Ski resorts banning drones usage

[borislip]

Seems like most (all?) ski resorts in US are banning drones. Googling "<resort name> drones policy" always brings up a page which seems copy&pasted from the same source, slightly edited, and pretty much saying either "you aren't gonna fly here" or "you aren't gonna fly here unless you get a very special permission from us"., obviously, not in those exact words.

Sure, doing stupid stuff, for example, flying low against skiers traffic on a piste to get a nice video shot or something similar can spell disaster, but a beginner skier which ends up on a black route can easily end up being 5 times faster, 100 times heavier, way more dangerous and in way less control.

PS: Learning about more and more restrictions becomes more and more frustrating :-(

 

[Birdman5280]

I prefer backcountry boarding anyway.

I agree, it's very frustrating and discouraging.

 

[armoredsaint]

always takes one idiot that ruins it for all of us.

 

[JDR]

I was flying off the coast of Wailea in Maui a couple of weeks ago and a guy about 45-50 years old with a couple of teenage kids came up and started talking to me about how most people are uncomfortable with drones and I shouldn't be flying them around the area. I was invading peoples privacy. I told him to "get out" then. He mumbled something and walked off.There is a bastion of people who probably many are in enforcement positions that will get drones banned in many places. I think it's just a matter of time. Have fun while you can.

 

[borislip]

Actually, the general bystanders reaction i've been getting now is mostly positive, especially if i invite those looking at it to actually see how it is controlled and what you see on the camera. I have yet to see someone throwing tantrums at me for flying, calling 911, or something like that. Kids are amazed about it more than anyone else, especially if i bring it down, looking at us, and show how we look on a camera, then flying up and away while kid is watching the screen, or if i explain a kid how to control the yaw and camera angle and let one do it. And despite the fact a 41 years old big nasty guy (me) showing some random kids how a drone is operated looks a bit creepy, parents attitude is always positive, too.

I have yet to encounter the negativity everyone is talking about, except for one cop, that told me "you can't fly here" in a park, making me land it.

The only really negative side effects of flying it for now are that i technically break the law more often than not (not anything major, but notifying all the heliports around? nope! VLOS? mostly, but not always), and the the fact it draws people's attention (i am an introvert, and the less attention i get, the better, although i do interact with bystanders that seem to be amazed by the drone, especially kids).

 

[Johnmcl7]

borislip - same here so far, I use the drone well away from builtup areas but occasionally there's been people walking by and they've been simply curious about the drone's capabilities.

That said, there's always going to be jobsworths who complain about really anything such as walking a dog in certain areas, using a road bike on the road, using a mountain bike off road, taking out a DSLR in certain public places etc. (in all cases, I was doing nothing wrong) so I feel there's not much we can do aside from use the drone responsibly and take what comes.