Native Vail Gal
Banned
Lori_K said:
Boy do you understand! That's what I'm talking about!
OMG!!! I was so scared!
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Scariest lifts?
- Thread starter ski diva
- Start date
Boy do you understand! That's what I'm talking about!
OMG!!! I was so scared!
BatGirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well, I got to try a bunch of new ski lifts this past week, including one that was nominated here. I didn't find Millicent chair at Brighton to be all that scary, but the Summit Access chair at Solitude freaked me right out. You're really high up and cross some black diamond areas. I couldn't take it. I had to have the safety bar down.
BatGirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Pequenita said:
Yep, that'd be the point!
Dloveski, sorry. Even if this does make me lose slope-cred, I'm nominating Summit Access for this list! 
Oh, and a close second is the Mineral Basin Express at Snowbird. Coming to the top of that, it looks like you are going to slide right off the end of the world since it dumps you off at the ridgeline with all of Peruvian Basin and Salt Lake City right in front of you. The first time I took it there didn't appear to be enough exit area to ski away from the lift safely.
Robyn
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
You know, I don't have one that particularly freaks me out currently except the 6 pack at Keystone if I get on it alone at which time it likes to do a lot of swaying but I remember a lift at Bogus Basin that I have been on for many years and is probably totally different now but just before you get to the top the ground drops out from under you as you go over a huge bowl (remember this is my brain from being around 7-10 years old remember how "huge" it is) and it always freaked me out. And I'd been riding it since I was 1. Now, it's entirely possible that my memories of it are flawed and I'd see it now and laugh at myself.
sibhusky
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
There was a lift at Sunshine Village that I had to get on when my daughter was about 10-ish, so 10 years ago. My brother weighs close to 300 pounds. It was a two seater and there were three of us. I was concerned that with his weight plus my weight that small metal axle/shaft/whatever that was the only thing really holding this was going to break. I couldn't explain that to him, however. The chair when straight up the side of a cliff, in front of your nose would be the rocks, below your legs, however was hundreds of feet of nothingness. I confess that I actually put my daughter on with my brother on one trip, but I DID have to ride up with him once. I thought the ride would never end. I kept looking at the size of that shaft, realizing it was smaller in diameter than any of my fingers, wondering when the last time someone had replaced it.....
Bravosarah
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The Orange Chair at Whistler goes over a cliff face for about 500ft. You're so close to the jagged rocks there is a sign that says "Keep your ski tips up"
Acrophobia
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Mt. Baker has a few of what I'd call experts-only lifts. To get onto one lift you have to ski up this short, steep ramp, hockey stop in a tight space, then get on this really fast-moving double. The seats slope downwards and are covered with ice. No safety bar, of course!
One of our party slipped off the lift while loading, fell down, and very nearly got clocked in the head by the chair as it swung by.
One of our party slipped off the lift while loading, fell down, and very nearly got clocked in the head by the chair as it swung by.
cinnabon
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm a big wimp because I am used to skiing in the East where safety bars are required to be on the lifts and to be used. When I skied in UT I hated that even when there were safety bars, no one seemed to use them. But the only time I was truly terrified was at Alta. It was my first time there, and I was by myself. It was a very windy day, with white out conditions at the top. Both the Collins lift, and I forget the name of the other main quad, were swaying back and forth so hard I was holding on for dear life.
Although they are newer lifts, apparently they removed the safety bars because no one used them anyway. After those lift rides I was so scared I seriously considered stopping skiing for the day... but I didn't.:D Since I'll be skiing only in UT this season, I suppose I will have to learn to get used to the lack of safety bars.
Although they are newer lifts, apparently they removed the safety bars because no one used them anyway. After those lift rides I was so scared I seriously considered stopping skiing for the day... but I didn't.:D Since I'll be skiing only in UT this season, I suppose I will have to learn to get used to the lack of safety bars.I can't think of one like that, Robyn -- do you remember any run names?
