Chairlift Etiquette

[SBrown]

For those who are resolutely in the bars are for pussies camp ever had a pulse wave from a very hard stop coming down the cable toward you or a seriously nasty rollback? I fortunately haven't but I know people who've been very glad they had a bar to grab when they hit turbulence.

Does that camp even exist? People always say it exists, but I've never heard anyone say it. There are many reasons people don't use the bar ... I'm fine with using it, especially on windy days, but normally I don't simply because I probably spend more than half my time on chairs that don't even have bars, and I just don't think about it. And maybe a little lazy.

 

[Sibhusky]

I've had people make comments, but not often. Usually the brobrah type. But since I'm an old lady they don't impress me. I just ignore them.

 

[Michael Ando]

A couple of days ago my wife asked the people riding with us if she could lower the bar. The response was “can’t you sit still for 5 minutes “ Just before we unloaded we raised the bar and the same person commented “ don’t fall over as you get off “
I was extremely tempted to accidentally push this person over as we got off but resisted

 

[PhillyGuy]

I'm actually a bit afraid of heights, so I always lower the bar. But I always asked "Are you guys ready?" and slowly lower the bar while looking on both sides to make sure I don't hit anyone.

I do find it annoying when someone just lowers it without asking. It's just common courtesy

 

[Sibhusky]

Plus, as I've said numerous times to people thanking me for ample notification of bar lowering, why would you want to sit on the chair for a while lift ride with someone whose head you just smacked? It's self defense to give ample warning, and to lower it slowly.

I was on the chair again today with three guys, told them the bar was coming down and one of them starts pulling it down on his buddy (like i need help to pull it DOWN, where are you when i want it up?) and I'm there, "His head is still in the way, watch out!" and pushing upwards trying to slow down the guy's yank.

 

[BGreen]

Loveland has no comfort bars on any lifts at the main ski area. I think the Valley/learning area may.

Negative.

 

[jo3st3]

I'm surprised to hear the use of the bar is more common on the east coast. I've never noticed anyone not use the bar here at any resort.

It's nice to rest your feet on the pegs, create some control of skiers spraying their skis everywhere, and on a windy day it provides a level of safety.

As for getting whacked in the head, whether someone calls it out or not, I make the assumption it's coming down and I'm not leaning forward so there's no reason to get hit in the head.


Pretty sure these guys are glad to have the bar down...

 

[Arcane]

Pretty sure these guys are glad to have the bar down...

Wow, that’s insane! Would not want to be on that!

I used to be in the “definitely wants the bar down” category when I first started skiing, but now definitely prefer the bar up...but I certainly have no issues if someone wants it down. Just give everyone a heads up before you do it.

Back in January in Vail, after about a minute on the lift (well past the point where anyone that wants it down will typically put it down), someone decided they wanted it down and slammed it down hard and fast. I had been leaning forward fixing my top buckle and it hit me hard enough to drive my head into my knees. I was not a happy camper. Glad I was wearing a helmet.

 

[PhillyGuy]

Was in Vermont earlier this year. Saw signs everywhere that it is apparently the law that you have to lower the bar.

 

[martyg]

I'm a big fan of the bar. I don't doubt anyone's ability to sit in a stable position, but every year there are chairlift failures.

Later season in WV a lift stopped suddenly and 29 guests got bucked off. Also last year at our hill a 9 year old girl fell off and broke her back.

A lift with comfort pegs also alleviates traction on your knee's connective tissue.

I'm a big fan of the bar.

 

[crgildart]

I'm a big fan of the bar. I don't doubt anyone's ability to sit in a stable position, but every year there are chairlift failures.

Later season in WV a lift stopped suddenly and 29 guests got bucked off. Also last year at our hill a 9 year old girl fell off and broke her back.

A lift with comfort pegs also alleviates traction on your knee's connective tissue.

I'm a big fan of the bar.

That was Thunderstuck lift two seasons ago at Timberline WV. We go there about every other year. I know folks who were on it that day. They weren't thrown off the chairs though.. The roller bar broke completely off the top of the tower and all the chairs came crashing down to the ground with people still sitting on them. Bars would have made no difference for them.. Still, the sudden stop.. and roll backs I've heard about keep me riding with the bar down whenever I have one available..

