Chairlift...when you don't feel the ground beneath your feet!

[EeveeCanSki]

One of the things I pride myself on and have received a lot of great feedback from instructors about is that I do well with chairlifts, as in properly loading and unloading. However, I got in a pickle this past weekend with exactly what the title describes, on what could have been a chair set slightly higher than what I'm used to. When came time to unload on one lift, I literally could not feel the ground beneath my feet. I could sense my skis go flat but felt nothing underneath--it was weird, as if I were still floating!

The first time I rode this particular lift, I nearly jumped out of the seat--I lost my balance but my instructor caught me, and said I indeed rose too early. Again, that was because I felt no pressure from the platform beneath.

The second time riding this lift, again saw skis go flat, but felt nothing! That time, I completely missed any window to exit the lift and had an encounter with the stop bar. The vigilant and helpful liftie got me out without incident, and I walked off the lift and met my instructor and we carried on.

I was so embarrassed though. My instructor told me not to sweat it (and quickly forgave me for the colorful words I used during the incident, lol). He was glad I was ok.

I am on the shorter side but not so short--I'm about 5'4" and in boots and skis would be a couple more inches than that. On every other lift I've taken, I've felt the ground lift my knees a little, and hence I'm forced to stand and carry on down the runout. I quite welcome that feeling of resistance since I know I am safe to proceed sliding. However, if I ever feel myself in the situation I've just described above again, what can I do? Has this happened to any of you all? I don't want to avoid a lift and thus miss the experience skiing down what could be a great run for me just because of this one thing.

 

[Jilly]

Try being @SkiBam height. She has to literally jump off some lifts!! Tall people have problems too. I've a friend that can't bend his knee fully because of a brace. He has problems with low chairs, and can't sit down till almost the end of the loading zone.

My suggestion is to keep an eye on the unloading area. Visual keys, not just the tactile key of feeling the snow. When (or if) the bar goes up, move ahead a little in the seat and get ready.

 

[marzNC]

I am on the shorter side but not so short--I'm about 5'4" and in boots and skis would be a couple more inches than that. On every other lift I've taken, I've felt the ground lift my knees a little, and hence I'm forced to stand and carry on down the runout. I quite welcome that feeling of resistance since I know I am safe to proceed sliding. However, if I ever feel myself in the situation I've just described above again, what can I do? Has this happened to any of you all? I don't want to avoid a lift and thus miss the experience skiing down what could be a great run for me just because of this one thing.

Trying to remember what my daughter did when she was little. I think kids don't worry and naturally jump down a little if needed before sliding down the unloading ramp. Her first instructors taught her how to unload so that was never a problem. She was tiny when she started at age 4. Getting her up onto a chair took some practice for her and me that first season. She had to literally jump up a bit when the chair arrived and I learned to hold her arm, not just her jacket.

Where are you looking when you are getting ready to unload? How are you holding your poles? Are you all the way back leaning against the back of the chair after the bar is up?

I'm only 5'0". I usually move forward on the seat a few inches before unloading. That gets my skis a few inches closer to the unloading zone. I have both poles in one hand, holding them in the middle. My other hand is often on or near the edge of the chair in case I need a little push to move away from the chair as I'm standing up.

 

[Christy]

All chairlifts are a little different so you just have to pay attention and be ready for anything. Early season around here it's not uncommon to have to hop off; like others have said, just scoot forward and be ready. Sometimes, again usually early season, there is a steep drop off to ski down too. As the snow builds up this goes away. Like @marzNC I also use my free hand to push off and move away as I'm standing.

 

[EeveeCanSki]

Thanks for your quick replies thus far!

Try being @SkiBam height. She has to literally jump off some lifts!! Tall people have problems too. I've a friend that can't bend his knee fully because of a brace. He has problems with low chairs, and can't sit down till almost the end of the loading zone.

My suggestion is to keep an eye on the unloading area. Visual keys, not just the tactile key of feeling the snow. When (or if) the bar goes up, move ahead a little in the seat and get ready.

Ruh-oh...I'll be in a brace if I go skiing again this season...will have to keep how it might limit me in mind. But when unloading, I always scoot up in the seat just a bit in preparation for the exit, right after lifting the bar. I'm thinking the angle of the weird chair may be different also...more "reclined" if you will...seems I sat in that particular chair deeper than the other.

Where are you looking when you are getting ready to unload? How are you holding your poles? Are you all the way back leaning against the back of the chair after the bar is up?

I'm only 5'0". I usually move forward on the seat a few inches before unloading. That gets my skis a few inches closer to the unloading zone. I have both poles in one hand, holding them in the middle. My other hand is often on or near the edge of the chair in case I need a little push to move away from the chair as I'm standing up.

When unloading I'm looking straight ahead (tips up too), and I'm holding my poles upright in one hand, usually close to the left side of my body. I am forward in the chair, not leaning on the back. I also put my right hand on the chair to give myself a little push. Like I mentioned just above, this chair may have been a little more deep and reclined than what I've been in before--I did try to use the right hand to push myself up and away but not having that feeling underneath my feet caught me off-guard.

