Althouse: "Man left dangling upside down, pantsless after Vail lift mishap."

January 6, 2009

"Man left dangling upside down, pantsless after Vail lift mishap."

Oh, no!

58 comments:

Synova said...: It's probably bad enough without people posting the pictures on the internet.

Poor fellow.; 1/6/09, 12:17 PM
Leland said...: Agree with Synova... and certainly not a place to get frost bite.

Poor fellow.; 1/6/09, 12:18 PM
Richard Dolan said...: Just one of your average Pink Men Dangling In Mid Air shots that everyone seems to be so tired of. Nothing to see here, move on.; 1/6/09, 12:20 PM
George M. Spencer said...: What a ham, er, hams.; 1/6/09, 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Imagine the shrinkage.; 1/6/09, 12:23 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Shaka, When the Walls Fell.

BTW, sorry to hear you fell a couple of times professor.

Please take care, we need you.; 1/6/09, 12:35 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "It's probably bad enough without people posting the pictures on the internet."

Yeah, I considered not linking... It's a long shot and non-frontal.

"BTW, sorry to hear you fell a couple of times professor."

Thanks. I was unhurt, but I do often think about how one fall could radically change a person into an elderly person.; 1/6/09, 12:39 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: That's almost as funny as this cat on LiveLeak.

Does finding these two things hilarious, the skier and the kitty, make me a bad person?

Another very interesting kitty on LiveLeak, but not as knock-down funny.; 1/6/09, 12:39 PM
Darcy said...: Oh, no! And shame on me for clicking through all the pics. But now that I have...I'll echo the "poor fellow" sentiments.; 1/6/09, 12:39 PM
Synova said...: LOL.

I'd seen the kitty on the fan before, but it's really better with the "Muffy, Muffy come here." And the laugh and then the concerned, "Turn of the fan." *thump*; 1/6/09, 12:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Mirab, his sails unfurled.; 1/6/09, 12:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Has Larry Craig denied being on a ski lift in Vail?; 1/6/09, 12:56 PM
KCFleming said...: Mom always told him to wear clean underwear.

But did he listen to her? Nooooooo.; 1/6/09, 12:57 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I do often think about how one fall could radically change a person into an elderly person.

Robert Atkins, of Atkins Diet fame, died when he slipped on an icy sidewalk while walking to work.; 1/6/09, 1:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Sorry folks..

All the Burris ballyhoo got me speaking Tamarian.

Too much Excitement.; 1/6/09, 1:04 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Robert Atkins, of Atkins Diet fame, died when he slipped on an icy sidewalk while walking to work."

Oh, no!

***

I'm wondering how terrible of an accident I would prefer to an accident that involved this kind of scary and humiliating public exposure. It's really hard to think of how bad something would need to be before I'd say, okay, now I'd rather be dangled naked from a ski lift.; 1/6/09, 1:13 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: It is funny. What we can't tell here is whether he actually had a belt that should have kept up his pants, or was he one of those guys who wear his pants lower than he should.

It is surprising how many snow boarders wear their pants down a bit. It doesn't work as well for skiers, since their legs move back and forth as they ski. But even there, you see guys with pants half-mast.

I don't think that the CO Skier Safety Act (aka Ski Area Protection Act) is going to help VR (Vail Resorts) that much here, since the accident was apparently occasioned by their negligence.

But from a legal point of view, it is interesting. First, if the guy wears his pants low, then that might be argued to be contributory negligence.

Also, the VR season passes, and I believe multi-day passes, all contain language providing for VR's attorneys' fees.

This was highlighted maybe 4 years ago, when a groomer ran into the side of the bridge at Lions Head, dislodging some metal. Later that day, a woman was injured on the metal and sued VR. Not only was the area protected by the Skier Safety Act, but VR asked for the agreed to attorneys' fees. She ended up settling very quickly.

Moral of the story - skiing is big business in Colorado, and the law there takes that into account by severely limiting ski area liability. Also, Vail Resorts is the biggest player in the Colorado market and have a record of playing rough in litigation.; 1/6/09, 1:18 PM
bearbee said...: It was thoughtful of fellow skiers to immediately haul out their iPhones and Canons.; 1/6/09, 1:25 PM
Anonymous said...: There is an obvious joke here that I won't make... bad as I want to.; 1/6/09, 1:28 PM
chuck b. said...: Worst day ever.; 1/6/09, 1:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Temba, his arms wide.; 1/6/09, 1:30 PM
Expat(ish) said...: There is no doubt that the key to a good turn in skiing is the pole plant and hip shift.

I'm just saying, that's all.

-XC; 1/6/09, 1:33 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The lift probably pulled a Frank Costanza move – “stopped short”.

His companion did not secure him and he just slipped off.; 1/6/09, 1:43 PM
sbutler said...: It's worth remembering that some people -- mostly drunk, college males -- make a sport of skiing naked, or nearly so. Most ski lifts I've ridden up have a couples bras and panties hanging from the trees.

