A new way to get on the lift

[ski diva]

Well, this is different.

From a press release from Okemo:

at Okemo next year:

Everyone loves the section of Warren Miller's films when the camera positioned at the top of a chairlift catches the crashes of skiers trying to disembark. The more tangled the carnage, the louder the laughs. For beginner skiers and snowboarders, riding the lift can be a stressful part of the learning experience. Seasoned veterans grow increasingly impatient with each delay of elevation gain. Lift operators loading the uninitiated must be ever vigilant to maintain safety. As a way to make that first lift ride of the day less stressful and safer, Okemo is installing mechanized loading and unloading carpets on one of its base area South Ridge fixed-grip quad chairs. Although familiar to European skiers, the loading carpet is a rarity in North America. Okemo's loading carpet will be the first one in the East and the unloading carpet will be the first of its kind in the U.S. A conveyor belt, marked with lanes and moving in synch with the chairlift, will make loading and unloading easier and safer. It will reduce lift-line lengths, minimize starts and stops, reduce ride time and improve overall lift capacity.

 

[LilaBear]

:ROTF::ROTF:

I want to see that, it must look comical as skiers float towards the chair!

 

[abc]

Actually, I've been on one! (This was in France) It's a bit disconcerting at first...

It looks innocent at first. As I move up to the front, (many European lift lines have metal handrail "corrals") step beyond the hand rail, suddenly I found myself moving forward!!!

I realized I had just stepped onto a moving carpet! Then the old style chair came fast and furiously (it's ALWAYS used with a fix grip chair). But since I was already moving forward, the chair caught up to my bum like it was on a typical detachable...

Sit down and drama over.

The unloading was just a snowy ramp...

 

[Jilly]

I'm with Lilabear. Can't wait to see this in action.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I JUST saw photos of this posted somewhere else. (WHERE??) Will attempt to hunt. As I recall, it was used with a detachable? Maybe not, hope I can find it.

 

[abc]

Used with a detachable???

Detachable usually goes REALLY slow at loading and unloading. What's the point of adding the moving carpet for loading and unloading? More over, beginer areas are often served by slow lifts, which typically are not detachable.

But, hey, anything is possible. This is America, and we're the capital of MacSkiing!

 

[Shellski]

I haaaate those things! They're awful, the 'carpet' grabs you and your body is flung forward while your feet stick, and you still usually end up in the wrong spot for the chair and have to shuffle around. I think that carpet stuff does wrong things to your ski bases too, I don't like it!

 

[dloveski]

I rode the 'magic carpet' in Snowbird's Basshole Tunnel. It was lame--esp. when I realized that I could take off my skis and walk it in a fraction of the time it took to 'ride'.

Keep the carpets on the very beginner hill--it might have a place there.

Skiers need to slow down and enjoy the experience. I see too many bring their hurried and harried lifestyle to the slopes, treating skiing like driving, with road rage, frustration at pauses and slow lifts, and rude behavior. These skiers are missing the whole point of skiing!!!!!! And technology may be dumbing down the ski experience to the lowest common denominator ski level.

I guess I'm an old schooler. I don't like the corporate, high tech, dump more skiers per second on the mountain approaches.

 

[abc]

We're not talking about magic carpet here. We're talking about combining magic carpet as a loading aid to chairs.

I don't know what Okemo has in mind for its use. But the one I got on at France was for loading a fix grip chair. By having the moving carpet, they can run the chair at the higher speed. Without the carpet, the chair will WACK you HARD on the back of your knee if the lifties doesn't hold the chair for you, or if his timing is just a little off. And for unloading, the chair moves so fast it shot you 50 yards off the ramp like a cannon ball!!!

 

[ski now work later]

Sounds like I'll be parking at Jackson Gore next season....

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Skiers need to slow down and enjoy the experience. I see too many bring their hurried and harried lifestyle to the slopes, treating skiing like driving, with road rage, frustration at pauses and slow lifts, and rude behavior. These skiers are missing the whole point of skiing!!!!!! And technology may be dumbing down the ski experience to the lowest common denominator ski level.

I guess I'm an old schooler. I don't like the corporate, high tech, dump more skiers per second on the mountain approaches.

^^^ What she said!

