moving toward chairlift loading

[James]

And this is still one of the reasons I'm not psyched on skiing in Europe. It would drive me nuts.

It's just another part of the sport...
There's many other pros. Not sure where the worst line people are but the 4 Vallées in Switz is not that bad at all. I can't recall having an issue. It's really not a reason to avoid.
My last major encounter was some time ago loading the standup gondola at Les Deux Alpes in summer. It was a total scrum getting on at 7:30 am but we'd just have two people set a pick and the rest go around. The weird thing is after you get on it's like the battle never happened. No one is pissed off.

The gathering at Squaw several years ago was worse since everyone was powder crazed and the upper lifts were on wind hold. Couple that with a quad having only 3 ticket scanning lanes because, "that's Squaw" I was told. But people were like euros on crack.

 

[Wilhelmson]

This past Sunday afternoon at Loon there were about 10 people in line for the gondola. A guy and his young son took the singles line to get to the front. My wife and I were next to load so I made sure they didn't cut us. They hopped into our cabin and ended up being from Europe and live in Mass; nice people but they sure wanted to get to the front of the line.

 

[Ulmerhutte]

And this is still one of the reasons I'm not psyched on skiing in Europe. It would drive me nuts.

I can only speak for St Anton, Austria... it has become a lot less aggressive over the past few years. Back in the early 2000’s, it was not unusual to be literally pushed out of the way by people cutting queues. The most egregious example was a muppet who actually skied across my skis to get ahead, (He got a pole stuck up his butt for troubles, right through the fabric.)

So, yes, the behaviour is a lot better now, but you cannot be a retiring petal. If you don’t keep shuffling forward, somebody will fill the gap you leave.

PS: I too dislike people skiing near me, or on chairs, with boom boxes blasting some sort of crap music. Buy and use headphones, if you must!

 

[skibob]

This past Sunday afternoon at Loon there were about 10 people in line for the gondola. A guy and his young son took the singles line to get to the front. My wife and I were next to load so I made sure they didn't cut us. They hopped into our cabin and ended up being from Europe and live in Mass; nice people but they sure wanted to get to the front of the line.

Not a ski lift, but . . . Eiffel Tower. The second "floor" line to get to the elevator to the top. What do you get when you blend a Type A American, his Mexican wife, two line cutting Italians, and a bunch Brits in this line? Hilarity! It was a blast lecturing the Italians in Spanish. They pretended not to understand, but I called BS and they eventually admitted they understood most of what I was saying. While my wife cringed, my children stared wide-eyed, and the Brits cheered me on! The Italians eventually retreated to the end of the line. But the best part was when a group with a person in a wheelchair went straight to the front, one of the Italians came up and asked me if I was going to challenge them in Italian. He was actually being funny and we had a good laugh about it.

 

[skibob]

I can only speak for St Anton, Austria... it has become a lot less aggressive over the past few years. Back in the early 2000’s, it was not unusual to be literally pushed out of the way by people cutting queues. The most egregious example was a muppet who actually skied across my skis to get ahead, (He got a pole stuck up his butt for troubles, right through the fabric.)

So, yes, the behaviour is a lot better now, but you cannot be a retiring petal. If you don’t keep shuffling forward, somebody will fill the gap you leave.

PS: I too dislike people skiing near me, or on chairs, with boom boxes blasting some sort of crap music. Buy and use headphones, if you must!

Honestly, I don't even want somebody blasting music I like!

 

[kimmyt]

Honestly, I don't even want somebody blasting music I like!

Absolutely. ANY music blasted in public is annoying as heck. I even get annoyed at the music they play by the lift loading (but grudgingly accept it since the lifties have to be stuck there so at least they can listen to some music). The pure arrogance that people think others want to hear their tunes, it drives me nuts. I once ran the top 3 miles of the Pikes Peak Ascent behind a guy blasting Willie Nelson. I LOVE WILLIE NELSON and I still wanted to murder this guy. I couldn't pass because it was the singletrack at about 12K feet, and I just didn't have it in me.

