2013/14 Inland PNW thread

[altasnob]

Further proof Schweitzer is just a bunch of rich yuppies. From Seattle Times via Spokesman-Review:

Apple Watches spur ‘dramatic’ increase in 911 calls from ski resort

Skiers and snowboarders carrying Apple Watches have triggered a “dramatic increase in unintentional 911 calls,” according to the Bonner County, Idaho, Sheriff’s Office.

“Last Saturday, nearly 30% of our 911 calls were unintentional 911 calls from people enjoying activities on Schweitzer Mountain,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Thursday.

The Schweitzer Mountain ski resort was unaware of that increase.

“That’s interesting — first I’ve heard of it,” Sean Mirus, the marketing director for Schweitzer, said in an email. “It wasn’t an unusually active day on the mountain.”

Apple Watches and iPhone 14 and 14 Pros include fall detection technology. If the watch senses that the user is moving, it asks for them to respond and sends an alarm message if no response is given, then it automatically calls 911 within 20 seconds, according to Apple. If users are 55 or older, fall detection is automatically turned on. For users as young as 18, fall detection can be manually turned on.

Lookout Ski Resort on the Idaho-Montana border has only had one unintended 911 call stemming from an Apple Watch, said Matt Sawyer, the resort’s marketing director.

Sheriff’s offices near ski areas throughout the country have reported similar increases in calls, according to news reports. The problem, however, doesn’t seem widespread in the Spokane region.

“I think we’ve seen a few in general. But it’s not to the point where we have any concerns over it,” said Rick Anderson, the 911 coordinator for Stevens County. “It’s nothing we even worry about.”

He estimates the dispatch center gets a handful of unintentional Apple Watch calls from people enjoying time at 49 Degrees North every month. When an incomplete call does come in, Anderson said dispatchers call the number back. If unable to make contact, they alert ski patrol. Those calls haven’t created a “notable trend,” said Rick Brown, the director of skier and rider services at 49 Degrees North.

The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, which hadn’t returned a phone call by press time, said in its Facebook statement that “our patrol deputies treat each 911 call as an emergency until we can verify otherwise. These unintentional 911 calls can take emergency resources away from true emergencies somewhere else in the county.”

[GoldMember]

^^ I saw that but have to say, not really too surprised. I'd be interested in the demographics of whose watches are being triggered. Personally, I don't know anyone skiing with an Apple watch and I've been skiing Schweitzer as my home base for over thirty years. What I have noticed over the past two years is the big influx of Ikon pass holders, many, if not most, from Seattle. Talking to people on the chair, you know they're Ikon holders as they beep going through the ticket scanners (and there are a LOT of these). While on the chair, asking where they're from, it's almost invariably Seattle.

So, anecdotally, I'd say the rich yuppies skiing at Schweitzer aren't locals but mostly Seattleites or other Ikon holders on long or extended weekends. The locals I know mostly aren't rich (not poor) but are typically just normal people who still wear Casio watches, like me.

[ptavv]

I had a different read on that article than "rich people at Schweitzer triggering Apple watches"

my interpretation was "Bonner sheriff's department being boneheaded and whiny about Apple watch notifications"

the article even specifically mentions that other sheriff's departments just notify ski patrol it happened while Bonner says "we treat it as a full emergency"

there are plenty of places with median incomes an order of magnitude higher than Schweitzer that have figured out how to deal with the Apple watch issues. also I'm pretty sure Schweitzer has the best cell reception of the Spokane/Cd'A regional resorts which might explain some of the discrepancy, but I still think it all falls on the Bonner sheriff's department

[GoldMember]

Yeah, you're probably right about the BCSD.

[tmokes]

It’s not just at Schweitzer. At Silver, there was an iPhone incident that sheriff got a call, notified the ski patrol, and ski patrol spent next hour combing though trees. I hope they can figure out how to sort out butt dial vs true emergency.


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[jimmiepoison]

It’s not just at Schweitzer. At Silver, there was an iPhone incident that sheriff got a call, notified the ski patrol, and ski patrol spent next hour combing though trees. I hope they can figure out how to sort out butt dial vs true emergency.


