Snow Skills

The second item of the Your Responsibility Code for skiing and riding is “People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them“.

The second item of the Code isn’t just about avoiding people in front of you, it’s also about respecting their right to choose where they’re going and not placing yourself in their way. It takes anticipation skill to ski and ride such that you give others the right of way. Consider that everyone is generally going in the same direction on a trail. You know someone in front of you is going downhill; you can give yourself and them enough room if you plan your route to avoid the snow you anticipate they’re going to use. If everyone avoided where people ahead of you are going, there would be more room between skiers/riders and the slopes would be a safer place.
By developing this sort of anticipation skill, you’ll be able to find all the room you want on the slopes and keep others safe as well.
For the entire responsibility code, check out the National Ski Patrol.