One Death Reported in Ski Lift Accident

[Liquid Yellow]

I once had a discussion about putting the bar down with someone on the chair, they didn't like putting it down because they had a fear that the chair would fall, or the cable would slip off. They would then be bound to the chair instead of being able to push away.

That's the most ridiculous logic I've ever heard! If the chair fell off, it would happen so fast they'd have no chance to push away or do anything else. Also I'm amazed they were more worried about the entire chair falling than themself falling off it.

 

[Bea_salvat]

Hello ladies!!! This is horrible! And I agree with lowering the bar... When my oldest son was 6 we went to Angel Fire and he took ski lessons. One time I was in the chair in front of him, he was riding with the instructor and I was freaking out because they did not lower the chair bar.... that lift is long and high... I just turned around and stopped looking back.. too much stress! You would think that the instructor WOULD lower the bar especially with little kids!

 

[newboots]

That argument about being bound to the chair is the same argument people made for decades about seat belts. They "had heard" that the seat belt could become jammed in an accident and they'd be unable to escape. Never mind that the research all pointed to higher safety with seat belt use, and the anecdotal seat belt jammed was just a story, repeated for those who don't like to change and hate being "put out" for safety.

 

[just jane]

I've noticed that the lifties at our home mountain are trained to help pull the little ones onto the lift. They jump behind the chair as it's coming in and help pull the kiddos onto the chair. It's up to the adults on the chair with them to put the bar down, though.

 

[santacruz skier]

A sudden stop will swing fore and aft ... haven't seen side to side. I HAVE seen side to side when kiddos are goofing around in the chair behind you ...

The wind could cause a chair to swing side to side. Had that happen on a chair at Squaw. Scared the daylights out of me. Also several summers ago, a chair at Heavenly hit something and ejected a guy (his new bride stayed on the lift) and he was killed. Think it may have gotten hung up with a zip line or something. Still tragic.

 

[Christy]

The question is, would the bar keep someone in in that situation. Car seatbelts are snug and cross us twice, and seize up when there is motion. A bar is nothing like that. When I was researching doggie seatbelts I learned how ineffective most are. You can't just put a strap across something and call it good. Probably some people imagine they'd be able to hold on to the bar, but I can't hold on to anything in my mittens.

 

[bounceswoosh]

The question is, would the bar keep someone in in that situation. Car seatbelts are snug and cross us twice, and seize up when there is motion. A bar is nothing like that. When I was researching doggie seatbelts I learned how ineffective most are. You can't just put a strap across something and call it good. Probably some people imagine they'd be able to hold on to the bar, but I can't hold on to anything in my mittens.

If nothing else, this accident has made me think about my choices. I ski a lot, and so I ride lifts a lot, and so I become very complacent. I've dozed on the lift on a spring day - with the bar up and no one else on the chair with me. Obviously I haven't had an incident yet, but the whole thing is, you don't know when something will change. A sudden stop, a gust of wind ...

It's like driving - such a dangerous activity, but it's hard to really internalize the risks when it's something you do all the time. Or avy danger in the backcountry ...

I'm not saying I'll pull the bar down more often, necessarily. Those stupid-heavy trail maps / ads make me too nervous about being able to escape. But it's something to think about.

 

[Luuva]

This is such a tragic incident.

I have skied in Europe only: France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden. I have never seen anybody not using the bar.

 

[vanhoskier]

Well, maybe, but I and others have posted here that we often don't bother - and we're not blokes, and I'd prefer to think we're not pathetic.

This is just pommie slang, just like we say "dudes." It's not offensive.
I love British people :-)

 

[santacruz skier]

This is just pommie slang, just like we say "dudes." It's not offensive.
I love British people :-)

Indeed... Rented an apartment with friends to stay in London for 4 days before going on to Kitzbuehl next month!

 

[Liquid Yellow]

This is just pommie slang, just like we say "dudes." It's not offensive.
I love British people :-)

Aww thanks lovely. No offence was ever intended.

 

[mustski]

Those stupid-heavy trail maps / ads make me too nervous about being able to escape. But it's something to think about.

This! I think the 6 packs with maps and ads are crazy. I have a hard time lifting them by myself. In fact, @gardenmary and I really struggled with one in Deer Valley and that was with 2 of us. Other than that, the bar is coming down. I always ask if everyone is ok with lowering the bar, but it's a polite, rhetorical question. No one had ever said no.

