 Poster: A snowHead
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A 12-year-old boy, Austin Miles, is in critical condition at a Michigan hospital after he was run over by a piste basher while skiing on a school trip. The accident happened at Mount Brighton Ski Area (Michigan, US)....
According to Mount Brighton president and general manager Joe Bruhn, the school group was at the ski area to receive lessons and ski afterward. The lessons ended at about noon, and the group began skiing on the slopes. At about 1:30 p.m., Austin was on a slope for beginners and the piste basher was going from one unopened area to another, when the accident happened.
More details: http://blog.mlive.com/lcn/2008/01/young_skier_critically_injured.html
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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i am surprised as they are usually pretty big, slow, visible and audible....sounds like a very unfortunate freak accident. poor kid.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
"The boy came down the hill, lost his balance and slid in front of the machine," Bezotte said.
Brighton Fire Marshal Michael O'Brian said Austin's leg somehow got caught in the groomer, which has tracks running along both sides and is used to maintain ski hills. Austin was dragged 100 to 200 feet before the operator realized what had happened, Bezotte said.
It took more than an hour for firefighters and emergency medical technicians to free the youth, O'Brian said. Corrigan's Towing of Brighton responded to cut some of the steel, using specialized welding cutters. |
Poor boy - I hope he makes a good recovery 
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I noticed in La plagne over Christmas that if the machines were being moved through busy areas it was escorted by a pisteur on a skidoo who either stopped or waved boarders to one side (with varying degrees of success)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Someone was killed in St Anton last year whilst we were there, by a reversing piste basher.
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I saw someone get run over by a pisterbully a few years back in Val d'Isere.
Big red blob on a white hillside.
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It does happen, but I'm surprised that it occured on a beginner slope, especially at that time of day, I'm also surprised that he got dragged such a long distance, given the location I'd have thought the driver should have been paying particular attention to his surroundings.
I hope the young lad makes a good recovery, but I fear that this may not be the case
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No wonder Michigan want to require people to wear helmets, what next compulsory driving lessons.
Its a real tragedy that a child should have been hurt like this.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A piste basher is a big chunk of nasty metal. The risks of moving them, even with an escort, on busy learner slopes is huge. How often do we see learners crash into other people, fences, invisible mounds of snow etc? Introduce a moster like a piste basher and big trouble is always a possibility.
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What a terrible story, and by the sound of it, entirely the fault of the resort. We were held up at a lift a couple of years ago, the first sunny morning after two days of blizzards, because there was still a piste basher on the slope. Local rules absolutely forbid skiers and moving machinery at the same time. Occasionally one has broken down on piste, and they put nets round it and move it after the close of play.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Peter S wrote: |
| Someone was killed in St Anton last year whilst we were there, by a reversing piste basher. |
The driver suffered from psychological problems afterwards.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Piste bashers should surely only be on the piste after the lifts have closed. That'd mean that this sitaution couldn't occur. Tragic accident.
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There is a european wide law that stops them being used on open pistes. How stringent it is I don't know.
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You know it makes sense.
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| scottishskier wrote: |
| There is a european wide law that stops them being used on open pistes. How stringent it is I don't know. |
Is there ? Since when ? I think the machines are a familiar sight, laying down corduroy tracks on churned piste in the middle of the skiing day.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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scottishskier, they were using them at Nevis when I was there the other weekend.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Major commiserations ... a young life in trouble
scottishskier, Sorry ... but rubbish. If Europe includes Switzerland, they move here every day while pistes are open
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
| I think the machines are a familiar sight, laying down corduroy tracks on churned piste in the middle of the skiing day. |
Latchigo, Really???? Where? I don't remember seeing piste bashers laying down corduroy tracks in the middle of the skiing day in any French resort for a good quarter of a century. The pistes just get steadily more churned till close of play.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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pam w, certainly see them in Val Thorens from time to time.
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pam w, Followed 3 piste bashers on Aguille Rouge 3 weeks ago in Les Arcs in the middle of the day. They had a guy skiing behind them preventing overtaking
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w, not quite middle of the day (more like 3:30pm), but came over a ridge in the piste in Arosa the other day to find 9 (count em) piste bashers coming the other way. Not even in single file, they were spread out over half of the piste...I nearly had a heart attack 
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I've followed PIste bashers down the hill before, making short turns in the width of the bashed track, no-one between me and the pist basher either. That was in Montgenevre which last time I looked was in France
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Scottishskier , have to disagree too , they were piste bashing at Cairngorm for most of the day on the wekend of the 12th Jan while skiers and boarders were on the run.