For me, the two seaters, there are two of them at Bogus that spook me, only as I'm getting on. Oh, Robyn, maybe it's the Showcase chair -- I can see where that one might look pretty intimidating at that age, and it's one of my scary chairs -- it's a fast one coming at you as you're getting on, and a little bit high for my knee-height, so the sit is hard and sometimes painful. There's another one at Bogus like that -- someday, maybe I'll quit saying oh shicks oh shicks oh shicks as I'm getting on those!
But I don't know how I survived the one at Grand Targhee that was a two seater with a pole in the middle and almost no outside protection on the two sides. Had my arm wrapped incredibly tightly around that center pole, a death grip if that's possible!
Karen in Boise
T
tbnext
Guest
What I find totally amazing is all these USA scary lifts. From the land of cotton wool people-or so I thought!!!
I'm an Aussie, there is NO SUCH THING as a lift without a safety bar here-Utah freaked me out.
However it doesn't win, Japan, single chair lifts no bar no nothing-like sitting on a plank of wood. Val D'isere lifts that go up AND OVER and DOWN stupid steep mountains. V V scary.
I'm an Aussie, there is NO SUCH THING as a lift without a safety bar here-Utah freaked me out.
However it doesn't win, Japan, single chair lifts no bar no nothing-like sitting on a plank of wood. Val D'isere lifts that go up AND OVER and DOWN stupid steep mountains. V V scary.
Robyn
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yeah, Vail Colorado has one of those lifts that goes up, over, down then back up and the first time I rode it I was freaked out! I hear you loud and clear on that. Something about the land dropping out in front of your visual field is just scary.
Pandita
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Two things: One is when I was at Alta last year for the first time skiing out West. I think it was sugarloaf lift or he collins lift, I just remember going up and up and up and you couldn't see to the top because you just kept going over these cliffs and trees and scary black diamond slopes - (at least it appeared that way at the time).
The other one is at 7 springs mainly because as you load the chair comes around super fast, it comes tearing around the corner - I think it is the north face lift. Not too many people use it. When it comes around, it wacks you in the back of the leg and forces you to sit down. A few times I was worried ti would knock me forward as it had to a few people ahead of me in the line. Even the lift operaters seem to hold on to this chair for dear life as it comes around the bottom
The other one is at 7 springs mainly because as you load the chair comes around super fast, it comes tearing around the corner - I think it is the north face lift. Not too many people use it. When it comes around, it wacks you in the back of the leg and forces you to sit down. A few times I was worried ti would knock me forward as it had to a few people ahead of me in the line. Even the lift operaters seem to hold on to this chair for dear life as it comes around the bottom
Christy
Angel Diva
Interesting...so there are regional differences with who uses safety bars and who doesn't? I've only skied in the PNW, and only for a couple seasons, but I was surprised when I started that chairs either didn't have safety bars, or if they did, people rarely pulled them down. I'm used to it now but this is not the norm other places?
Sherry
Diva in Training
We have safety bars here in UT. Mostly the lifts aren't all that scary and people don't fall off so they don't get used a lot. In fact, on a still day they can be a pain, especially with a rookie on board who forgets how to get his skiis off the rests or forgets to raise it.
I'm pretty keen on having that safety bar down, especially if I have my beginner daughter on the chair with me. I think it's a psychological thing, just having that bar in front makes me feel more secure.
I was laughing at some of the Warren Miller clips the other day, the ones that show offloading the chairs. Thinking that my daughter would find it hilarious, I called her over to have a look. Big mistake. I'm going to spend the first half of the coming season reassuring her that she is quite capable of staying upright exiting the chair. (Bad Mommy... )
I was laughing at some of the Warren Miller clips the other day, the ones that show offloading the chairs. Thinking that my daughter would find it hilarious, I called her over to have a look. Big mistake. I'm going to spend the first half of the coming season reassuring her that she is quite capable of staying upright exiting the chair. (Bad Mommy...
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