How safe is your ski lift?

[ski diva]

There's an interesting article in Outside Magazine called Is Your Local Chairlift a Death Trap?

After all, the average age of our nation's lifts and gondolas is 27 years old. But before you get too freaked out, here's an excerpt:

For decades, ski resorts have resisted calls for greater governmental oversight, arguing that their voluntary standards and self-inspections are rigorous enough. According to statistics compiled by the National Ski Areas Association, a passenger is five times more likely to die riding in an elevator than on a ski lift and eight times more likely to die in a car. “We haven’t had a fatality from a lift malfunction in 23 years,” says David Byrd, the association’s director of risk management. “I think that’s a pretty remarkable safety record."

Your thoughts?

 

[snow addict]

We have a gondola that was built in 1970 and is long overdue for replacement, however there is this multi-millionairess from Geneva that blocks the new lift project since she owns a chalet there and wants the area to stay quiet. Other owners finally agreed, including those whose land will be directly affected by the project, and development plan got approved by World Wildlife Fund; but this woman keeps fighting and now it's the Federal Court that will need to decide. We all hope she'll lose. Would be fun to see the witch having to mingle with us, peasants, that she is trying to avoid so much. The old gondola is cranky and takes forever to go up 1000 meters, yet it's necessary for people who stay in Tzoumaz but ski on the other side, as it provides the only link for them to get back at the end of the day. The area is awesome on a powder day when avy risk is relatively high but once lift becomes not serviceable anymore we won't be able to access it either :(

 

[contesstant]

Ugh. This something I've always wondered about. Not sure what the solution is. But it does give me pause about riding older lifts in particular.

 

[Jilly]

Not sure about the regulations in the states or elsewhere, but in Canada each place with lifts, no matter the type, must have a TSSA licensed person of staff. Not just available, right there. And each lift must be inspected once a year by TSSA. Lifts, even rope tows, fall under the hoistway part of the elevator industry.

That said....things can still happen. So it depends on the owners to keep things up to snuff.

 

[nopoleskier]

NYS the Mts do get inspected, think like Jilly says. My little home Mt I know gets checked we have 3 older doubles and there is NO bouncing allowed or the cable could 'jump' the wheels and we'd all be in deep trouble.. we do have to teach the youngsters to not jump and bounce though.

I have been on some pretty ancient lifts and didn't pay much attention (in hind sight) It is very Sad reading about lift casualties. I do know I'll be jumping OFF any lift that starts to go backwards.. here's just one of many backward lift tests.. YIKES

We should all probably pay more attention like a pre-flight check on an airplane.

 

[Ringrat]

I try not to think about it and accept it as a risk of using their equipment. It's crossed my mind on the odd old lift though. The ones at Whitewater come to mind!

Not sure about the regulations in the states or elsewhere, but in Canada each place with lifts, no matter the type, must have a TSSA licensed person of staff. Not just available, right there. And each lift must be inspected once a year by TSSA. Lifts, even rope tows, fall under the hoistway part of the elevator industry.

TSSA is only in Ontario, I think. The laws are provincial. In BC lifts are overseen by the BC Safety Authority.
BC's law is here: https://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/101_2004
BC's law adopts the CSA standard Z98-14, which I haven't read as it costs money to read! All new lifts have to meet the full standard, and older lifts have to meet the operating, testing, and maintenance portion of the current standard, as well as the whatever the standard was at the time of installation. The standard was first developed in 1968 so it goes back a while.

I know that when my local hill's t-bar was hit by an avalanche a few years ago it had to undergo inspection by a third party of some sort before running again. They did some electrical upgrades the following year and those also had to be inspected (and actually didn't pass on the first go-around), so although I don't know the exact details of who was inspecting what, there was something happening.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I think about the safety of the lifts all the time. One of the reasons I've been very leery of skiing at Magic Mountain in Vermont because their lifts are old old old. Now that Magic has been sold and money's being put into the mountain I know one of the big repairs will be to the chairs. I always think about things like ok we aren't too high up so if things go awry I'll be jumping down.

 

[Jilly]

As for old chairs vs new ones.....The Lowell Thomas Chair (3 seater, fixed) always runs....it doesn't seem to freeze up in really cold weather like some of the new detachable quads. But it's slow and can be cold on those days the wind is coming from the west or north.

