Mishap: Hanging from the chairlift

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

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.

LOL--funny! Poor guy, I am feeling his pain.

 

[SkiGAP]

I can picture how this can happen. I don't like those belts, I feel like they are bad for my bases! But there are lots of them around, and they are probably helpful in general.

 

[SkiGAP]

The other skiers of course had to make my humiliation complete by making nasty comments about what a Lufthirn and Scheisse Amerikanerin I was...

Curious, how did they know you were American?

 

[snow cat]

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.

Confession: I also didn't quite make it on to the T-bar just last week. Granted I was not paying attention completely because the girl I was supposed to ride the T-bar with wasn't next to me so I was looking around for her rather than approaching T-bar. So the T-bar got to me before I was ready and the liftie was no help. As I tried to position it correctly it started pulling so I ended up holding on to it with my arms wrapped up around the T and as the terrain got steeper my arms were really feeling it and I felt like letting it go but I kept telling myself I can hold on to it til I got to the top. Thankfully I made it. I didn't give up til I got to the top because I didn't want to make even bigger spectacle/embarrassment than just holding on to a T-bar like a skiing amateur .

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

Curious, how did they know you were American?[/QUOTE

Probably my expressions of dismay as I slid down the hill were in English.

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

Confession: I also didn't quite make it on to the T-bar just last week. Granted I was not paying attention completely because the girl I was supposed to ride the T-bar with wasn't next to me so I was looking around for her rather than approaching T-bar. So the T-bar got to me before I was ready and the liftie was no help. As I tried to position it correctly it started pulling so I ended up holding on to it with my arms wrapped up around the T and as the terrain got steeper my arms were really feeling it and I felt like letting it go but I kept telling myself I can hold on to it til I got to the top. Thankfully I made it. I didn't give up til I got to the top because I didn't want to make even bigger spectacle/embarrassment than just holding on to a T-bar like a skiing amateur .

Well, aren't you lucky, and bless your heart for not giving up till you got to the top--you're a hero in my eyes. Seriously, there should have been a Good Skiing Etiquette Award or something waiting for you at the top of the lift. Sadly, I didn't have the arm strength to hold on so was forced to let go...like the skiing amateur that I was. Thank you so much for your story!

 

[snow cat]

Well, aren't you lucky, and bless your heart for not giving up till you got to the top--you're a hero in my eyes. Seriously, there should have been a Good Skiing Etiquette Award or something waiting for you at the top of the lift. Sadly, I didn't have the arm strength to hold on so was forced to let go...like the skiing amateur that I was. Thank you so much for your story!

Well, it happens to best of us and it sure did make me feel like an amateur even if I didn't let go. I am probably an amateur still considering this is only my 3rd full season, but I swear I had successfully rode T-bar, rope tow, and other types before this! And I did barely make it (thankfully this T-bar was shorter/less steep than the other one nearby) and my arms and shoulders were noodles for next few runs.

Besides, we gotta have few funny skiing stories to grace others with, right??

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

Curious, how did they know you were American?

I lived in Germany for 6 years and, unlike most Americans there at the time, had no connection to the military or diplomatic core. I was there on my own steam. This incident was an isolated one and my German friends were very upset by the behavior of these few. And it only takes a few to ruin it for everyone.

 

[VickiK]

Reminds of my own blonde moment skiing with 3 girlfriends in Aspen. We were all busy laughing and enjoying the day. We loaded onto the chair and exclaimed how tight it was. Turns outs it was a triple.

 

[Inoffensive Nickname]

When I was first learning to ski (first season), before taking lessons and watching YouTube on how to properly get off a ski lift, I had an embarrassing day. Earlier in the day, I had gotten off the lift and slid forward, unable to stop and very slowly ran into an equipment hut, knocking down a bunch of rakes and making a racket and drawing all kinds of attention to myself. The liftie (is that offensive to call them lifties? Please correct me if it is) came and helped me get untangled and made sure I was ok, and was a little irritated but doing his best not to show it.

DH and I had been riding an old double lift with a center post and I had become accustomed to getting on the lift from the right side. For the last run of the day, DH and I rode a different lift which was laid out opposite to the one I had been riding all day, and I ended up on the left side instead of the right. The chair was a little high because it was late in the season and the base was partially melted, and I knew I had to hop up a little bit to get my butt on the chair. I had gotten accustomed to looking back over my left shoulder, with poles in right hand, and when I looked back, I realized I was reversed, and tried to switch hands, grab the center post, and hop up in the chair at the same time. My timing was off and my butt perched on the edge swinging the chair backward, then the momentum pitched me forward, face first into the snow. (DH managed to stay ON the chair and unsure whether to laugh or roll his eyes once he realized I was ok.) I knew the chair was going to swing back over my head, so I remained face down, turned my head yelling, "I'm alright!" The liftie who came over to help was the same one from the top of the hill earlier in the day. He said, "Geez Lady, is this your first day?" and since DH had gotten me skis earlier that season for Christmas, I could hear others in the lift line saying, "There's no way she's new. Did you see those skis? She must be drunk." I cried from embarrassment all the way to the top and half the way back down the hill.

