The Brief Moment of Being Out of Control

We know The Code, and the overarching point of The Codeis not to ski out of control. Always be able to stop and steer your way around obstacles.

Out of Control Distance Skied

If you are out of control for ½ of a second the table below shows how far you will travel in a straight line:

Speed (miles per hour)	Distance Traveled in ½ Second
10	7.3 feet
20	14.7 feet
30	22.0 feet
40	29.3 feet
50	36.7 feet
60	44.0 feet
70	51.3 feet
80	58.7 feet

What does that mean? First, know this, when you are not actively steering yourself on skis (or a snowboard) you are traveling straight. Being out of control means quite simply going straight and I am guessing for competent skiers an edge catch is about an ½ second event from catch to re-establishing control. A typical intermediate to expert skier on an intermediate trail is most likely moving 30-40 mph. That means in the at ½ second they will move 22 to 30 feet in a straight line.

22-30 feet really does not seem like a long way, but at the edge of a trail while traversing it could be very bad.

Not to go grim and dour, but this is the general sort of thing I read in many accident reports, a good skier on an intermediate run, skis into the woods or into an object.