Mishap: Hanging from the chairlift

[SkiGAP]

Ok ladies, I couldn't find an existing thread to post to, so I am starting a new one. Last weekend in Spain I was about to get on the lift (next in line, the barrier had not yet swung open, when the attendant stopped the lift as someone on the chair that had just departed somehow felt out of the chair (from the end) and was hanging upside down off of the edge of the chair, being held up by one boot/foot that was still wedged in somehow. The liftie ran to push/hold the poor unfortunate soul somewhat upright and with the help of the others in that chair was able to get her down - and her other ski off, etc. This particular chair takes off vertically rather fast so there was no head-ground contact...

It was a rather astounding sight - I am glad the attendant was paying attention before the chair got too far away...

 

[Pequenita]

Wow, yes, good thing the liftie was on it!

Last week, a woman on the lift in front of me did not get off the lift until it started to swing around back down -- she jumped off -- and the lift attendant didn't see any of it, other than the orange cones she knocked over when she fell.

 

[Xinga]

DH had a princess moment getting on a chairlift this last weekend. Before sitting down, he decided to try to brush the snow off the seat. It took him longer than he had anticipated, and he failed to get seated before running out of ramp. Fortunately it wasn't a very big drop off (2'-3'?), and he went off the drop and around without a hitch. But it was a little scary for me next to him, and embarrassing too. They had to stop the lift to let him get back to the loading area.
It was a powder day, and I think the fluff must have filled his brain. Eating a little humble pie was good for him.

 

[WaterGirl]

Must have been a bad lift weekend! Saw 3 separate mishaps on a 2 person chair Sunday - failure to load properly and either fell or bumped off and lift stopped. Then on the same lift teens "forgot" to unload - they had to stop and be helped down. (Really seems like a lot of issues in a short time, since we were only lapping that area for about an hour).
Two weeks before was the stupidest -- same chair, GF gets bumped, then BF jumps off the lift while its already 5 feet up........

 

[cheerrabbit]

Wow, yes, good thing the liftie was on it!

Last week, a woman on the lift in front of me did not get off the lift until it started to swing around back down -- she jumped off -- and the lift attendant didn't see any of it, other than the orange cones she knocked over when she fell.

I did something similar my second lesson a couple of seasons ago. The young snowboarders in front of me didn't move out of the way before fiddling with their boards. So I ended up jumping off as well, landing on my hip. I had that bruise for a week.

 

[Pequenita]

Oy. At least that wasn't your fault. I got the sense that this person was goofing off with her friends and something happened because she was the only one who didn't get off the lift, and then everyone was laughing when she jumped and fell.

 

[callmijane]

I tried to get on the lift on Monday, realized I'd been squashed to the side , and yelled hey scoot over, but no one moved over. I had to get aside and get the next chair. This was a six pack, and only 4 of us loading, so there was PLENTY of room. I was so irritated.

 

[Jilly]

Did I not hear that week that someone also hung themselves because of an infinity scarve they were wearing?

 

[Jenny]

Did I not hear that week that someone also hung themselves because of an infinity scarve they were wearing?

Apparently this almost happened at a small hill near us just this week. A 12 year old wearing a scarf that got caught on the rope tow and twisted around it. They had to use the paddles to revive him. This was I think the same day a 17 year old knocked himself so unconscious that he was still out when the ambulance arrived. He was placed into an induced coma for a couple of days. His might have been due to a seizure, though - they really don't quite know what happened.

 

[Kimmyt]

Oy. At least that wasn't your fault. I got the sense that this person was goofing off with her friends and something happened because she was the only one who didn't get off the lift, and then everyone was laughing when she jumped and fell.

Ha that was totally me (well I don't know if your story was of me but this exact thing happened to me yesterday!). I was skiing Eldora with a friend and chatting with two folks on the lift with us. The lift had a pretty steep drop off and we were discussing logistics because the folks to our right needed to cut left and we of course needed to cut right. So we said we'd go slow and they'd go fast and it would all work out because we are all capable skiers. Well, we get to the top and I'm spaced out and thinking 'go slow getting off the lift' and all of a sudden my feet are 3 feet above the ground and the lift is starting to turn and I just throw myself into the air and then land on the flat part after the unloading ramp- OUCH. There was even a ski patrol there laughing at me and commenting on how at least I made it off the chair.

The stories about getting hung on the lift scare the bejeesus out of me, thats one of the many reasons I refuse to wear a backpack inbounds.