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

When I was first learning to ski (first season), before taking lessons and watching YouTube on how to properly get off a ski lift, I had an embarrassing day. Earlier in the day, I had gotten off the lift and slid forward, unable to stop and very slowly ran into an equipment hut, knocking down a bunch of rakes and making a racket and drawing all kinds of attention to myself. The liftie (is that offensive to call them lifties? Please correct me if it is) came and helped me get untangled and made sure I was ok, and was a little irritated but doing his best not to show it.

DH and I had been riding an old double lift with a center post and I had become accustomed to getting on the lift from the right side. For the last run of the day, DH and I rode a different lift which was laid out opposite to the one I had been riding all day, and I ended up on the left side instead of the right. The chair was a little high because it was late in the season and the base was partially melted, and I knew I had to hop up a little bit to get my butt on the chair. I had gotten accustomed to looking back over my left shoulder, with poles in right hand, and when I looked back, I realized I was reversed, and tried to switch hands, grab the center post, and hop up in the chair at the same time. My timing was off and my butt perched on the edge swinging the chair backward, then the momentum pitched me forward, face first into the snow. (DH managed to stay ON the chair and unsure whether to laugh or roll his eyes once he realized I was ok.) I knew the chair was going to swing back over my head, so I remained face down, turned my head yelling, "I'm alright!" The liftie who came over to help was the same one from the top of the hill earlier in the day. He said, "Geez Lady, is this your first day?" and since DH had gotten me skis earlier that season for Christmas, I could hear others in the lift line saying, "There's no way she's new. Did you see those skis? She must be drunk." I cried from embarrassment all the way to the top and half the way back down the hill.

Re the "She must be drunk" comment: Whenever I do something particularly klutzy or embarrassing I exclaim loudly enough for all would-be smart a$$es to hear: "Damn, and I haven't even started drinking yet!" That pretty much shuts everyone up.

 

[elemmac]

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.

I had to laugh about this, especially calling it a "princess moment". I had a similar experience about 2 months ago, and my BF has not let me live it down. Don't think he ever will, and can't say I blame him. ::sigh::

 

[snow addict]

Interestingly, I never had any issues with T-bars even as a beginner when I first encountered them - it was just another type of ski lift to me, not a big deal, then I started hearing from people how horrible they are and as result while I am not exactly terrified but every time that I know there is a T-bar on my route that I need to take I have a mild anxiety attack

 

[Pequenita]

Interestingly, I never had any issues with T-bars even as a beginner when I first encountered them - it was just another type of ski lift to me, not a big deal, then I started hearing from people how horrible they are and as result while I am not exactly terrified but every time that I know there is a T-bar on my route that I need to take I have a mild anxiety attack

I've gotten progressively worse at poma lifts the last 30 years. In my defense, the pomas that I am on now are on waaaaay steeper terrain than the ones I rode in the early 80s. Right?

 

[alicie]

Interestingly, I never had any issues with T-bars even as a beginner when I first encountered them - it was just another type of ski lift to me, not a big deal, then I started hearing from people how horrible they are and as result while I am not exactly terrified but every time that I know there is a T-bar on my route that I need to take I have a mild anxiety attack

I can do buttons fine, t bars on the other hand. I can get on them and And stay on them but I used to get hooked onto them as I got off and then you get dragged along the ground until you can unhook yourself, not all the time but about half the time. So I just avoid them now. Buttons are super easy but that's probably because the ones here are quite vicious, so you get the knack of it quite quickly.

 

[snow addict]

Unfortunately whenever there are T-bars here there are pretty much unavoidable.

 

[snow addict]

I've gotten progressively worse at poma lifts the last 30 years. In my defense, the pomas that I am on now are on waaaaay steeper terrain than the ones I rode in the early 80s. Right?

I wouldn't say that I got worse as once I am on one it's not an issue (unless it's a very long one and weather is cold), but anticipation is killing me

 

[Pequenita]

I wouldn't say that I got worse as once I am on one it's not an issue (unless it's a very long one and weather is cold), but anticipation is killing me

Heh. There needs to be a "getting over anxiety of T-bars/Poma lifts" thread.

 

[SkadiSkiGrrl]

Interestingly, I never had any issues with T-bars even as a beginner when I first encountered them - it was just another type of ski lift to me, not a big deal, then I started hearing from people how horrible they are and as result while I am not exactly terrified but every time that I know there is a T-bar on my route that I need to take I have a mild anxiety attack

I don't think they are horrible. I just think my first instructor didn't exactly explain them as well as he could have--you know, the fact that they aren't one piece, and that if you grab the bottom part it locks up and starts to drag you whether you are ready or not, and that one can get in trouble by not knowing this. It would have helped.

 

[alicie]

I don't think they are horrible. I just think my first instructor didn't exactly explain them as well as he could have--you know, the fact that they aren't one piece, and that if you grab the bottom part it locks up and starts to drag you whether you are ready or not, and that one can get in trouble by not knowing this. It would have helped.

And some people need to be told you can't sit down, though they do find out pretty quick. There is a surprisingly large amount of people that do try and sit down. The other week I saw 3 people try and sit down on a button lift.