MinggOh word. I thought thats what OP was getting at and I thought it was ridiculous.
But that makes sense, I guess. Like if someone wants to go out of bounds thats their own risk. I never thought about search and rescue having to come get them though if something happens.
I'm confused though. You see people going heli/cat skiing and all that in the backcountry. If you get hurt isn't the risk the same out there for them to come help you? How is going out of bounds at a resort any different, besides being in close proximity to the resort. Or is backcountry skiing illegal in those countries as well?
Ill clear a few things up.
Heli skiing is the safest way to go. If you get hurt, the guide just has to radio in the pilot and make a emergency evac. They are also stuffed with first aid and guides can perform several medical procedures to keep a casualty from dying in transit. The down side is the great reach that a heli can go. Weather varies from aspect to aspect as much as region to region and its impossible to keep track of all areas at all times. Hence, avalanche risks rise significantly.
Cat skiing is the next safest thing. You are in a group with a guide and you all ski close together. If an incident happens, everyone in the team will become a rescuer. Guides generally live in the area they work in. They have intimate knowledge of the area and are very well trained.
Skiing in the in bounds is the most controled aspect of the sport. Geologists, cartographers and engineers work everything down to the last detail to ensure safety and terrain optimization. Skiing in plain view will assure a quick rescue if shit happens. Patrol isnt always well trained in difficult terrain and have a tough time getting a victim out. But heli evacs can still happen.
Backcountry skiing or ducking the ropes is the highest risk aspect of the sport. No one knows your precise location, rescue can be very far and even your car can be miles from an accident site. When you ride alone, its a no fuck up situation; you get hurt, you die a painful death. Lack of knowledge, lack of experience, ego and ease of access into the back country is making the sport statistically more deadly.
Is ducking the rope illegal in some areas? Yes. It has to do with property lines and accountability in insurances. In BC, the backcountry is legal if the terrain you are riding on is Crown land or a provincial/regional park. Everyone owns that land. National parks can be a headach. All require Park Passes just to get access; staying beyond your welcome is considered tresspassing federal land, but most times just issue you a fine. You kill people up there, you are unlikely to get charged by criminal, but by civil or settlement cases. Usually, out there, you are responsible for your own safety. This was a case a few years back.
When its private land, the owners can restrict access to areas either because they want to, or its too dangerous to go there. They could be bombing... BC resorts are plagued by this. You have to remind you that thousands duck the rope everyday without getting caught. But when shit happens, thats when you hear about it. They should not be punished harsher because of the outcome, but because they tresspassed and put people's lives in danger.
The big mountains deserve respect. A beginner from the city has no respect for mother nature and is too stupid to think two steps ahead. All a noob sees is ski movies and double black diamonds. They dont see snow thermal dynamics impacts safety and steep bumpy terrain goes fast. It does bug me when people come down difficult backcountry areas in a snowplow, bootpacking and acting like fat kids crying when they fall in the deep snow. I saved 3 people from doom in Whitewater in the last 4 years; their fucking story is the same "I didnt know...".