 

[altagirl]

I honestly forget that Alta even put safety bars on some of the lifts because I almost never see anyone use them. But if people ask, or at least warn you/watch to make sure they're not slamming it into your head when you're leaning forward and getting settled or pinching an arm, it's not a big deal. It's entirely possible you'll get some eye rolling or long sighs from some locals, but if you want the bar down, by all means, say so.

As far as feeling safe - I think it's often a matter of what you get used to. We used to regularly do lift served mountain biking at a tiny resort that had an old double and no bike hooks for your bike. That means you loaded the chair by yourself with a 40lb mountain bike in your hands and had to either hold it on your lap (which was exhausting and all that weight wanted to pull you forward and off the chair) or maneuver it so the front tire went over the back of the chair and then maneuver it back into your lap to unload when you were way up high in the air before the top. Now THAT was often truly scary. Yet I don't remember ever hearing of an issue. So by comparison, just sitting down on a lift with nothing in hand but my ski poles, which I stick under a leg... I have my hands to hold on to the armrest or back of the chair if I feel unstable and it feels pretty safe.

 

[Moonrocket]

They are now reporting it was a mechanical issue with the lift. They are re-opening under diesel power at lowered speeds. Very interesting to read the full report as someone who works on an all be it much smaller spinning device.

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/09/ski-granby-ranch-fatal-chairlift-fall-mechanical-problem/

 

[Jilly]

From another site it sounds like the chair slowed down or stopped and started up again. This electric motor did not move the cable in a smooth gradual manner. We've all been on lifts when there is an emergency stop. But the start up is gradual till they get to full speed. Any jerky motion would cause the manner described by the eye witnesses.

 

[Lilia]

My first real fear at skiing was actually riding the chairlift.. I didn't suspected that I might be afraid of heights!

 

[marzNC]

From another site it sounds like the chair slowed down or stopped and started up again. This electric motor did not move the cable in a smooth gradual manner. We've all been on lifts when there is an emergency stop. But the start up is gradual till they get to full speed. Any jerky motion would cause the manner described by the eye witnesses.

SAM is reporting that a contractor made modifications to the electric drive system that is the likely cause of cause of the problem. The the original manufacturer of the lift, Leitner-Poma, is going to install a new electric drive. The lift will operate under diesel power for a while.

https://saminfo.com/headline-news/8...cation-led-to-granby-ranch-chairlift-fatality

 

[Cascadia]

I read this news and thread lurking a few weeks ago and it keeps coming up in my mind every time I ride a lift at Snoqualmie. This entire season I've been on one chair with a bar (Easy Street at West). Zero beginner Green terrain chairs at Central have bars. They're all fixed grip doubles that are from the 60s-70s from what I can tell on vintage maps. Multiple coats of paint and rust seats made with 2x4s and plywood with sun bleached cushions. I recall last year riding Dodge Ridge at West night skiing on my work's corporate night that something (wind? Not people there were no crowds) kept bouncing the cable and swinging the chairs or planks on people's feet into the first tower on the way up. You'd hear it every 3rd chair or so CLANG and realize how all those rusty gouges in the tower paint happened over the years. Reading about actual laws for safety bars in other states made me realize just how old everything is in WA and how much I appreciate going to Crystal Mtn with their updated equipment! Alas my ski school operates at Central so Home it is for now.

 

[Christy]

Ha, except no one ever puts the bar down at Crystal. It's kind of a feat to get everyone organized enough to use the bar on the 6-packs.

I was at Summit East a few weeks ago and was marveling at how old the chairs were. At a smaller ski area it's one thing--no surprise that's what I mostly rode at White Pass a couple weeks ago. But Snoqualmie is a Boyne area with a $74 lift ticket--this feels like a lot for the terrain and infrastructure. I guess they are just getting us for the proximity to Seattle.

 

[bounceswoosh]

It's kind of a feat to get everyone organized enough to use the bar on the 6-packs.

A lot of people at Breck are anti-bar or bar-agnostic, but it always comes down on the six packs, in my experience. This may be because there are often newbie (non-jaded) skiers and children on those lifts.