I'm not trying to imply that this guy is at fault! Just that naked skiers aren't a terribly rare site.; 1/6/09, 1:53 PM
Stephanie said...: Dad I always wondered if you were crazy and now I can see your nuts...; 1/6/09, 1:56 PM
KCFleming said...: 1) The human form is especially unlovely when strung up like plucked poultry.

2) Now that the world abounds in recording media, we can be certain no embarrassment need go undocumented, no faux pas will be forgotten, no shame unphotographed.; 1/6/09, 1:59 PM
Christy said...: When lifts close for the night the lift attendant throws the seat up to keep from accumulating snow overnight. The morning attendant puts it down as it sweeps by first thing. Sounds like someone partied too hard New Year's Eve.

Four person lifts can be tricky getting into for two, especially if one is much heavier than the other. Center hanging pole, think about it. My biggest prat falls on the slopes have been getting on and off 4 seaters. If any one of the 4 don't know what they are doing, down you go. All this is to say that he was probably concentrating on his son(?) instead of the seat. And one never looks at the seat in any case. You look over the outside shoulder to grab the upright as it comes along.

This was probably an experienced skier - his bindings didn't release. Bindings are usually set to let the boot go based upon a skier's weight, but more advanced skiers tighten them down to handle the greater forces in aggressively skiing the bumps. Would an experienced skiier be less likely to sue than someone new to the sport? I think so, but YMMV.; 1/6/09, 2:05 PM
knox said...: Just one of your average Pink Men Dangling In Mid Air shots that everyone seems to be so tired of. Nothing to see here, move on.

LMAO. Seriously

Does finding these two things hilarious, the skier and the kitty, make me a bad person?

I hope not because I am still laughing; 1/6/09, 2:18 PM
Henry said...: Economy left dangling upside down, pantsless after metaphorical mishap.; 1/6/09, 2:23 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I think I would be so terrified that my face would swing into a tree or that the binding would come loose, allowing me to fall onto something injurious, that I wouldn't care so much about the nakedness part.; 1/6/09, 2:25 PM
MnMark said...: Maybe this will spur him to do some ab crunches. If he had enough abdominal strength perhaps he could have reached up to grab his pants and pull them back on instead of hanging there helplessly.; 1/6/09, 2:44 PM
chuck b. said...: "I'm wondering how terrible of an accident I would prefer to an accident that involved this kind of scary and humiliating public exposure..."

I was thinking about this while I got my haircut (where there's a picture of a hair model who I imagine looks like Althouse son Christopher, except more moussed--it's quite enough that I have to think about Althouse when I get a haircut; I'm not going there with Twitter too) and it was a toss-up for me between having shingles in my asscrack again or hanging upsidedown half-naked in front of the wolrd for a few hours. It was actually a toss up for about 10 minutes. In the end tho', I'd take pain pills and oatmeal baths any day.; 1/6/09, 2:45 PM
bearbee said...: I can't believe as he fell and dangled that he didn't suffer severe wrenching and separation of ligaments, joints and muscle tears.; 1/6/09, 2:46 PM
Tibore said...: "Man left dangling upside down, pantsless after Vail lift mishap."

What was he doing on a ski lift in Vail with no pants on?

;); 1/6/09, 2:52 PM
Tibore said...: Zinda - his face black, his eyes red.

... yeah, I'm a geek too...; 1/6/09, 2:54 PM
KCFleming said...: Help Hank, Help Hank, Help Hank.
Hello.; 1/6/09, 2:55 PM
chickelit said...: What was he doing on a ski lift in Vail with no pants on?

It was an event called "Up Your Valley," sponsored by Miller beer.; 1/6/09, 2:55 PM
knox said...: Maybe this will spur him to do some ab crunches.

Yeah, that'd be a person's first thought: "I need to do more crunches"; 1/6/09, 3:07 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The beast at Tanagra.; 1/6/09, 3:08 PM
Larry J said...: I hate it when that happens.; 1/6/09, 3:16 PM
Edmund said...: Of course the media got it wrong! The man wasn't pantsless, they were just around his ankles.

Snark aside, it does show great attention to safety that he was rescued so quickly.; 1/6/09, 3:26 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Shaka, when the walls fell.

Kadir beneath Mo Moteh..; 1/6/09, 3:46 PM
Methadras said...: What a showoff. Everyone thinks they can flash their junk for everyone to see and that it'll make them famous when it hits TMZ or The Court Channel.; 1/6/09, 3:50 PM
Original Mike said...: Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.; 1/6/09, 4:01 PM
Tibore said...: Oh, Gawd, something appropriate... or, well, inappropriate ;) for a man with no pants on:

Kailash, when it rises.

