At Whitefish Mountain Resort, we do everything we can to help ensure a safe skiing and snowboarding experience. But snow sports involve many inherent risks that we can never eliminate altogether, which is why the industry as a whole created Your Responsibility Code.

That's also why we depend on you, our guests, to make smart decisions on the slopes to protect yourselves and those around you. We're just about halfway through the season here, which is a great time to brush up on safe skiing habits and spread the word to your people.

In particular, we'd like to use this opportunity to warn against reckless and excessively fast skiing. Collisions on the slopes are a serious issue that we all need to be aware of and take precautions against. Staying in control is a demonstration of respect to everyone who participates in snow sports on Big Mountain. And respect gets respect.

Follow Your Responsibility Code

We urge all our guests to abide by Your Responsibility Code, a set of 10 simple rules designed to keep you and fellow guests safe on the slopes. Created by the National Ski Areas Association, this code has been adopted by hundreds of resorts across the country. The first two tenets of the code are as follows:

• Always stay in control. You must be able to stop or avoid people or objects.
• People ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.

That means if you're straight-lining or bombing down a ski run and can't safely stop or avoid people or objects, you're violating the code and subject to having your lift ticket, season pass or frequent skier card suspended. It brings us no joy to enforce this policy, so please do your best to stay in control at all times.

Remember the ‘Triangle of Safety’

Speed. Space. Self. These are the three factors every skier and rider must consider as they descend the mountain. Guests of various ages and skill levels move around the slopes differently, so it’s important to keep a safe distance and know your own abilities when determining your route.

To learn more about this decision-making framework as well as the tragic consequences that can result from a skiing collision, please take a few minutes to watch this video from the Snow Angel Foundation:

Obey all signage

Some trails and sections of the mountain are designated as Slow Ski & Ride Areas. In these zones, it's especially important to control your speed and maintain a safe distance from others, as you are likely to encounter cross traffic and skiers and riders of many different skill levels.

Slow Ski & Ride Areas include beginner terrain and areas surrounding bottom lift terminals. They are clearly marked with large orange signs and highlighted with orange stripes on our trail maps. Ski patrollers and other mountain employees are posted in these areas to help educate guests and enforce safe, responsible skiing and riding.

When traveling through Slow Ski & Ride Areas, please maintain a speed no faster than the general flow of traffic. For the safety of our guests and employees, we may revoke skiing or riding privileges from anyone who travels too fast or aggressively in these zones.

Pursue vertical goals responsibly

For years we have been happy to offer our online Vertical Tracker, which shows roughly how many vertical feet each passholder has skied throughout the season. We calculate this number by adding up how many times a pass is scanned at each chairlift.

This can be a fun way to meet personal goals or see how your skiing habits stack up against your friends'. Yet we are wary that some passholders may strive to achieve a "high score" on the Vertical Tracker without exercising appropriate caution.

To everyone who enjoys checking the Vertical Tracker, we encourage you to think of it as a topic of casual discussion — not as the defining objective of your skiing experience. As stated above, excessive speed will not be tolerated on our slopes. Chasing a vertical record is no excuse.

Thank you for doing your part to ensure everyone can enjoy this mountain we all love so much. And please help us spread this culture of safety, positivity and respect by sharing this message with friends and family. We sincerely appreciate everyone who joins in this effort to reduce the risk of collisions and injuries.

Nick Polumbus
President, Whitefish Mountain Resort