I make exceptions for, like, the Beach at A-Basin, because its clearly meant to be a party scene.

 

[Monique]

I even get annoyed at the music they play by the lift loading

I wonder why they do that. I keep my headphones low so that I can hear what's going around me - so the blasting music at the Quick overpowers my much better tunes =/

And the other day they were playing super emo music out of Vista House. Like The Cure and such. I'm a fan of mopey music as much as the next person, but for skiing?? And at such a commercial resort?

 

[Jacob]

And this is still one of the reasons I'm not psyched on skiing in Europe. It would drive me nuts.

It's really not a problem unless you're skiing in a popular resort at a very busy time, like Christmas or the February winter break. At any other time, the crowds are pretty small, and you can shuffle along within them quite easily.

That's probably due to the size and layout of the ski areas. The big European ski areas don't have all their runs funneling people back to one small base area, and they've got restaurants and restrooms at different elevations. So, people really spread out on the mountain, which makes it feel less crowded.

On a side note, I grew up doing ski trips in CO and NM (I'm originally from OK), but I've spent the last 10 years skiing mostly in the Alps (now living in the UK). I recently realized that, even if it took the same amount of time and money to get to UT, CO, or NM as it does for me to get to France, Switzerland, and Austria, I personally would choose skiing the Alps over a trip to any area of NA.The only time I would ski in the US is if I've got family members who want to ski together and can't be talked into coming to Europe. So, I highly recommend doing a trip to the Alps at least once.

 

[Monique]

On a side note, I grew up doing ski trips in CO and NM (I'm originally from OK), but I've spent the last 10 years skiing mostly in the Alps (now living in the UK). I recently realized that, even if it took the same amount of time and money to get to UT, CO, or NM as it does for me to get to France, Switzerland, and Austria, I personally would choose skiing the Alps over a trip to any area of NA.The only time I would ski in the US is if I've got family members who want to ski together and can't be talked into coming to Europe. So, I highly recommend doing a trip to the Alps at least once.

If it were a hop skip and jump, I'd certainly want to check it out. I can't even motivate to make it beyond a 2 hour drive most winters ;-) So .. perhaps my opinions on visiting the Alps are worth the paper on which they're written.

 

[James]

Fwiw, I've skied Verbier/4Vallees the last 3 seasons during the alleged horrible French school vacation. Lines are no big deal at all. The only time you really want to avoid is when ski school starts in town. Of course, half the time I'm helping take kids so I'm in that. That's crowded but prob nothing like photos I've seen of Vail.
The one winding trail back down to that gondola at end of day can be rough. Think Taos- whatever that trail back to the base is. The difference is you can veer off the trail to a restauraunt if you want. Even that trail is easily avoided or dealt with by competent skiers.

Tram loading skills will save you time. If you don't need a view from the front. The guides are always last in and first out. That can get you ahead of 150 people if it's the big one and full.

 

[HDSkiing]

Interesting thread to read through.

Tend to agree with the OP’s points and many others, particularly the backpack boom boxes with some blasting often profane lyrics just for the shock value, fortunately a rare thing around here. On the other hand most Liftie music is of the top hit varieties, and not blaring, like what you might hear at the gym or the mall.

People not riding the lift efficiently? Meh, not something I get worked up about, at least toward the offending individuals, that’s really the resorts fault. Working at a ski area we have a saying about getting worked up about pretty much anything:

“We leave that down the mountain.”

While it would be better if everybody was perfectly organized, Is it that big a deal if it doesn’t occur? After all we’re in the mountains, in the fresh air and the beauty of nature, does it really matter if you arrive at the top a few chairs behind where you think you should be?

