点评:[The photos attached to this review show the skiers stranded on the off-trail traverse off Lift G6 at KitzSki, Kitzbuhel, on Jan.14, 2025. All found themselves in this predicament after following the directions of the KitzSki staff.]
Maybe it happenned because "KitzSki" are getting ready for Hahnenkamm Races next week. The event is advertised as "the world's most prestigious FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race", so that all else is UNimportant. Or maybe it's because they genuinely don't care a red cent about mountain safety... You decide:
Jan. 14, 2025, turned out to be a perfect skiing day -- a few feet of fresh powder on top of good base, blue sky with a few clouds, short lines, minimal ice, what can go wrong, right? When we ski to the bottom of "G6 Lift" the operator informs the crowd of people that the lift is closed "due to malfunction" and directs everyone in general direction of down and to the left. To those who have never been here, please understand: this place is giant, and we need 3-4 lifts or more to get back to our base at Kitzbühel. The G6 lift operator is a young kid (early 20s?), barely any langage skills other than native German; he appears to have been there alone with no other staff to help him; on repeated questuons with plenty of directional handmovements the answer is repeated "ja, Kitzbühel... Kitzbühel..."
THE DIRECTIONS HE PROVIDED LED TO UNMARKED UNGROOMED OFF-TRAIL FORRESTED TERRAIN. About 20-25 people of varying ages and varying mountain skills ended up spread into a kilometer-long chain looking for the nearest trail down, a nearest lift, or Kitz Ski staff to help. Because of the recent fresh snow, some of us were knee to thigh deep in powder. At this altitude, after every 10-20 yards of walking in snow boots I had to stop to catch my breath. Eventually most of the misdirected group made it to a "black slope" (=highest difficulty slope) with a lift overhead. These were the younger/stronger individuals and better/more experienced skiers. Two of the older skiers (I was one of them) got stuck on the wild forrested traverse, to which the G6 lift staff directed us.
I could not get cell phone service, but (surprisingly) wiFi worked and through a voice app I was able to contact my wife to call for help.
By ~15:30 (3:30 pm) I started getting calls from someone speaking very heavily accented English requesting our "location coordinate." Neither one of us, the two people left on the mountain, knew how to get this info.
The lifts work till 4 (16:00). The sun sets at ~ 5 (16:50). To add insult to injury, because it was getting late, the destination KitzSki lift staff ordered the skiers that managed to get across the traverse to get off the slope. Again: the individuals ordered to leave were the ones that KNEW that there were still others (us) left on the mountain. They also could point to our location.
It was getting cold. Both of our sets of boots and clothing were soaked by now. Both, the man struggling along with me and I, were hurting, tired, and out of breath by then. Periodically, I started getting frustrating repeat calls from someone-or-other requesting "your location so that we can find you in the mountains." Taking off my gloves, fumbling for cell phone, while thigh-deep in snow and trying to hold on to my skis did not help at all. Eventually (miraculously) I got "second wind", managed to make it to the "black slope," and put up an emergency "X" with my ski's. The man following me was then able to use my footprints as steps into more-or-less packed snow to get out onto the slope as well. By then, I could not feel my toes (=early "snowbite").
It was probably just dumb luck, but I'd like to think that somehow someone saw my emergency "X" sign and within half-an-hour a buzzing snowCat (or snowmobile) materialized at the bottom of the slope. Here are the conditions of the slope we found ourselves on: THE SNOWCAT COULD NOT GET UP TO WHERE WE WERE and its driver kept motioning for us to get down on our own. The man with me tried to follow this staff's instructions and ski down, but, after several tumbling falls, screamed in pain and stayed down. In another 10 minutes, another KitzSki staff member appeared at the top. This one was on skis. He helped the downed skier slide on his (the skier's) back all the way down the black trail. I managed to walk down with my skis off.
