Here’s a great demonstration of what being an idiot on the mountain looks like. This skier is coming down the hill, making pretty normal, predictable turns, and a snowboarder slams into him at full speed. Both are knocked to the ground hard. The skier clearly had the wind knocked out of him, and the snowboarder is clearly pretty badly injured. Fortunately you can see both people are moving after this crash, but, man, it does not look good.
So let’s be very clear here. The skier is in no way at fault in this situation. The snowboarder does try to avoid hitting the skier, but they should have slowed down or stopped. If you’re watching this thinking ‘oh, but he was making wide turns’ or ‘he should have been looking up before making such wide turns’, you just shouldn’t be allowed on the trails. If you’re going to fast to navigate around another person, you need to slow down.
Remember, it’s not about how fast you’re going, it’s about how much control you have. If you aren’t in control, slow down or stop riding until you are in control. We hope everyone wound up okay after this wipeout. Don’t be like the snowboarder in this clip.
DISCLAIMER: This video is pretty brutal to watch, as both parties are pretty clearly injured.
Related: Mountain Bike Record Attempt Ends With Spectacular Wipeout