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Chairlift Safety Bars

CyberLola

Certified Ski Diva
My main experience is skiing in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Romania) and there it's common to put the chair protection down as soon as everyone is seated and chair takes off. Personally I think it's the most safe, logic way, since it's to protect you from when you take off until you're almost out of it.
When I came to Japan, first time going to ski here, I sit, look everyone seated, chair took off, of course I put the chair protection down and 2 other people, strangers sitting there (4 people lift, me, my husband, 2 strangers) were VERY angry at me, saying things to me in Japanese with a loud voice.
Years later, I observe that it depends where it is, and who the chair lift comrades are, they will put it down either really slowly, or not put it down at all.
If taking the chair lift with a coach, it's usually only the 2 of us and I will happily and quickly put the protection down as soon as we both are seated.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Older lifts in the US and Japan do not always have bars.

In places where it is the law, adjusting poles etc, needs to happen after bar comes down which is tough for many americans not used to it slamming down on people.

Most of the kids falling out I have witnessed are right after they get on. The data from the national lift association supports this amd shows that most accidents where people fall off come right after loading or when about to unload. The data is confounding as 70 per cent of injuries are lifts with bars but it fails to say of bars are deployed.

In 11 years CO had 227 falls with injuries. In the US there have been 3 fatalities in past 10 years. These are the non mechanical failure cases. The numbers change when it is not a human error fall. Not sure a bar helps or hurts in those cases. If with a foot rest it would make jumping off before certain failures impossible. This makes a questionable case for no bar.

I would post document but they don't provide a link.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Safety bars, with or without adding "posts" to keep children from sliding out underneath the bar, are not only different by region but also individual resorts. For example, Alta didn't install safety bars until about 10 years ago. Even now there are no footrests. Neighboring Snowbird not only had safety bars, many of the lifts had footrests. Alta Lift Co. made a deliberate decision to not have footrests for both a cost and weight standpoint.

I remember riding up with a woman from Australia at Alta who was doing a day trip from Park City. She was quite nervous riding up the Collins lift with no safety bar. On the same lift a few years later after safety bars were installed, a mother with her young son was quite annoyed that I put down the bar.

Taos has an old "center pole" double chair with no safety bar. It's a lift that takes people from the Kachina side back to the main base side. There is also an old triple with no safety bar. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, safety bars weren't standard on chairlifts.
 

Amie H

Angel Diva
At Whitecap Mountains in northern WI, NONE of the chairs have bars. And they are so shallow, a backpack is impossible.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
At Whitecap Mountains in northern WI, NONE of the chairs have bars. And they are so shallow, a backpack is impossible.
Many, if not all, resorts now want people to take off a backpack and put it in front of them on the chair. Enforcement varies quite a bit though.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The other fun thing with a center pole double is that you have to align yourself perfectly for pickup, or your glutes and hips are taking a THWACK.
Key is to look at the center pole as the chair is approaching. If riding double, that means looking at the person you are riding with.

Of course, even with prompting from the liftie, there are people who don't follow the advice. Rode up with a friend once who almost sat down on the arm of the old Cecret lift at Alta because they thought looking towards the center was wrong based on their experience with newer chairlifts.
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
I forget to put the bar down sometimes when it's just me: grew up with no-bar & center-pole chairlifts, so you sit and *hang on for dear life until your skis touch the snow again*. Or, at least until you have to jump down at the lift offload because you're short. Lack of vertical and being raised on rope-tows in the Midwest helps with the arm endurance. Anyway.

I never complain when someone wants to lower the bar! Saves my overhead shoulder reach! I like safety :smile:
 

Laroken

Certified Ski Diva
I don’t put the bar down unless I’m with one of my kids or there are higher winds that are making me nervous. But I definitely don’t grumble when other people want it down! (Also, not going to lie … the post about ejects in the event of emergency stops — something I’d never thought about before — is making me think maybe I should start putting it down more! )
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I never complain when someone wants to lower the bar! Saves my overhead shoulder reach! I like safety :smile:
My friends and I always pull down the bar when we ride together. The general idea is that the tallest person handles the bar. That way they don't get bonked . . . and they can reach it easier any way. :wink:
 

rhymeandreason

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I didn’t see this mentioned, but there was a recent tragedy at park city canyons - a tree fell on the cable of a triple chair and a ski patroller was ejected into a ravine with several feet of snow and died. I don’t know if anyone knows if the bar was up or down, but I would think that the bar being down would lessen the chance of ejection. It was a terrible terrible tragedy.

I’ve always put the bar down, it only takes a second and I find that, as with other precautions, it’s easiest to stick to a 100% consistent approach. Always wear a car seatbelt, always wear a helmet, always hold the escalator rail, always keep your seatbelt on the plane while seated, etc. If no one else make a move for the bar, I reach my arm up and say “ok if I lower the bar?” Everyone has been fine with it so far. Thanks to all the people who prefer the bar up, but are agreeable about lowering it!
 

floatingyardsale

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The ski-patrol-supported rumor is that the bar wasn't down, and that the patroller would have survived had they had the bar down as the chair didn't detach. (Things you learn sitting in the clinic....)

I put it down. I have needed a seat belt exactly once in 25 years of driving. Still was helpful when it happened. I've seen a kid topple out of a chair and the ensuing ski patrol mob to get the kid on a backboard. I know of someone who had a seizure on an old lift with no bar who didn't fall only because his daughter held on for dear life for the last minutes of the ride. I announce it as a courtesy but it's not really negotiable for me if I have the kids.
 

rhymeandreason

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The ski-patrol-supported rumor is that the bar wasn't down, and that the patroller would have survived had they had the bar down as the chair didn't detach. (Things you learn sitting in the clinic....)

I put it down. I have needed a seat belt exactly once in 25 years of driving. Still was helpful when it happened. I've seen a kid topple out of a chair and the ensuing ski patrol mob to get the kid on a backboard. I know of someone who had a seizure on an old lift with no bar who didn't fall only because his daughter held on for dear life for the last minutes of the ride. I announce it as a courtesy but it's not really negotiable for me if I have the kids.
I heard the same, but want to emphasize that for the sake of being fair, I haven’t heard anything official, just hearsay. The rule is that all employees are supposed to use the bar, so the position of the bar might impact settlements. Certainly I have seen many people not use the bar on that lift, which I consider one of the of the scariest due to the drop

Your post reminded me of a girl several years ago who had a seizure and fell from high meadow lift at canyons and passed away. As you know, that lift now has the bar with posts that lock you in so that it’s impossible to slip out.

I’m with you, the bar is not negotiable. I don’t consider myself to be afraid of heights, but the idea of sitting in a chair 40 feet off the ground with no restraint, not to mention 15-20 lbs of skis and boots pulling on my legs is scary!
 

IceHeeler

Angel Diva
I prefer bar down in most cases. Unfortunately, the newest lift at Winter Park has small openings for the leg pegs. I didn't know it was an issue until I was skiing with a friend who is also pro-bar down and her daughter. She literally couldn't fit her legs in the space. Fortunately, the chair wasn't full and we were able to make close enough work, but it was pretty frustrating and uncomfortable for her.
 

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