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/2016/02/25/25-fall-from-ski-lift-in-west-virginia-timberline/

 

[TahoeCharlie]

Issue I ran into today. A 6 pack chair, with 5 on it, 4 skiers and a snowboarder. The snowboarder was in the middle with me just to his right. I go stuck with his tail sitting on the tails of my skis. I tried to politely work my tails over his tail so they wouldn't sit on them then he just put the tail back on top. I finally just had to hold my skis out straight so he wasn't resting on them, he was basically taking up three spots in space for his board. I didn't even get a "Sorry, Dude".

I have this happen several times each year - very annoying. What I do is pull my skis forcefully out from under his and swing them over his board (not touching it) making sure he knows what I am doing. If he tries to put it back on my skis, I call him out loudly saying something like: "Hey, please keep your board off my skis". I won't put up with this kind of inconsiderate behavior. Nobody's punched me out so far, because they know that they are wrong and just trying to get away with it - they just giving me real dirty looks.

 

[Wolfski]

I have this happen several times each year - very annoying. What I do is pull my skis forcefully out from under his and swing them over his board (not touching it) making sure he knows what I am doing. If he tries to put it back on my skis, I call him out loudly saying something like: "Hey, please keep your board off my skis". I won't put up with this kind of inconsiderate behavior. Nobody's punched me out so far, because they know that they are wrong and just trying to get away with it - they just giving me real dirty looks.

You're way more polite than I've been

 

[crgildart]

I have this happen several times each year - very annoying. What I do is pull my skis forcefully out from under his and swing them over his board (not touching it) making sure he knows what I am doing. If he tries to put it back on my skis, I call him out loudly saying something like: "Hey, please keep your board off my skis". I won't put up with this kind of inconsiderate behavior. Nobody's punched me out so far, because they know that they are wrong and just trying to get away with it - they just giving me real dirty looks.

You're way more polite than I've been

Well, the problem is that it's also quite uncomfortable for the boarder to raise the board and keep it raised or bend their knees and keep them bent to keep the board under the skis. Honestly, I prefer the board on top of my tails than under them with the tip of the board possibly hitting the bottoms of my skis given the two alternatives. Maybe the better plan would be for there to be separate (but equal) lines in the corral for groups of boarders and groups of skiers. OK to mix them up when they are all hanging out together, but at the end of the day, chairs aren't designed to accommodate a group of people with gear pointed in different directions under them.

 

[skidrew]

It all seems pretty casual, actually. In my experience, when someone wants the bar down, they ask if it's okay and it seems understood by all that the question is a polite formality.

Yeah - I generally post it either as a statement ("bar coming down") or a rhetorical question ("mind if I get the bar?")

Understand the argument about no added safety - on the other hand, I've been driving 30 years and never been in an accident where a seatbelt would have mattered. Yet I buckle up all the time.

To me the biggest challenge is snowboarders (I'm a skier) for whom the bar, or at least the footrests, aren't particularly well designed. Of course, chairlifts pose other problems for boarders too, like that the boards don't usually rest comfortably perpendicular to the chair.

 

[Slim]

If you have a list I would love to see the ones that do not have bars on their chairs. It would help eliminate resorts when making travel plans.

Copper, Winter park, Lutsen, MN, Mt Bohemia, MI, that I am sure of. Now, this doesn’t mean they dont have bars on any chairs, just that some of the older chairs don’t have them.

The worst is Mt Duals in WI, near Duluth, MN: no bar, but worse, the seats are hard plastic and angle slightly down.

 

[Slim]

What's even worse than the top of the bar hitting your head is the drop handles hitting your crotch if you happen to be sitting in the wrong spot when there are those vertical handles/dividers.

Yeah, that is bad, but I think even worse is ‘scissoring’your arm between the armrest and the side of the bar, if you are in an outside seat.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Ya I got scissored bad, must have pinched a nerve because I couldn't feel my arm for the whole day.

 

[Wilhelmson]

We tell our kids to lower the bar in case they or a friend start goofing around. Then if we don't put the bar down they give us a hard time. Up until ? years ago Alta didn't even have a bar.

 

[Nathanvg]

Copper, Winter park, Lutsen, MN, Mt Bohemia, MI, that I am sure of. Now, this doesn’t mean they dont have bars on any chairs, just that some of the older chairs don’t have them.

The worst is Mt Duals in WI, near Duluth, MN: no bar, but worse, the seats are hard plastic and angle slightly down.

Probably 90% of ski areas have at least one lift without a bar. (Excluding states that require bars)