J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

skiing... lifts...powder.... blah..blah

First photo of the morning commute.....

Ian Wickham wrote:
I do not believe that you can be totally aware of your surroundings, hence you are a danger to your self and other people, last year a skier skied over the tails of my daughter's skis just think how dangerous that could have been if the skier had a distraction like an ipod.
You ise may be a very talented person and skier who can cope with the loss of one his senses, but there are some idiots out there who might think it's very cool to ski with an ipod without a care to the damage that can be done to them selves and other people.
Next time your out and about in the street just check out the people with ipods walking the streets are they totally aware of what is happening around them, answer no.

I don't want to get at you personally, you're just reflecting a widely held opinion but I read that you not being able to identify any reason it's dangerous.

What I actually I think is the most dangerous people on the slopes are those who have not correctly identified risks or have unrealistic strategies to deal with it. I don't want to flog a dead horse but if anyone thinks they can hear a skier behind them, identify their location, speed and intention they're mistaken, it's ski equivalent of tailgating someone, you really can't brake fast enough to defeat braking distances. The strategy also isn't going to work if the snows a bit softer and/or the skier is carving nicely without scraping and rattling around.

If you want to be safe the best two pieces of advice are

1) move in a predictable manner, don't make it hard for anyone behind you to avoid you, I know that might be awkward in some terrain if you're struggling but it'll make you a better skier as well.
2) look around, be like the police advanced driver have a picture in your mind of all the hazards around you, the skier at the side of the slope in front who might set off into your path, the beginner in front who might fall or miss a turn, who's behind and how quick they're going. The advanced driver is supposed to be able to give a running commentary of that sort of thing, try it skiing in your head of course )

Trencher wrote:Very sorry to hear your news David. Hope she has a good recovery. The degree of liability of centres and instructors in adventure sports is always contentious and people have strong opinions. Generally an instructor must deviate from industry standards to be negligent.

That's exactly right for minor injuries like this. If for example there were a fatality then those standards are reviewed and it's how the industry evolves in essence. So you can get a situation where something the provider does isn't negligent at that time but that later review sees can be improved, so the next person that kills someone doing the same thing would be liable.

Karen Teare wrote:Why does everything have to be somebodies fault? I am very sorry for your wife and hope it wont interfere with her work but surely you need your own insurance to cover your own risks. Maybe your own personal insurance might cover this. Have a look at the small print.

don't go there :) I know this mood music is in all the tabloids but we all need to be more critical about just who sets this agenda and what their goals are. There's a lobby made up of insurance companies and commercial interests who would prefer not to be held liable for anything that happens. Without the rights you have in the UK you could be crippled carrying out your work and your employer and their insurer could just walk off leaving you unable to work with no recourse to anyone. You should be proud of the balancing act the UK system performs and not swallow the propaganda of those determined to undermine it.

That said, the ad's on TV are just horrible :cry:

Ross is correct.

Legally it's concerning volenti non fit injuria (Latin: "to a willing person, no injury is done" or "no injury is done to a person who consents") which is a common law principle. It's not a risk free activity and this level of injury is consistent with the rough and tumble you might expect with skiing. That said current case law suggests this isn't a total defence in some cases and you can claim contributory negligence. I really don't think you're likely to make that stick. You'd need to argue that the possibility of minor injury wasn't foreseeable and that doesn't seem entirely likely or that the instructor took you onto a black slope etc., you get the drift I'm sure. It's a question you can ask yourself, should the instructor have done something different? I don't know but I'm assuming the centre don't even know it was a break so they may be sympathetic given a chance.

A letter to the centre should get your money back without too much drama I'd think provided you don't start making legal threats just as goodwill.

You could try citizens advice bureau (does it still exist?) for a better opinion of course.

bandit wrote:

ise wrote:

I could test that one today :)

Why are you still on here, and not out skiing?? :D

With or without ipod!

just had a couple of calls to make ...

Ian Wickham wrote:

I would not want to see the use of ipods on the slopes, IT"S DANGEROUS, Please think of others. :evil:

why is it dangerous? what danger to you am I skiing with an Ipod?

What's dangerous is people who think they can hear a skier, identify their location and speed predict where they're going and react, if you think about it that's not possible.

daved wrote:a minor rant ....why does everyone have to have some sound blasting in their ears ..I am with Bandit ...the music of skis on snow and being able to hear some nutter coming down the middle of the piste out of control...and ise the pics are great

I did say for off piste skiing so that would be moot.

But, as I've pointed out before if you think you can hear and localise the sound of an approaching skier and react to it then you are mistaken. In fact I'd beg you not to try, it's massively dangerous, I see people do this all the time on a schuss or track, they're skiing down perfectly normally as you approach them and it would be easy to pass them and then suddenly they start veering erratically all over the place. Your chances of someone skiing into you are very, very small so you need to assume if a person is skiing faster they might be in more control not less.

If you don't want to wear an iPod sometimes then don't, it's not compulsory :)