Vail cops now on ski beat

[DPancoast]

Cops patrolling the slopes of Vail Mountain are often met with enthusiastic greetings and offers of thanks, but some skiers and snowboarders say the mountain is overpoliced.

“I can understand if they help out when there’s a crime committed,” said Taylor Alexander of Atlanta. “But it seems like local police up on the mountain actively seeking out a crime is wrong. It’s completely overpolicing.”

Alexander didn’t appear to be breaking any law. But committing crimes is one reason police say a small percentage of skiers and snowboarders don’t like having Eagle County sheriff’s deputies and Vail police on the mountain.

“The ones violating the law probably aren’t to happy to see us,” Deputy Ted Eichholz said, later adding, “A lot of it is meeting and greeting — they love seeing us up here.”

The love was later evidenced by a woman winking and yelling, “Where’s your radar,” as she scooted by Vail Detective Christian Mohr at the top of the Vista Bahn.

Eagle County sheriff’s deputies and Vail police volunteer on their days off to assist ski patrol and the yellow-jacket safety squad on Vail Mountain, which falls under the sheriff’s jurisdiction. Deputies and police also enforce the law — arresting for ducking ropes, drugs, assault and shoplifting, Mohr said, adding that they arrest about one person each month.

“Occasionally an assault starts after a collision,” Eichholz said. “Next thing you know, a fight is breaking out.”

Patrolling on the mountain for seven days earns the officer a season pass, an opportunity for which nearly a dozen people at each department clamor.

“They love it. It’s awesome,” Mohr said. “Anybody intermediate or above is on the team.”

Police flank yellow-jackets in slow zones and only get involved at the rare times they’re needed, Mohr said. Standing with yellow-jackets and slowing down skiers and snowboarders riding at breakneck speeds is exactly where Mark Cranley of Cleveland wants the cops.

“My take on this is they gotta put these people in the slow zones,” Cranley said. “[Skiers and snowboarders] don’t pay attention to the guys in the yellow jackets.”

David Cohen of Houston said he didn’t see any problems on the mountain during his trip to Vail. “If they’re trying to prevent crime and aren’t being invasive, then it’s a good cause,” Cohen said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Man I hope they don't start doing that around here.

[ftblplyr46]

For ducking a rope?? Like, switching trails that have a rope between them? Cause I see people doin that all the time around here, and I've dont it to a few times.

[kelly]

if you're ducking a rope in vail, you're most likely poaching closed or off-limits terrain.

[IRideASnowboard154]

Do you get arrested for zooming past them as they try to slow you down?

[kelly]

haha, i'm guessing cops who have a season pass to vail could catch up to you.

[IRideASnowboard154]

For what reason though, chase you down to say slow down? they cant arrest you for going to fast on a snowboard..

[DPancoast]

you'd be suprised what kinda rules resort patrols pull out of their ass.

[IRideASnowboard154]

But you cant arrest or fine someone for that...
warning or pull their pass, yes. But arrest and tickets no.

[IRideASnowboard154]

What if its a kid who doesnt know how to stop and is learning and he goes too fast, its not his fault.

[DPancoast]

I think they'd be able to tell. I mean if you think about it, a kid that's learning will be visibly (from my experience) unstable. Someone that's been riding for a while fast, will be in control and solid.

Also, I wasn't saying they ticket and fine people. But they do pull passes and tickets for stuff like that. They pull the ski in control card whenever they feel like it.

[Snow Wolf]

Welcome to Bush`s America! We are so far beyond anything that George Orwell could have imagined in his book 1984. As an instructor, I am involved with situations where advanced riders are bombing through the bunny hill and there are times when a pass needs to be pulled ( I only pull a pass if the individual is a total A hole when I talk to them about slowing down on the bunny hill ) but to have jack booted nazi storm troopers eyeballing every move....no thanks. If this becomes the norm....I am buying a sled and doing backcountry riding and the resorts can go broke for all I care!

[TheDanger-Zone]

I can understand why they are on the mountain, I think they should have their limits like I am sure they do. They are only there to help keep you/us as safe as they can and to discourage thift. I do think a lot of larger mountain resorts need the electric eyes watching board racks, pubs, bar & Grills.
You think crime does not happen on the hill? Your wrong, it does.
Here at our hill there is a county mounty there full time. But not on the hill itself.
They meander around the ski/board racks, Parking lots, etc.
As long as they do not get all castopo on us I think it is all good.

[Snow Wolf]

Oh I know crime happens....I work at a resort. We have our own security department and if needed they call the county sherrif. I am just tired of our surveilence society and how accepting Americans are of it.

[DPancoast]

See thats the thing. Some resorts (smaller) overlook the security issue. Funny thing. Bear Creek (local mountain) had little stands and racks, but never any locks really.

Then a ring of kids came thorugh and stole over $20,000 worth of equipment. It even made the newspaper lol. But now they have an equipment check you can use....only took them a week to put up.

[thedude]

**** the police. dickheads haven't helped me out in anyway when they should have.

[letsgoboardin]

cops on the hill=cool with me. id say its a lil over kill thou, i have heard of the yelow jackets in vail and its a good idea, i have seen equipment checking in tahoe and thats very cool, i have personally noticed in the last few years there has been a larger police presense in the parking lot and thats fine, deturs theft... and the down side is me and my friends dont even try to "smoke" in the lot any more... (which is an upside to all the familys) im happy to see the police as long as they stay away from my secret ninja "smoke" spot outa bounds, im glad to see them.

