Woodstock Early Bird The Early Bird Gets the Worm: earlybirdtips@gmail.com

9 responses to this post.

1. 

   Posted by Janice Prindle on January 8, 2013 at 08:21

   Is it simply the vigilant reporting of WEB, or has this season been unusual in the high number of intentionally out-of-bound skiers needing rescue? And if that’s the case, why? What’s going on here? I’d love to see our Early Bird dig into this issue. It strikes me that lately, it hasn’t just been a few of those daring young men Early Bird mentioned as targets of Killington’s marketing. In this latest case, it’s a whole family! As a taxpayer and resident who might reasonably expect to have our state and local police available for other emergencies, I have an interest in knowing whether the time they spend on out-of-bound skier rescues is unusual, how much time it does take them, and who is footing the bill… Are the rescued skiers in fact charged for this drain on public resources? I understood that was the case with hikers in Quechee Gorge.

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     Posted by Julia Carlisle on January 8, 2013 at 08:34

     Janice,

     WEB has put in calls and emails to ask many of these questions but does not get call-backs. We will pursue. WEB

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       Posted by Janice Prindle on January 8, 2013 at 08:51

       Thanks, Julia! (Why am I not surprised? Or maybe they are too busy up on the mountain???) Janice

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         Posted by Julia Carlisle on January 8, 2013 at 09:24

         I imagine they’re are just “stinkin'” busy! WEB

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2. 

   Posted by Carol Boerner on January 8, 2013 at 11:00

   Why are the intentional losers not charged what it costs to find them? They do that on mts in NH! A deterrent for dumb may be the threat of $$ ! Besides the notoriety of being so stupid……cheers, Carol Boerner

   Sent from my iPhone, please excuse the typos

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3. 

   Posted by Richard Windish on January 8, 2013 at 11:06

   I agree with Ms. Prindle. Per my other comment to an earlier posting, this issue is very concerning to me. Seems like the frequency has increased this year, with all the great snow and the conditions in the woods being better than they have in two years. At the Green Mountain Club (where I serve on the board of directors), we have had a standard greeting on our phone system for years, that directs callers who are lost and calling us for help getting out of an emergency situation in the woods, to call 911 instead. Obviously we do not have the resources to handle such rescue efforts (and our staff is not always available to even take these calls). But of course that just means that people who use their cell phone as a means of getting hauled out of the woods in the event of emergency, simply rely on public safety resources instead. But unlike hikers who may occasionally find themselves lost, injured, etc., here we have people who knowingly and repeatedly put themselves in a dangerous situation without adequate preparation, gear, etc.. Rather than ignoring the problem, perhaps some pressure should be brought to bear upon those who are in the best situation to educate and prevent these situations from occurring. I am referring to the ski area operators and industry folks who provide these people with the access to the mountains in the first place. I think there is a story here, Ms. Early Bird, would love to see more on this topic and thanks for your diligent and timely reporting!

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4. 

   Posted by vermontliberty on January 9, 2013 at 07:52

   Absolutely, these morons should be charged. Seems to me a better way to extract money from the citizenry than sitting in Bridgewater giving tickets out to people going 30 mph or taking a left turn at Bentley’s. They put the rescuers at risk, the time spent by First Responders in the woods could threaten prompt response to local folks with legitimate emergencies. Killington should add to the small print on every ticket: “Should you ski under the ropes, you’ll be responsible for all rescue costs.”

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     Posted by Julia Carlisle on January 9, 2013 at 07:59

     Still think requiring them to undergo mandatory winter survival training would be an appropriate response combined with being banned from the mountain at which they incurred the unnecessary rescue. -WEB

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       Posted by Julia Carlisle on January 9, 2013 at 08:01

       Also…in response to many who have asked…It is still an outstanding question whether these out-of-bound’ers are being charged at this time. We had wanted to ask either Killington Resort or VSP about that but — as yet — have not been able to get callbacks to get that answered. -WEB

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