The conversation at the bottom of the slope went all wrong. I found out that it was "your fault" (our fault) for going into ungroomed off-trail forresred terrain. Neither rescuer was willing to listen that we, along with at least 2 dozen others, were DIRECTED to do so by KitzSki staff (!!) at lift G6. Although the younger rescuer (the one in brown "Ski Patrol" uniform) took both of us to the buttom on his snowmobile, he just laughed at us when we said that we need to go in a completely different direction from where he ended up taking us. The guy actually had the bile to say: "You think this is America? It is not!" Yep. I guess giving stranded skiers a lift to a bus stop was too much of an ask. But he WAS right: this is definitely not America. I can't think of a similar situation in the U.S. of A., where, after a mishap on a mountain, professional ski staff would leave someone stranded like that, cold, miles from unfamiliar town, in darkening twilight, no language... The man did say: "Take bus." Oh well, that's why they call it "adventure," I suppose. Eventually we got to a bus stop, in the dark, in soggy cold gear, carrying skis. Other lowly Americans at the bus stop helped us figure out that it's the bus to Kitzbühel, not away from it. (If you are reading this: THANK YOU GUYS!) The bus we managed to catch took us to the center of Kitzbühel town. The other bus, the one to our hotel, stopped service ~½hr before that, and we ended up slogging home on sore, cold, and blistered feet, in the dark, in soggy cold gear, carrying skis.
Best/worst/funniest/saddest part of this whole experience: before parting, "Rescuer #2" (the older man on the skis) pointed to "Rescuer #1" (the younger man on snowCat) and said "Don't forget to give him a good tip." Literally ! The man said that ! What gall.
So...
Dear KitzSki management and marketing, given the interaction with your staff, I get it:
1. Mountain safety is the least of your priorities; and...
2. You obviously despise us, Americans. But, if you loathe Americans so much, why do you advertise in the U.S.? Be honest. Take out a few small ads saying "Americans, we hate you. Go pound sand !" and save yourselves further advertising expenses. This will also save us, the despised Americans, untold expense and frustration.
P.S. Both "rescuers" refused to be identified by name, provide contact information for management, or any information on how to file a complaint or request a refund.