[booboo]

And since the skiers code is part of state law in Colorado, if you violated it you would be considered to be breaking the law.

[IRideASnowboard154]

Is it really? No its not...

[DPancoast]

I've never heard of that law lol. But then again, Im not exactly up to date on the West. The Police and security are there to keep people safe. It just sucks that some of them are suck sticklers.

[kelly]

I think that state law has more to do with preventing lawsuits against resorts, so I'm not sure you could actually be arrested for breaking the skiers code. ;)

[DPancoast]

well that would make sense.

[kelly]

http://www.yampavalley.info/emergency0048.asp

This is it.

[DPancoast]

Yeah. it looks like a backup to the normal ski resort liability that they print on the back of lift tickets. It's just beefed up by authority.

[kelly]

Yep, that's pretty much it...

[yawningisgood]

So if these cops are gonna be on the slopes now, patrolling our every movement, i better go invest in a speedometer, and a radar dectector, so i know when to slow down in the slow zones, i say **** the slow zones, ill speed when ever i want, thats the freedom of the mountain, i hate all these rules they come up with, its BS... I can see it now, there gonna have speed traps in the slow zones, a cops gonna be chillen behind a snowdrift with a donut and coffee then when i speed on by, he's gonna chase me down on his board to tell me to slow down its gonna be awesome, itll be the worlds first police chase on a snowboard, its gonna be awesome... :bolt:

[Pamela]

We've had cops on our mountain for a few years now. They are not looking for speeders or rope ducking, that is the ski patrols job. They are looking for the pot smokers and the underage drinkers in the woods.

[DragonUSMC]

Well rope ducking on Vail means your trespassing on federal land. Personally I could care less that the police are there. Mainly stand in the slow tourist zones anyway, along with the yellow coats.

[E-DUB]

They are looking for the pot smokers and the underage drinkers in the woods.

I'd almost buy that if Colorado didn't have such relaxed marijuana laws. Just seems like a B.S. PR scam by the local police. Another step closer to the police and government entering into my private life. I mean how many brawls happen on a ski slope that need police intervention?

[Randaddy]

If you break the skier code in Colorado you can be arrested and/or fined up to $1000. This includes skiing/riding out of control or too fast in family zones and ducking ropes. Usually you get a corner cut off your pass, with 3-4 strikes you're out depending on the resort. Sometimes they will flat out take your pass. The only time I've heard of someone getting fined for ducking ropes was when they ducked into unbombed avalanche terrain or areas that were super unsafe for anyone. Oh, and the cops in 'rado will ticket you for puffing at the resort, you can be sure of that....

[E-DUB]

Oh, and the cops in 'rado will ticket you for puffing at the resort, you can be sure of that....

See a ticket... if only other states just wrote tickets. :neutral:

[Cdub]

i had to appear in court in summit county 2 seasons ago for poaching closed runs and identity fraud(gave them a fake name). i ended up getting fined 200 dollars but they let me keep my pass. it sucked ass. dont do it! and i have friends who have gotten busted by cops in the park at breck for substance use. cops should stay off the mountain and let ski patrolers do their job.

[Clash360]

For what reason though, chase you down to say slow down? they cant arrest you for going to fast on a snowboard..


they wont arrest you for going fast in a slow zone. but they might take away your lift ticket. and that would suck.
personally i dont think they need police on the mountain. there really isnt that much violence, and nothing should be worth getting arrested for, the ski patrol can take away your pass for breaking the rules. but getting arrested? thats just dumb.

[E-DUB]

This country is over policed as it is. UGH!

[CortneRI]

I'm a yellow jacket at Vail. The cops just help us on the busy days to make people slow down. It's true that when they see police there, they tend to slow down a lot more. We pretty much only pull passes if you're completely out of control or if you're an assh*le or something. We're all there for the same reasons; we love our jobs. But trust me, if you're cool about it and keep your temper down, most of us want to let you go. We don't want to take your pass away. I can't wait to go back!

[E-DUB]

I understand that but still think it's no place for the police. Every other mountain I've been to from the eastcoast to the rockies can handle it themselves. No need for extra intimidation by the boys in blue.

:lame:

[snowboarding_bear]

can they give you speeding tickets? hahahahahaha

[Cr0_Reps_Smit]

yea actually i think they can. one of my friends dad got one for going to fast on his skis.

[E-DUB]

yea actually i think they can. one of my friends dad got one for going to fast on his skis.

weak sauce.

[hub714]

I wouldn't really care that much if cops appeared up in Whistler or even my local mountains. I'm not doing anything illegal anyways. It may be an invasion of privacy or something along those lines, but barely...

[aphilpott]

I am not sure what my take is on the whole cops thing. i mean they would be good in certain situations. But most of the time not. I mean, i am one of those kids that go breakneck speed but i do it over where there isn't any patrols or in backcountry

[Chello0o]

We've had cops on our mountain for a few years now. They are not looking for speeders or rope ducking, that is the ski patrols job. They are looking for the pot smokers and the underage drinkers in the woods.


*shack in the trees at Vail*

[instigator1225]

FTP!!!!!!



...thats all i have to say about that.