 

[just jane]

Last weekend, I was in the singles line and joined a mom and 2 (college-age) kids on a 4-person lift. At the top of the line, when we were waiting to move out after the chair ahead of us swung around, she spaced out and just - didn't come with us. The three of us hopped on the chair and kept going, but I imagine it was a bit messy sorting out the line behind us - it was crowded and the lifties had everyone packed and ready to go and all of the sudden there were 5 people instead of 4 for the next chair. No one was hurt but her kids were ready to give her a really hard time about it when she made it to the top!

 

[SkiGAP]

Wow if we have that many anecdotes as skiers, I imagine the lifts have seen it all! There must be so many mishaps during each shift...

 

[snow cat]

I saw two days ago a guy had his backpack snag on the Tbar and the Tbar was dragging him up the snow bank until liftie stopped the lift and ran up to free him!

 

[COchick]

I stopped skiing with a backpack two years ago. Not only does it make me more comfy on the lift, but I think it helps my skiing posture. I haven't ventured into territory yet though where I'd need one for safety reasons... though maybe one day.

 

[BlackDiamondVolkl]

Scary.

My son fell off the chair the first time he got on it... we were barely off the ground so it was like a 2 foot fall. They stopped the chair and lifted him back on, it ended up being completely no big deal. At first though I freaked when he fell off (I didn't know how high or not we were yet... my depth perception isn't always the greatest). Felt so much better once the chair was stopped and I saw that he wasn't hurt.

 

[just jane]

The good lifties I've seen proactively get behind the chair, grab the littlest skiers and literally pick them up and hoist them onto the lift (with varying levels of finesse). I think it's considered part of the job at our resort, although it's a bit lift-dependent too.

 

[SkiGAP]

Regularly an instructor with a gang of child students - and I am talking 2-3 years old, will send one child per chair up with whatever adult is on the chair. But the lifties and the bottom and top put the kids in and take them out. I don't mind, but in the back of my head I think - who is really liable if the kids falls 20 feet to the ground? The parent would want to take it our on someone....

Hey I think we had this in a thread already a few years back.

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

When I was in my 20s, before my long 17 years of no skiing, I had a comical mishap on a t-bar in Germany. I was skiing in Garmisch on the Zugspitze (mostly green and blue terrain) and had only been on skis about 5 times before. Tops. Already completely intimidated, I inadvertently grabbed the seat of the t-bar instead of the handle. This locked the drag mechanism of the t-bar into place and began to pull me up the hill as I held on desperately with both hands, arms straight in front of me, trying in vain to look like I had done this before. As the terrain up the hill got steeper and steeper, it became clear that I did not have the arm strength to persist and had to give up the fight and let go. As I slid back down the slope other skiers on the lift had to either get out of the way or got tangled up with me as I slid. I was so embarrassed. I really want to vaporize. The other skiers of course had to make my humiliation complete by making nasty comments about what a Lufthirn and Scheisse Amerikanerin I was, thinking I didn't understand. When I responded in German about what rude people they were, they became helpful and apologetic, not to mention embarrassed not only for me, but at their own bad behavior, which took the sting out of my humiliation that the lift had to be stopped for 2 minutes so I could crawl out of the way and back into line. Awkward, to say the least--a big slice of Humble Pie for everyone. I am happy to see they replaced that blasted t-bar with a chair.

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

Another lift incident that DID NOT involve me was at a resort which shall remain nameless in NH. A very tiny child was dangling from the lift and fell to the snow. I had expected to hear something about what had happened and why, but mum is often the word when it comes to resort liability issues. The assumption of risk, afterall is not 100% on the skier. It did not look good, but I suppose that if the fall had resulted in injury or worse that it would have been in the news.

 

[patoswiss]

I hope this description does my friend's lift mishap justice…

Picture a lift that is fed by a conveyor belt, but you aren't pushed off the belt before the chair arrives, you just ride the belt until the chair lifts you off of it. Last run of the day, my friend has a complete brain freeze. He got on the belt, and stood there while the chair pushed him in the back of the legs. He was wondering who was pushing him back there (he completely forgot where he was!). He rode the conveyor to the end and fell 1.5 meters into about 1 meter of powder. Skis still on, the chair kept coming and bonked him in the back of the head and he fell on his face. He stood up and yelled, "I'm ok, I'm ok." at which point everyone in the line fell out laughing. The lift operator stopped the lift, had to walk down and dig out my friend and help him out of his skis. And help him up the hill. The operator sat him, treating him like a child, on a lift seat, patting all parts of him making sure he was sitting. Then started the lift again. We are in the chair in front yelling at him to make sure he remembers to get OFF the lift.