred methods of skiing is to straight line until you get the speed wobbles and yardsale something fierce, then laugh and collect your gear. Very few people can turn or stop.
The bottom of the hill is flat for maybe 30 yards, then a slight uphill embankment to help slow you down/stop you from skiing off the end of the run. Like most man made places, the snow/no snow transition isn't very subtle.
So this poor bastard straight lines from the top, coasts across the flats, runs over some guys tips and fully yardsales about 10' from the end of the run... ramps right off the end, barrel rolls twice in the air, and lands on frozen grass about 25-30' away maybe 8-10' drop? He landed so hard he bounced and got knocked the fuck out (helmet on). It was one of the worst ski crashes I've seen.
He landed in the middle of where all the people are standing.
You can see the angle and size of the drop/ramp/end of run in this picture. The pile of gear to the right is where his yardsale collision went down I'm pretty sure.

Bookmarks