March 01, 2026

Skiing Unfriendly Slopes


Skiing Unfriendly Slopes
A beautiful alpine vista. The Russian Life files.

Pro-democracy news outlet Svoboda.org reported that Russian mountain resorts have recently become sites of absurd incidents, where helping others could land you in hot water with the ski patrol.

According to the article, several incidents have been reported where a friend teaching a buddy to ski or a family member helping a youngster snowboard resulted in a sanction from ski resort authorities, and, in some cases, the loss of lift tickets and passes.

Experts cited in the article point the finger at resort owners, who see patron-led lessons as a loss of revenue. After all, those skiers and riders could be hiring certified, resort-employed, professional instructors (at the cost of between R3,000 and R5,000 – $38 to $64 – an hour) to teach their kids, rather than doing it on their own. Resort owners cite the need for safety on the slopes, and are promoting legislation that would protect them from "consumer extremism and illegal instructors."

While that may seem logical, absurd situations arise. A couple of weeks ago, three security guards at a resort in Sochi surrounded a father teaching his five-year-old how to ski, threatening to revoke his ski pass if he didn't comply. The guards cited a rule that patrons are not allowed to instruct anyone.

Earlier this season, another skier at a resort in Arkhyz found, after helping his friend down a slope and providing some tips on her stance, that his lift ticket stopped working when he got to the bottom of the run.

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