All chairlifts are a little different so you just have to pay attention and be ready for anything. Early season around here it's not uncommon to have to hop off; like others have said, just scoot forward and be ready. Sometimes, again usually early season, there is a steep drop off to ski down too. As the snow builds up this goes away. Like @marzNC I also use my free hand to push off and move away as I'm standing.

Fortunately, I haven't lost control on any steep drop offs (yay!), and I do use the free hand to push off, which has been very helpful with control too. Having to hop caught me off-guard and I didn't have a lot of time to find a balance point, and knowing I had only a short time to clear the lift messed with my head a bit. The time I did proceed down the runoff I was so in the backseat I scared myself, but recovered using a combination of my own volition and a hand from my instructor. Keeping balance in case I know or feel I need to hop is what I have to work on.

 

[KBee]

Gaah. Hate when that happens. Scary chairs are the worst.

Our mountain uses really old school lifts without safety bars. This weekend I was distracted for a second by the attendant removing some equipment that had been sent down on the back of our chair, and caught an edge as we were taking off. I always hold on really tight, so I left a ski behind. Mortifying. Later the same day our chair had other equipment on it, which was weird--maybe they were drilling a lot yesterday. That time we were ready, and let that chair pass as he chased it down... Now we have to add, make sure the chair is ready to scooting forward, looking out, and being ready for anything.

But there's more! I can add *hold on* while you're up there. Later in the day we were swinging sideways so hard, we hit a tower hard enough to really spook my normally unflappable kid. He was thrown forward pretty badly. He even let me put my arm around him for a minute after that!

 

[marzNC]

Keeping balance in case I know or feel I need to hop is what I have to work on.

Certainly sounds like you are doing all the rights moves.

I wonder . . . one of the drills instructors have beginner kids do is jumping up and down with their skis on, essentially jumping in place. For that matter, it was something my advanced group did at Taos. The idea was to help find the perfect fore-aft position. Not a big jump, just a few inches off the ground. Could be useful for having more confidence when unloading a chair with a low off-ramp.

 

[newboots]

OMG. I can't even imagine a swinging chair with no bar. That's just wrong.

(In Vermont, putting the bar down is mandatory. Needless to say, all the chairlifts have bars.)

 

[EeveeCanSki]

OMG @KBee...I'm so glad you and your little one are ok after that! Wow, sounds scary even reading it!!!

 

[SkiBam]

I'm learning you have to be vigilant when getting off the lift - I've noticed this mainly on quads. I now keep an eye on my skis and those of my neighbours as it's so easy to get tangled, with serious falls as a possible result.

As for having to jump off lifts, as @Jilly says, I've really only experienced this on the Expo chair at Tremblant (a detachable quad) which, for some reason, seems to "eject" you at the top. I don't mind this but I'm used to it - can be tough for beginners though. And then there's the Soleil chair (Tremblant) where loading can be interesting as it's so low to the ground. One of our ski buddies is at least 6 ft 6 in and he seems to have his knees up around his chin while loading.

Chairlift riding 101: lots to learn!

 

[KBee]

I just asked, and the kid has to hop off quite often, and I think I remember having to do this when I was younger as well.

 

[skibum4ever]

A friend of mine was injured getting off a HSQ when the snowboarder next to him stood on his skis.

One thing I try to do is watch the sets of people exiting the chairs ahead of me, to gauge if there's anything odd about the exit ramp.

 

[Spunk72]

My husband is a snow boarder and I am super super anal about him standing up on one of my skis. Often the back of his snowboard will inadvertently cross over my nearest ski. So I pay a lot of attention to this when we are getting off. We are both well over six feet and yes, it can be hard loading an unloading depending on the ramp height. Worse is loading on a low chair when it swings round fast (they don't bump the chairs often in Japan) and jams the top of your calf between the top of my boot and the chair... ouch!

 

[KathrynC]

@Jilly[/USER] says, I've really only experienced this on the Expo chair at Tremblant (a detachable quad) which, for some reason, seems to "eject" you at the top. I don't mind this but I'm used to it - can be tough for beginners though. And then there's the Soleil chair (Tremblant) where loading can be interesting as it's so low to the ground. One of our ski buddies is at least 6 ft 6 in and he seems to have his knees up around his chin while loading.

There is a really old (1960s) single person chair at my local resort: https://www.seilbahntechnik.net/en/lifts/11460/datas.htm. Possibly the scariest chairlift I know of, it feels like sitting in a garden chair. It is set really low and because it is narrow you sometimes see people miss the chair entirely and just sit on the ground. This year we have had a lot more snow than usual so at one point it was so close to the snow that when you sat in it, it would bounce off the ground. Really unnerving! I lost a ski getting on that day because it was impossible to sit and keep my skis flat and it twisted off. I found myself disembarking at the top on one ski and waiting for someone to bring the other one up. The lifty said it was the 6th time that had happened that morning.

Also, there is a database of ski lifts - who knew?!