 

[shnu]

in Austria loading carpets are very common, especially on lifts near "famlily-slopes". i made the experience, that they differ from each other. one some you really stick when your skis get on them and you body will be leaning forward automatically a bit, but you get used to it. some others are kind of slippery and with fresh waxed skis you may "ski" a bit forward on the carpet (or better conveyor belt?? :D ).

last winter i experinced a situation where the loadingcarpet-lift attendant-relationship didn't really work. it was on a chair lift for six persons and it was very crowded. six person infront of us went on the carpet and where wating for the lift. i hve no idea how this could happen, but somehow one of these person dind't manage to sit down on the lift (even it seems to be super-super-super-slow-motion the lift came to the position where skiers can sit down). he/she fell off. the problem was, that the next 6 persons where allready on the carpet and the lift-attendant hasn't seen the "accident". so one of us nearly went with the skies over the person, who tried to stand up. of course this person started shouting at us, even we couldn't do anything. i don't know, how we managend not hurting him/her, but it worked.


but i've never seen an uploading carpet and also can't imagine. but i'm sure it won't take long and we will find them in the big skiresorts here too.

 

[abc]

the lift-attendant hasn't seen the "accident".

I heard frequent comparison of lifties in North America vs Europe. Seems like the European lifties all think their jobs are only to turn the lift on in the morning and off in the evening... :(

That might also explain why loading carpet are not used in North America much. The way we deal with fast moving fixed grip chais is, the liftie simply held the chair and gently release it when all passengers have sat down. But that seems too much to ask of European lifties. So moving carpets are invented...

 

[shnu]

I heard frequent comparison of lifties in North America vs Europe. Seems like the European lifties all think their jobs are only to turn the lift on in the morning and off in the evening... :(

no,definitely not. i can only speak for austrian ski resorts now and don't want to defend them all, as i also made some annoying experiences. for sure you are right, that some may do it like you said. and some are really, really unfriendly (even when you are not a foreigner, but from another provice, especially vienna --> peoples from town can't ski, that's their point of view. but it was the urban poeple who went on the mountains with skis first and poeple on the country laughed at them. and now they sell it as their kind of sport, but that's another story ...). i think this carpet things may tempt lifties to be a bit less attentive. i've no idea why he hasn't seen it, but there are often skiers around them asking things, lost their children, poles, gloves, beanies, ask for the weather on teh next day (??? as if they were frogs ) etc.

there are some really "hard" lifts to ride where the chair/bench comes really fast and heavy. they're always slowing it down by hand and hold them so that skiers can sit down comfortably. don't know how it is in switzerland, france or italy, but maybe some others here skied there.

 

[pinto]

We rode these in Austria ... didn't seem to be a big deal. It basically slows down the moment when the chair comes under you, since you're moving forward at the same time. (But not as fast as the chair, of course.)

Never saw one getting off, though.

 

[shnu]

Never saw one getting off, though.

well, it was definitely the skiers fault, not the one of the carpet or the lift :p

 

[RachelV]

Mt. Snow just posted a video of the one they installed on the Summit Express:
https://www.mountsnow.com/images/video/flashvideo2.html?url=loading_conveyor.flv

...

I mean, I guess they must be helpful, right? I'm going to feel pretty silly conveyor'ing down this thing this season, though. Bizarre!

 

[RachelV]

I rode the 'magic carpet' in Snowbird's Basshole Tunnel. It was lame--esp. when I realized that I could take off my skis and walk it in a fraction of the time it took to 'ride'.

Yeah, I thought that tunnel was super weird, too. Especially with the music and TV screens in there -- it felt like I was on a ride at Disney World or something! And soooooo slow!

I love the new peruvian lift and I guess this is the way that made the most sense to build it, but the whole conveyor belt/tunnel experience was just really odd.

 

[dloveski]

I don't get the conveyer belt, esp. on a slow-loading detachable quad. For the beginner, it seems to add another dimension to the loading process. For the experienced, it's not necessary. Unless the chairs move faster or are closer together and the conveyer super-loads the masses---and then, this just clogs the runs faster.

Sigh---I'm so old school.

 

[astridhj]

You get used to them quickly. I find it very strange to be in a resort without them these days. But I have never experienced it when getting off...