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| Quote: |
| Piste bashers should surely only be on the piste after the lifts have closed. That'd mean that this sitaution couldn't occur. Tragic accident. |
Often not possible and on novice terrain the need to use them during opening hours is often greater as it's a bigger safety risk to have the slope conditions degenerate. These machines are also used to transport supplies, staff and patrol, to evacuate casualties and at times to assist with lift stoppages (haulage power to haul up derailed cables for example). It's not practical to not use them during opening hours and on the whole snow mobiles present a bigger hazard because their fast, small and low and harder to spot - a piste basher on the other hand is pretty damn obvious!
To say its the resorts fault from the few facts in this thread is a bit unjust. Nobody has 360 vision and from the driving position in one of those machines if someone slide sideways into the tracks the drivers chance of seeing them isn't all that good. These machines should be given a wide berth and passed with extreme caution.
As for the law banning them during lift opening hours - iirc there is a directive to this effect, but it's an absurdity that if enforced would have dire ramifications for snowsports. From what I heard when I was in Kirkwood it is also in FIS guidelines that piste bashers must not be operated on slopes open to the public. 
A tragic accident, terrible for the boy, but I bet the driver is pretty shaken up.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Ignore this one!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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They seem to manage OK round here with no bashers on the slopes during ski hours. And the last time I skied in Flegere, in Chamonix, after heavy snow, the pistes were incredibly chopped up by mid afternoon but they didn't seem to feel any need to go out an bash them. If they do operate during the day they clearly need better safety precautions - such as described above, with pisteurs creating an exclusion zone.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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When I was in Zillertal we had piste bullies driving up parts of the piste that were not much wider than themselves. They are big, colourful, noisy and have lights. However cruising around the corner with your music playing, a moments distraction and you can easily find yourself into the face or side of one.
Its a terrible thing to happen and to blame it on the resort or anything else without knowing the details first hand is extremely short-sighted.
Get as well as you can little dude 
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| Karl60North wrote: |
However cruising around the corner with your music playing, a moments distraction and you can easily find yourself into the face or side of one.
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I think you just gave yourself a VERY good reason not to have your music playing!! Or at least not so loud! Whilst we were in Austria in Jan we saw the piste bashers out regularly, admittedly it's a bit of a shock when you come round the corner but the VERY loud klaxon does tend to break the air somewhat and give you a clue, if that fails flashing yellow lights on a large Red snow beating machine usually serve as a good deterrent. IMHO if people can't see or avoid one they shouldn't be on the mountain.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Christopher wrote: |
| Piste bashers should surely only be on the piste after the lifts have closed. That'd mean that this situation couldn't occur. Tragic accident. |
Much as I am a little sceptical over-zealous helfinsafety, I agree. It also begs the question of whether our pistes are over-groomed.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Martin Bell, I wouldnt think too often. I still stick by my word that to avoid such unnessiceary accidents, piste bashers should only operate when the pistes are shut. If they want to groom a piste in the day, if it isnt vital they should close it. Then have a bloke at the top telling skiiers not too proceed down as skiing shut pistes can be an attractive to some skiiers.
Alternatively shut the piste for the day if it really needs to be bashed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Martin Bell, Ashamedly old enough to remember that .....
More often than we know ..obviously.
Christopher, Get real ..... if 'they' took every bit of dangerous machinery off the slopes , neither I ---nor you --- could ski.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I think it is safe to say that the Austrians bash the pistes whilst still open. Just before 4pm in Flachau Feb 4th 08.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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in kaprun it is not uncommon for groups off skiiers to follow groups off 3 groomers working side by side at top wide slopes off glacier ,have done myself last year,didnt think of safety aspect just fresh corduroy,very sad about the young but without full details dont think anyone can or should comment. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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In Obertauern, they would groom the Eidelweiss run at about 5 pm some days ready for the night skiing. Then the revellers would pile out of the Mankei Alm at the top of the piste and snake down the freshly groomed piste. Don't know if anyone stopped them skiing down whilst the piste bashers were working?
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Last week in Val, the Face was closed for most of the week due to the World Cup. On Wednesday as we went up in the lift, there were two winchcats, winching each other up and down the steep section. There were two snowboarders who'd ducked under the fence, and were riding right next to the winchcats and right next to the steel winching cable. The drivers stopped what they were doing, and hooted their horns, but the snowboarders didn't seem to take much notice.
Talk about stupid. I dread to think what would have happened if the cable had come loose.
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Talk about stupid. I dread to think what would have happened if the cable had come loose.
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Usually it involves the snowcat heading rapidly down hill whilst a snaking steel cable slices through pretty much anything that gets in its way 
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Hywel, that's what we did at the EOSB a couple of years ago.....the snow was much nicer to ski when freshly groomed 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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So, was the boy in the original story toast or is he alright?
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FAQ
) i hope the basher wasn't involved in the accident 