Good Lord, I'm feeling whimsical today. :D; 1/6/09, 4:14 PM
Tibore said...: "It's really hard to think of how bad something would need to be before I'd say, okay, now I'd rather be dangled naked from a ski lift."

Well, actually just half naked. Granted, it's the wrong half, but still...

:D; 1/6/09, 4:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Worst of all, he couldn't Twitter.; 1/6/09, 4:54 PM
Eli Blake said...: There are things that could be a worse day than this. I just read about where a teenage baby sitter accidentally stepped on a four year old's foot, so the four year old got out a shotgun and blasted the baby sitter.; 1/6/09, 5:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ...he was rescued so quickly.

Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.; 1/6/09, 5:18 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: sbutler - no one in their right mind skis naked, or even close to it. Sure, in late spring you have some young adults doing so, but rarely twice. The problem then is that if you fall, you leave much of your skin behind. At this time of year though, it is much too cold to even consider.

Cristy - lift operators also often put up the seats when it is snowing. In both cases, it is to minimize the amount of snow accumulated on the seats.

But in pretty much all cases, the lifties are putting up or down ALL of the seats as they go around at the bottom. If this were right after the lift opened, I would expect someone doing this full time until all the seats were down, given that this was in Vail.

There is a very, very, small chance that the seat popped up all by itself. My memory is that most of them had bunji cord type apparatus that keeps them down when not intentionally put up.

I am not sure that rental bindings would have released either. It all revolves around the physics of the situation - to release, the skis have to rotate horizontally in respect to the skier's toes, or vertically in respect to his heels.

I would also suggest that more advanced skiers are often able to ski with looser bindings than less advanced skiers, assuming that the advanced skiers are not skiing that aggressively, or even racing (my next brother often has his bindings cranked up twice as high as I do, despite my outweighing him by 50 pounds, since he still spends his weekends racing).

I tend to have my bindings much looser than the binding manufacturers would suggest, based on my height, weight, and skiing ability. Rather, I have figured out over the decades what is just too loose, where I come out too often, and cranked them up by one DIN setting. I have been hurt skiing, and, indeed, was hurt maybe once a year when working at a ski area several years ago, but haven't been hurt because my bindings failed to release since probably 1967 (when I was racing in HS).; 1/6/09, 5:42 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Naked Skiing Torts

Once again, the labels give us a good name for a band. A band of lawyers, no less.
(What is the venereal word for a bunch of lawyers, anyway? I'm pretty sure it's not "band".); 1/6/09, 6:06 PM
Hey said...: Bruce: you're the only experienced skier I've ever heard of who had his bindings LOOSER than recommended. Suggested DIN settings (and the ones they'll do for you in a shop) are ridiculously low thanks to litigation risk.

You'd have to be especially fearful AND spending all your time on the bunny hill to want a binding that pops off at a DIN lower than guidance. You're binding will pop off if: you're racing, doing a jump, skiing moguls, skiing fast, skiing in trees, in powder, or doing any other of a thousand things that people who are comfortable in skis do. An experienced skier is much more likely to be injured by an unnecessary release than by having bindings too tight, since the chances for an injury causing fall are so low and the chance of an unjust releases so high.

So for your own safety, CRANK UP THAT DIN, MAN! Personally I get the best bindings I can, so that I can get higher tension. I do have a race, out-of-bounds, and trick background, and have had more than my share of popping out of skis unexpectedly. Never come close to injuring myself due to my skis staying on though. Any falls happen with more than enough force to pop the skis off, especially if there's any twisting involved, since I'm skiing interesting terrain at high speed.

Setting the DIN to 3 would leave me skiless just trying to turn, never mind landing a cliff drop, busting through woods, or hitting deep powder. You can have my 14 DIN when you pry it from my cold, dead feet. Except of course you can't, cause it's 14 DIN and it ain't coming off with any force you can exert.; 1/6/09, 6:13 PM
blake said...: "We all come into this world naked, bloody and screaming.

And if you play your cards right, the fun doesn't have to stop there!"
--Dana Gould; 1/6/09, 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...: It could have been worse. He could have had a bad case of gas.

Talk about your $10,000 video.; 1/6/09, 9:51 PM
Anonymous said...: You do realize, Professor Althouse, that had that poor man been wearing SHORTS instead of long pants, he could have avoided this embarrassing incident.

Just sayin'.; 1/6/09, 11:12 PM
Kirk Parker said...: It could have been worse. He could have been wearing shorts.; 1/6/09, 11:21 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Hmmm, so do Cobaltbob and I cancel each other out?; 1/6/09, 11:25 PM
Clyde said...: I'm late to the party on this one, but I'm wondering whether wearing briefs as opposed to boxer shorts lessens the odds of something like this happening. Or maybe he was "going commando" under his ski pants. It's kind of hard to tell; the white clothing could be underwear or just the lining of the ski pants.; 1/7/09, 7:49 AM