If this does get posted, good luck to all skiers out there. Wishing you fresh powder, blue skys, fast snow, and sunshine. Have fun. Stay warm. Be safe.
:-)
翻译:[本评论附带的照片显示了 2025 年 1 月 14 日,滑雪者在 KitzSki 的 G6 号缆车的越野横穿道上被困。在遵循 KitzSki 工作人员的指示后,所有人都陷入了这种困境。]
也许是因为“KitzSki”正在为下周的 Hahnenkamm 比赛做准备。该赛事被宣传为“世界上最负盛名的 FIS 高山滑雪世界杯比赛”,所以其他一切都不重要。或者可能是因为他们真的一点也不在乎山上的安全……你决定:
2025 年 1 月 14 日,结果是一个完美的滑雪日——良好的基础之上有几英尺厚的新鲜粉雪,蓝天上飘着几朵云,线很短,冰很少,有什么会出错的,对吧?当我们滑雪到“G6 缆车”底部时,操作员通知人群缆车“因故障”关闭,并指示所有人大致向下向左行驶。对于那些从未来过这里的人,请理解:这个地方很大,我们需要 3-4 次或更多次缆车才能回到我们在基茨比厄尔的基地。G6 缆车操作员是一个年轻人(20 岁出头?),除了母语德语外,几乎不会任何语言技能;他似乎独自一人在那里,没有其他工作人员帮助他;在反复提问并大量移动方向时,答案是“是的,基茨比厄尔……基茨比厄尔……”
他提供的方向将我们带到了没有标记的未经修整的越野森林地带。大约 20-25 名年龄各异、登山技能各异的人分散成一公里长的队伍,寻找最近的下山路径、最近的缆车或 Kitz Ski 工作人员来帮忙。由于最近刚下过雪,我们中的一些人陷入了膝盖到大腿深的雪中。在这个海拔高度,我穿着雪靴每走 10-20 码就得停下来喘口气。最后,大部分被误导的人都到达了“黑坡”(= 难度最高的坡),上面有缆车。这些人更年轻/更强壮,滑雪技术更好/更有经验。两名年长的滑雪者(我是其中之一)被困在了野生森林横断面上,G6 缆车工作人员把我们带到了那里。
我无法使用手机服务,但(令人惊讶的是) wifi 可以用,我可以通过语音应用程序联系我的妻子寻求帮助。
大约 15:30(下午 3:30),我开始接到一个口音很重的英语电话,要求我们“定位坐标”。我们两个留在山上的人都不知道如何获得这些信息。
缆车工作到下午 4 点(16:00)。太阳大约在 5 点(16:50)落山。更糟糕的是,因为天色已晚,目的地 KitzSki 缆车的工作人员命令设法穿过横断面的滑雪者离开斜坡。再次强调:被命令离开的人知道山上还有其他人(我们)。他们还可以指出我们的位置。
天气越来越冷。我们两人的靴子和衣服都湿透了。和我一起挣扎的那个男人和我当时都感到疼痛、疲惫和气喘吁吁。我时不时地会接到某人令人沮丧的重复电话,询问“您的位置,以便我们在山上找到您”。我脱下手套,摸索着找手机,在齐大腿深的雪中试图抓住我的滑雪板,但毫无帮助。最终(奇迹般地),我恢复了“体力”,设法到达了“黑色斜坡”,并用我的滑雪板做了一个紧急“X”形。跟在我后面的那个人也能够利用我的脚印踏入或多或少积满的雪中,爬上斜坡。到那时,我已经感觉不到自己的脚趾了(=早期的“雪咬”)。
这可能只是运气不好,但我想有人以某种方式看到了我的紧急“X”标志,半小时内,一辆嗡嗡作响的雪地车(或雪地摩托车)出现在斜坡底部。以下是我们发现自己所处的斜坡的情况:雪地车无法到达我们所在的地方,驾驶员一直示意我们自己下来。和我一起的那个人试图按照工作人员的指示滑雪下来,但在几次跌倒后,他痛苦地尖叫着,留在了下面。又过了 10 分钟,另一名 KitzSki 工作人员出现在山顶。这次是滑雪。他帮助摔倒的滑雪者沿着黑色的小径一路滑下。我设法脱下滑雪板走下来。
在斜坡底部的对话完全出错了。我发现这是“你的错”(我们的错),因为我们进入了未经修整的越野森林地形。两位救援人员都不愿意听我们以及至少 20 多人在 G6 号升降机上受到 KitzSki 工作人员(!!)的指示。虽然年轻的救援人员(穿着棕色“滑雪巡逻”制服的那位)用雪地摩托车把我们俩带到了山脚下,但当我们说我们需要走与他最终带我们去的方向完全不同的方向时,他只是嘲笑我们。那个人竟然还胆敢说:“你以为这里是美国?不是!”没错。我想把被困的滑雪者送到公交车站太过分了。但他是对的:这里绝对不是美国。我想不出在美国有类似的情况,在山上发生事故后,专业的滑雪工作人员会把被困的人丢在寒冷的地方,远离陌生的城镇,在昏暗的暮色中,不会说话......那个人确实说:“坐公交车。”哦,好吧,我想这就是他们称之为“冒险”的原因。最后,我们到了公交车站,在黑暗中,穿着湿漉漉的防寒装备,拿着滑雪板。公交车站的其他美国小人物帮我们弄清楚这是开往基茨比厄尔的公交车,而不是远离基茨比厄尔的公交车。(如果您正在阅读这篇文章:谢谢大家!)我们设法赶上的公交车把我们带到了基茨比厄尔镇的中心。另一辆开往我们酒店的巴士在此之前约半小时停止服务,我们最终在黑暗中,穿着湿透的防寒装备,扛着滑雪板,拖着酸痛、冰冷、起水泡的双脚艰难地走回家。
整个经历中最好/最坏/最有趣/最悲伤的部分:在分手前,“救援者 #2”(滑雪板上的年长男子)指着“救援者 #1”(雪地车上的年轻人)说:“别忘了给他一笔好小费。”真的!那人说了!太有胆量了。
所以……
亲爱的 KitzSki 管理层和营销人员,考虑到与你们员工的互动,我明白了:
1. 山地安全是你们最不重视的事情;而且……
2. 你们显然鄙视我们美国人。但是,如果你们这么讨厌美国人,为什么还要在美国做广告呢?说实话。拿出几条小广告说“美国人,我们讨厌你们。去踩沙子吧!”并节省更多的广告费用。这也将为我们这些被鄙视的美国人节省不计其数的费用和挫折感。
附注:两位“救援人员”拒绝透露姓名、提供管理层的联系信息或任何有关如何提出投诉或要求退款的信息。
如果这确实被发布,祝所有滑雪者好运。祝你们有新鲜的粉状雪、蔚蓝的天空、快速的雪和阳光。玩得开心。注意保暖。注意安全。
:-)