Penalizing those who leave resort boundaries?

NO NO NO

That's why Jay Peak is the shiiiiiiiiit.

Their boundries are just a "suggestion".

I realize I should have elaborated...

they shouldnt penalize people who go into the backcountry but they should penalize people who go past the CLOSED signs at ski hills and get in avy trouble.

i dont think they should penalize them...but if they go into the backcountry and need to be rescued because they acted recklessly then they should have to pay for the rescue. like if they went out wihtout gps and when the conditions are high chance of avalance and stuff, you know being irrsponisble. but just going there and doing it safly is stupid.

helllllzzzz yeah! gotta love the trees there too

word, and just the right snow pack and pitch to not get swallowed by avys

At my local hill its the similar. Leaving the boundaries isn't a problem unless you do something reckless or in poor conditions.

you guys obv arent in BC right now. the avy danger right now is INSANE. no this is not a permamnent decision. theyre penalizing people until the avy danger has subsided/snowpack has stabilized.

people will always pay for rescues out of bounds but in these kind of conditions its not just the costs everyone is worried about. patrollers lives are in danger just being in these areas.

I honestly think this is a good idea, sooo many people just dont get how bad the avvy danger is here(im in BC too) and people keep getting trapped/dieing and don't realize the consequences. Then people bitch about how mountains aren't safe enough, and mountains start frekaing out and getting even more paranoid and shit gets even worse. At grouse now you HAVE to have the bar down or they stop the chairlift because some dumbass died awhile back. People need to get their heads outta there asses and realize that no matter how prepared they are, avvys will fuck them up, and if the government feels that they can help people realize, power to them.

***I live in BC***

The ONLY reason this is happening is that Grouse fucked a dog when 4 extremely experienced skiers (and NS members of course) went to ski some sidecountry and they called in a rescue chopper that no one needed. Now the BC solicitor general is using the publicity as a soapbox from which to get some name recognition and advance his own career. Grouse fucks up, skiers everywhere pay. Don't think this doesn't affect you because you live elsewhere, because it sets a precedent. And why will it be enforced, Darryl? Because ski areas will love it. They now have a way to make more people ski groomers, leading to fewer injuries, less liability and less harmful "so and so died in an avalanche" publicity.

This is how it is and should be: you can duck ropes in BC. You do it to get to terrain that varies from advanced to expert, but that many of us ski all the time and know very well. That self-serving politicians and so-called ski resorts that care NOTHING about the sport and ONLY about their careers and how many day tickets and hot chocolates they sell to soccer moms are trying to legislate away freeskiing is completely unacceptable. I personally will do everything in my power to fight it, as will others. Including blowing up Victoria. Seriously, what's good there anyway?

To morons above who have no idea what they're talking about, you never, ever charge for a rescue. If you start doing that, people start avoiding rescues so they don't have to pay the bills. Friends and family start trying to engage in amateur rescue attempts, and end up stranded themselves. It is essential to everyone's safety that the public know that they will be rescued and will not be required to pay for it. In this case, Grouse already knows they can't enforce their own demands.

Fuck Grouse.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. They are proposing LEGISLATION to penalize skiers who duck ropes. It is not temporary. Moreover the avalanche danger changes with the region, the mountain, the slope. Even in high avy risk situations it is not necessarily ill advised to ski fresh, you have to make an informed judgment. The events that precipitated all this bullshit took place on a day and in an area where the avalanche risk was low.

what's wrong w/getting in trouble for ducking a rope? 

are they not allowing people to venture into non-lift accessed backcountry?

You cannot even BEGIN to compare the concerns of skiing out of bounds at a place like Jay vs. a place like Jackson Hole. It's completely different.