 

[2ski2moro]

My favorite part of Gore is served by a Riblet double chair that was first put into service in 1966. It's slow but the skiing is so worth it. It's so quiet going up through the forest.

But thank you for making me think about how dangerous it might be.

 

[Little Lightning]

Colorado lift testing from 9 news Denver.

https://www.9news.com/weather/ski-c...s-to-test-lifts-ahead-of-ski-season/337627407

 

[marzNC]

Sounds like Colorado has a robust process for making sure that ski lifts are in good shape.

https://www.9news.com/mb/weather/sk...s-to-test-lifts-ahead-of-ski-season/337627407

 

[tinymoose]

My favorite part of Gore is served by a Riblet double chair that was first put into service in 1966. It's slow but the skiing is so worth it. It's so quiet going up through the forest.

But thank you for making me think about how dangerous it might be.

You're talking about the Dark Side, right? LOVE that area! So beautiful and serene.

 

[ski diva]

If anyone's interested, Ski Area Management posted a response to Outside's article. You can find it here.

 

[Christy]

Geez, this is something I never really thought about, with all the liability concerns and how so much is regulated at the state level. That industry rebuttal does sound reasonable. Especially the part about about insurance inspections--I gotta think it's in everyone's best interest to make sure lifts are safe. (My neighbor couldn't even get homeowners insurance until she fixed her cracked driveway--I wonder what ski area inspections are like!).

 

[Skisailor]

A related issue is lift breakdowns. I try not to think about the catastrophic failures beyond my control that could result in a major lift accident.

But I DO take very seriously the possibility of a lift breakdown that might result in being stuck on the chair for a long time in very cold or windy weather. It can take quite awhile for patrol to do a complete evacuation. And some lifts are much harder than others to evacuate. So I always think about that when deciding on a cold day - do I need that extra layer?

Also - when teaching, I always keep a space blanket in my ski school uniform jacket for use in the event of a lift failure. Guests are more likely to not have appropriate clothing for the weather.

 

[ski diva]

Also - when teaching, I always keep a space blanket in my ski school uniform jacket for use in the event of a lift failure. Guests are more likely to not have appropriate clothing for the weather.

What a great idea! And how thoughtful!

 

[Jenny]

The little place we go on Canada has had lift issues the past six(?) years but they say their quad is going to be open this year. It'll probably be the safest time we've ever ridden it. It wasn't all that long ago that they had someone stationed up top of one of the lifts banging the heck out of it with a hammer while we were riding up, which made us wonder just what was going on. Good thing I hadn't seen the lift test/backwards running lift videos then.

Heck, one of the lifts you load while in a little house, so I can just imagine what getting thrown off that one would feel like.

 

[marzNC]

A few years ago, there was a major power failure at Massanutten that included the entire ski area. It was fascinating to watch the emergency generators be put into action. Everyone was off the lifts in pretty short order. Granted, it's a small place in northern VA so rarely gets really cold. Still, I'm glad to have seen the process.

 

[Christy]

I was looking for info about boating in Cordova AK today and I stumbled upon this. Good lord! They are using Sun Valley's original chairlift (1936. You can see this chairlift in Sun Valley Serenade). This one might give me pause.

Mt. Ekak Ski Area
Mt. Eyak Ski Area is located in Cordova, Alaska and operates 1 of 2 remaining single chairlifts in North America. This historic lift was first installed in 1936 at Sun Valley, Idaho on Mt. Baldy’s Christmas Ridge. In 1974 this lift was moved to Cordova, Alaska and installed above town on the southern slopes of Mt. Eyak. With a vertical rise of 960 feet the lift serves 3 main runs with countless shots through trees and glades encompassing an area of over 600+ acres. The lift also accesses backcountry on the upper slopes of Mt. Eyak. A rope tow serves a beginner slope with a length of 300’ and a vertical rise of 50’. Mt. Eyak has a full service rental shop and food service is available. Mt. Eyak operates from November to April on weekends, holidays & and powder days (snow permitting).

Of course I had to look up who has the other single chair; probably a lot of you know it's Mad River Glen, and it dates from 1948.

 

[contesstant]

If anyone's interested, Ski Area Management posted a response to Outside's article. You can find it here.

The replies to this were as interesting and informative as the actual response. Good to know!