MissySki
Angel Diva
Last Saturday it was around 75 degrees for a high, but it started out at 50 degrees. Needless to say many skiers who were out at first chair had a warmer top layer that they then tied around their waist as it very quickly warmed up. I was one of those skiers, and didn't really think much of it since I've done it plenty of times before on hot days. However, I wanted to put a public service announcement out as a reminder that there is very much a reason why you don't want to ski with anything dangling around your waist. Or at least to be extremely careful about it if you're going to like take it off on the lift.
I skied a few runs this way no problem, and then got a great first hand demonstration of why this was really stupid. I went to get off of a lift and realized in a heart dropping moment that I was still attached to the chair. This was a fixed grip triple and by the time I had processed that my jacket was caught I was being knocked down by the chair, swung around the top hitting the stop bar, and dragged under the chair until it finally came to a stop right before I would have ended up dangling into a net or worse on the way back down. Mind you, there was no snow left under the lift heading back down the mountain, so I came to a stop on rocks and dirt under me.
This all happened REALLY quickly, but lifts definitely don't stop as suddenly as you might think or like them to when this sort of thing happens. I was screaming like I was on a rollercoaster, and all I could hear around me was everyone else yelling for the liftie to stop the lift. Once I did come to a stop the liftie came over to help me detangle myself, I was still very much attached to the lift by my jacket. What happened is that my cellphone was in my jacket pocket and it had gotten lodged between the seat and arm of the lift. That side of my jacket was ripped to shreds from stretching, but didn't let go. Shockingly my phone is fine and it just cracked one corner of my screen protector. Once I was free from the chair I stood up and realized I only had one ski on as the other had flown off when I was swung around I guess. There were then 3 patrollers there asking if I was okay. I popped off my second ski so I could walk down and realized that yes I felt totally fine. We did end up noticing some scratches on my right arm and shoulder blade areas and rope burn on my wrist (apparently I got tangled in a rope as well as I hit the stop bar).. that's what I get for wearing a tank top to ski on the day I get dragged over rocks.. My right ski boot side was caked with dirt so that's what took the brunt of my weight dragging I guess. Very glad it wasn't my leg.
So I had to give my information to patrol for the incident, and they poured some water on my wounds to clean them out and make sure there was nothing deeper that would need stitches or further attention. Luckily my scratches were pretty superficial and though they started stinging then, it could have been MUCH worse.
Anyway, sorry for the novel! Just wanted to give a reminder to everyone still spring skiing to be mindful of what you're wearing when riding the lift. Patrol made sure to say "THIS is why there are signs to not ride the lift with anything hanging off of you".. and yep I'm very much aware of that and at fault for what happened. I have no excuse except that it's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when everyone around you is doing the same thing, and I really never thought any harm would come of it. I know I definitely learned my lesson and will ensure that in the future I drop off layers somewhere on the mountain versus ever tying anything around my waist again. Patrol even said you can always leave jackets and packs around their shacks in these situations if you have nowhere else to leave it and you're going to lap a certain lift for awhile etc.
I skied a few runs this way no problem, and then got a great first hand demonstration of why this was really stupid. I went to get off of a lift and realized in a heart dropping moment that I was still attached to the chair. This was a fixed grip triple and by the time I had processed that my jacket was caught I was being knocked down by the chair, swung around the top hitting the stop bar, and dragged under the chair until it finally came to a stop right before I would have ended up dangling into a net or worse on the way back down. Mind you, there was no snow left under the lift heading back down the mountain, so I came to a stop on rocks and dirt under me.
This all happened REALLY quickly, but lifts definitely don't stop as suddenly as you might think or like them to when this sort of thing happens. I was screaming like I was on a rollercoaster, and all I could hear around me was everyone else yelling for the liftie to stop the lift. Once I did come to a stop the liftie came over to help me detangle myself, I was still very much attached to the lift by my jacket. What happened is that my cellphone was in my jacket pocket and it had gotten lodged between the seat and arm of the lift. That side of my jacket was ripped to shreds from stretching, but didn't let go. Shockingly my phone is fine and it just cracked one corner of my screen protector. Once I was free from the chair I stood up and realized I only had one ski on as the other had flown off when I was swung around I guess. There were then 3 patrollers there asking if I was okay. I popped off my second ski so I could walk down and realized that yes I felt totally fine. We did end up noticing some scratches on my right arm and shoulder blade areas and rope burn on my wrist (apparently I got tangled in a rope as well as I hit the stop bar).. that's what I get for wearing a tank top to ski on the day I get dragged over rocks.. My right ski boot side was caked with dirt so that's what took the brunt of my weight dragging I guess. Very glad it wasn't my leg.
So I had to give my information to patrol for the incident, and they poured some water on my wounds to clean them out and make sure there was nothing deeper that would need stitches or further attention. Luckily my scratches were pretty superficial and though they started stinging then, it could have been MUCH worse.
Anyway, sorry for the novel! Just wanted to give a reminder to everyone still spring skiing to be mindful of what you're wearing when riding the lift. Patrol made sure to say "THIS is why there are signs to not ride the lift with anything hanging off of you".. and yep I'm very much aware of that and at fault for what happened. I have no excuse except that it's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when everyone around you is doing the same thing, and I really never thought any harm would come of it. I know I definitely learned my lesson and will ensure that in the future I drop off layers somewhere on the mountain versus ever tying anything around my waist again. Patrol even said you can always leave jackets and packs around their shacks in these situations if you have nowhere else to leave it and you're going to lap a certain lift for awhile etc.
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