More info on what's happened in the vancouver/whistler forum

https://www.newschoolers.com/web/forums/readthread/thread_id/425091/

Shits fucked

Ropes mean different things here than they might where you are. Here, ropes are put up in front of inbounds terrain that is inadvisable for inexperienced skiers for a variety of reasons (the terrain, unmarked rocks and hazards, potential cliff hazards, sketchy traverses, and the like). On my last trip to Whistler, for example, I had to duck 2 ropes to ski my first run. The first was in place because the run had a lot of exposed rocks. The 2nd was in place because of a few 5-10 foot drops that exist largely because of how little coverage there is right now. For those reasons, it would be a bad idea for some gomer who takes a weekend trip twice a year to ski hardpack to take a wrong turn in there: he could get hurt, and would ask, why was I not warned not to go in there? However, that doesn't mean a lot of people who are decent skiers and know what the area looks like can't ski that area, which is neither dangerous nor particularly difficult. That's how it works here: if you know the area and are capable of making an informed judgment, go more or less where you please (except permanently closed terrain, which is off limits for various reasons). If you don't have the requisite experience, don't go into potentially sketchy areas without someone to show you around, and certainly don't do it when the conditions are poor. What it comes down to is that people who don't know what they're doing shouldn't put themselves at risk without experienced guidance, and those who do know what they're doing know where they should be and where they shouldn't given the current conditions.

In this case Grouse's staff decided that they knew better than the skiers whether they should access the terrain they did, and Grouse was wrong. Instead of apologizing for overreacting and needlessly calling in a rescue team, they've made the whole thing into a publicity stunt demonizing people who were skiing in a perfectly responsible manner (they had all the equipment and experience necessary, had made gps maps of the area, had been there before, and knew the snowpack conditions, which were relatively low-risk). On top of that, now there is this two bit hack politician trying to make a name for himself by making it illegal for me to ski the kind of stuff I like to ski, which I would only ever do and have in the past done responsibly. That makes me pretty goddamned angry.

How do we judge "reckless?" Slides happen to the most experienced avie professionals, and can and do occur at low danger levels.

You threaten freedom when you make rules like this, and as JD said it sets precedents. The world is slowly becoming less fun and enjoyable, don't support the politicians trying to shut down people searching for something true in the midst of so much bullshit.

here in PA where the resorts are small and the patrollers are on power trips, if you go past a closed / out of bounds / roped area they will clip your season pass. they also rope and tape off drops larger than 5 feet so that no one can hit them because we have every gaper on snowblades getting hurt on them.

I HATE PENNSYLVANIA

I cannot believe this garbage going on in BC right now. Legislation for ducking boundary ropes? How does this apply to going through boundary gates? Will those be eliminated? At a number of places on Whistler/Blackcomb, there are gates, specific places where there is a break in the rope, to allow skiers/border to head into the backcountry. How is this any different really from ducking a rope. A lot of the time, you are heading into the same area. Would this now mean there is no such thing as slackcountry? What if you skinned/hiked up a mountain, as many people do around Whistler, got relatively close to the resort, and had to be rescued? What happens then?

If anything actually happens legislation-wise, this will create a huge gray area of what is acceptable and what is not, it be be an absolute cluster fuck.

This sensationalism that Grouse Mountain and the media in and around Vancouver has created can't be allowed to force changes. Overreacting to an event won't do any good. Grouse fucked up by calling an unnecessary rescue, how are these 4 skiers getting all the blame? They didn't call for rescue, they didn't need rescue! This is absolutely driving me up the wall.

ya for sure.....except big jay. they'll cut you a new asshole if they catch you there

I believe that people should be allowed at their own risk, and if caught in the avanlanche, they must pay for the costs of getting them or the body out... no offense to anyone

And i def. believe in penalizing those who go past CLOSED signs

Ok, so I just did my homework and got informed about the Grouse incident and see what made shit escalate to this... I really don't think it will happen. Sure, it might get a lot of backing in Vancouver... maybe Kelowna and Kamloops.

Just throwing out a suggestion, but if they made some sort of legislation that implemented a license system similar to specialized  hunting licenses, or gun safety permits. Classes could be set up and for a small fee skiers could attend the classes that would cover appropriate back country safety measures, including equipment and whatnot. At the end of the course they could hand out licenses which would allow the skier to enter the back country (appropriately geared) without consequence.  Obviously the skiers who take the initiative most likely know what they were doing, but it would decrease the amount of inexperienced skiers going out of bounds. Especially if the consequences had legal repercussions like tickets, fines, and maybe jail time if they wanted to get serious.

yea, but to be honest, I have a feeling that this policy will come back to bite them when the mountain become more popular. 

newbs and beginners and weekend warriors will try to go out of bounds to be cool and then get lost

out of bounds is becoming just as skiied off as in bounds is.