I realize that many people can only ski at the peak times, weekends and holidays when ski areas are at or above max capacity and charging top dollar. I get the frustration, with those crowds come all of the bottlenecks, not the least of which Is the traffic just going to and from the mountain. Like lift lines it’s something we (as individuals) can’t do much about.

Better for you’re own well being to take a few deep breaths of fresh mountain air than get angry, the first will make you feel better. The second might, but like the first it won’t make any difference anyway

 

[Monique]

Interesting thread to read through.

Tend to agree with the OP’s points and many others, particularly the backpack boom boxes with some blasting often profane lyrics just for the shock value, fortunately a rare thing around here. On the other hand most Liftie music is of the top hit varieties, and not blaring, like what you might hear at the gym or the mall.

People not riding the lift efficiently? Meh, not something I get worked up about, at least toward the offending individuals, that’s really the resorts fault. Working at a ski area we have a saying about getting worked up about pretty much anything:

“We leave that down the mountain.”

While it would be better if everybody was perfectly organized, Is it that big a deal if it doesn’t occur? After all we’re in the mountains, in the fresh air and the beauty of nature, does it really matter if you arrive at the top a few chairs behind where you think you should be?

I realize that many people can only ski at the peak times, weekends and holidays when ski areas are at or above max capacity and charging top dollar. I get the frustration, with those crowds come all of the bottlenecks, not the least of which Is the traffic just going to and from the mountain. Like lift lines it’s something we (as individuals) can’t do much about.

Better for you’re own well being to take a few deep breaths of fresh mountain air than get angry, the first will make you feel better. The second might, but like the first it won’t make any difference anyway

Excellent points. I do get annoyed at the bottom of the lift, but I don't think about it when I'm up there. In general, of course, there's no point bitching about things you can't change.

And for resorts with multiple lifts, it's primarily a problem for the chairs that serve green/blue runs. It's pretty rare for people to be completely clueless or inattentive on chairs serving only advanced terrain. At least, that's my experience.

 

[Doby Man]

I highly suspect that all the people that demonstrate behavior that results in unnecessary empty spots on chairs during busy periods are the same people that dribble all over the toilet seat back in the lodge. At least I know that, when I look at either outcome, I have exactly the same internal reaction so, they must be the same people. Simply bereft of the details that affect others around them. I further suspect that these are also the same people who are ultra slow and inattentive at traffic lights and intersections, unnecessarily impeding numerous other drivers wherever they go. Now, my question is, do these people also dribble on their car seats, or do they just wear diapers?

 

[Monique]

I highly suspect that all the people that demonstrate behavior that results in unnecessary empty spots on chairs during busy periods are the same people that dribble all over the toilet seat back in the lodge. At least I know that, when I look at either outcome, I have exactly the same internal reaction so, they must be the same people. Simply bereft of the details that affect others around them. I further suspect that these are also the same people who are ultra slow and inattentive at traffic lights and intersections, unnecessarily impeding numerous other drivers wherever they go. Now, my question is, do these people also dribble on their car seats, or do they just wear diapers?

They also go to grocery stores during busy times and pay with checks, but they write very, very slowly and have not yet figured out that they could have filled out most of the check while in line ...

 

[Kneale Brownson]

My lousy Verizon hotspot won't download the video. It's Friday and the town is full of folks using their phones and pads, overloading the service.

 

[Monique]

My lousy Verizon hotspot won't download the video. It's Friday and the town is full of folks using their phones and pads, overloading the service.

You know the Denis Leary "Asshole" song, right?

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Nope remember, I’m an old guy.

 

[Monique]

Nope remember, I’m an old guy.

Well, the name pretty much gives you the idea

Looks like it came out in the mid 90s ... which, alarmingly, is more than two decades ago!

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Well, the name pretty much gives you the idea

Looks like it came out in the mid 90s ... which, alarmingly, is more than two decades ago!

Two decades ago I was "getting on" in years

 

[Monique]

Two decades ago I was "getting on" in years

As long as you don't say "X years young"!