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This is happening all over the place with areas like Colorado, Utah, and Tahoe getting an alarming number of false alarms. Apple is looking into possible fixes.

https://coloradosun.com/2022/12/26/s...tection-calls/

https://snowbrains.com/after-first-r...fix-the-issue/

[GoldMember]

Maybe the fix is an auto disable whenever the phone comes within certain perimeters. Once entered into a ski area, it disengages.

[Conundrum]

Fake 911 calls are misdemeanors. Maybe people that don’t know how to run their gadgets should start following laws already on the books or face consequences. Be a real bummer if EMS is responding to an iwatch ping while someone really needed some help and timely resources were unavailable.

And for those that think that is harsh, maybe instead of a criminal charge, the offending party just pay for the gas and hourly rate for the time EMS spent looking for them. Seems fair to me.

[SkiLyft]

Spokane was so damn good this morning for my Dawn patrol!!





Creamy snow with tons of body!



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[GoldMember]

Nice!!

[ntblanks]

Seeking recs for Spokane shops that rent non-terrible boots. Whaddya got?

[bourbonisgood]

Seeking recs for Spokane shops that rent non-terrible boots. Whaddya got?

Hmmm. Not sure that’s a thing around here….What specifically are you looking for?

[SkiLyft]

Doesn’t alpine haus do season rentals? They might have some boots?


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[jimmiepoison]

Spokane was so damn good this morning for my Dawn patrol!!





Creamy snow with tons of body!



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Nice! I got a couple laps in at Jackass this afternoon. Creamy goodness in some places and hard crust in others. SOB was skiing well.

[ntblanks]

Hmmm. Not sure that’s a thing around here….What specifically are you looking for?

Something better than the standard 90 flex dalbello floppers or equivalent. It's for my nephew--new to skiing--for a week. He's got size 12 feet so mine won't work. 6' 2", maybe 195lbs. I'd like to get him in decent equipment to give him the best chance at a good experience. I guess I'll call around.

Doesn’t alpine haus do season rentals? They might have some boots?

Thanks. I'll give 'em a ring.

[tmokes]

Friday night at the Kan was happening! So busy.


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[Chugachjed]

Decent boots at rambleraven for pretty cheap when I was in there.

[ntblanks]

Decent boots at rambleraven for pretty cheap when I was in there.

Great idea. May stop in there first.

[romeo tango]

.
i spotted a couple of older, trip-hippies at 49N this weekend

one of the pair sat on a bench outside the lodge for about 6 hours,
just taking it all in ....

his buddy was boarding, sort of
saw him mid-mountain, standing in the snow with his
board and mittens off, staring at the snow

not that unusual, i do it all the time
except that he stood there in the same spot
while i did 5 laps off the summit

cool story, huh bro?

.

[Falcon3]

Couple buddies and I went up to Sherman pass yesterday. Coverage is great, snow quality not so much. Tons of wind slab, like a foot of basal facets, reactive layers up top. Ended up doing three laps on the hourglass as the north side was the only thing not consolidated. Looking over at the NE face of Snow Peak and I definitely want to rip that line someday.

[jimmiepoison]

A little late posting this, but Jackass was really good Friday morning. That is all.

[bourbonisgood]

A little late posting this, but Jackass was really good Friday morning. That is all.

Yes, yes it was!

[bourbonisgood]

Couple buddies and I went up to Sherman pass yesterday. Coverage is great, snow quality not so much. Tons of wind slab, like a foot of basal facets, reactive layers up top. Ended up doing three laps on the hourglass as the north side was the only thing not consolidated. Looking over at the NE face of Snow Peak and I definitely want to rip that line someday.

Missed this post somehow. Been wondering how the snowpack is faring up that way, thanks for the report. I love skiing that NE face of Snow, just wish the open skiing went down a bit lower. It’s always over too fast!

[2FUNKY]

A little late posting this, but Jackass was really good Friday morning. That is all.

Damn, wondered if you were up there. Friday was killer all damn day! Knee deep SOB x2 to finish the day at 245pm was amazing. The snow had the perfect density.


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[SkiLyft]

Sloppy thirds are JA this afternoon, man was it good!

Cold and wind loaded in the usual spots!


Non-mag sending her


Fun was had by all — hard to not have an amazing time up there today. Lack of wind and warm sun rays made it primo!



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