Winds Derail the Peruvian

[dloveski]

The Peruvian Lift at Snowbird was evacuated today due to 70 mph winds. The Peruvian is a long lift that bridges some pretty steep terrain, so I'm sure it was an interesting experience for both guests and rescuers.
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Wind shuts down Snowbird ski lift
March 4th, 2009 @ 2:34pm
SALT LAKE COUNTY -- Seventy-mph winds have forced Snowbird Ski Resort to shut down and evacuate the Peruvian Express Ski Lift Wednesday afternoon.

More than 80 people had to be lowered from the lift with harnesses and rope.

The lift automatically shut down when the wind blew the cables out of alignment.

The resort's tram is also shut down, but the resort remains open.

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these winds are awful----hope the Divas at the Summit in Colorado are spared.

 

[ski diva]

Oof, that would scare the bejeebers out of me! Hope everyone got down okay.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Wow. Scary is right.
Newer chairs have these sensors that shut things down when winds get fierce. Or some do? Must have come up hard and fast!!

Hope all are okay.

 

[Shellski]

I was just watching that on the news. We decided not to ski today because of the weather, otherwise we would have been at Snowbird. I would have been hysterical with fear if I'd be on that lift. However, from the footage on the news it does have a safety bar. How would you manage on one of the many chairs here that doesn't have a bar in these sort of winds??

 

[Slidergirl]

Cream of Wheat and cookie sheet

That described Park City Mountain Resort today. I didn't ski much today, but I either skied a run that was slick as a cookie sheet (I got blown sideways down part of a run - no edge kept me from slipping, so I was basically sideslipping down the run with wind assist) or Cream of Wheat consistency. Not fun. I wasn't going to go out, but it was "Lunch at Crescent" today. The lifties at Crescent cook up lunch on Wednesdays at the top lift shack. They have a George Foreman grill, a microwave, and a mini-fridge (I donated it). They told me yesterday that they bought food for me too (making panninis), I felt kind of obligated to go. The ride up the Crescent lift was mostly OK, with occasional slowdowns along the way. But, at the last uphill, it starts to howl. I was getting pelted by ice pellets. I got to the top and dove into the shack. The guys (2 lifties and a lift maintenance guy) are looking at the windspeeds on the monitor. Wow. They are running about 30 mph with gusts to 50. I saw one go to 55 mph while I was in there. The maintenance guy tells the one liftie that he better get ready to ride the lift down (he doesn't have his skis with him) because he's getting ready to shut the lift down for wind. The reason the lift showed while I was on it was because the lift automatically slows down if it senses wind at a certain speed. I was looking over at Deer Valley and saw that the 2 lifts visible (Empire and Lady Morgan) were not running. Here at PCMR, the Jupiter lift wasn't running. It was gnarly outside - I was SOOO glad I was inside the shack!!! When lunch was done, I ventured out and put on my skis and headed down the easiest way just to be sure I could see and didn't get into a situation where I could fall and just slide. Well, Homerun was pretty mushy until it met the merge point of going to the Bonanza lift. Then, that little section was totally devoid of any snow or mush. I was standing at the crest, and a gust came up and literally pushed me in a sideslip about 15 feet down the grade!! Even my finely tuned Auras could not grab an edge to stop. I felt so sorry for the beginners trying to get down that part of the run. After that icy section, the run turned into pure Cream of Wheat. Fortunately, the Auras performed fantastically in cutting through that stuff. But, man, it was H*LL on my knees!!! When I got to the bottom, I said my goodbyes to some of my fellow scanners and got out of there.
I'm not surprised that the chair at Snowbird had issues. If our wind gusts were at 50+, I'm sure that the Bird had far greater gusts. It's a good day when everyone can be evac'd from a chair without incident. It had to be a terrifying experience for all the guests.

 

[plainjane]

That would be a scary place to be! I sometimes get creeped out on the Little Cloud lift when it gets windy, that double chair seems seems so flimsy sometimes and I feel like I'm dangling when it gets near the top. Hope all the skiers are warm and safe and sound now.

 

[Telluride Ski Babe]

The winds were CRAZY today. Driving home from the Summit I nearly got either a) blown off the road...well, it was hard to control my SUV, and/or b) hit by HUGE flying debris coming across the highway.

My friends from NY said the Gold Hill lift closed today at Telluride because of winds, so they were forced to take Lift 12 and go down Galloping Goose (a really, really long and gentle double green) to base. Oy...

 

[skibum4ever]

Scary.

Hope there are no winds delays flying into Denver tomorrow.

 

[GimpyGal]

The NOAA website showed a 73mph gust at high noon at the top of Bald at DV yesterday. And where was I at that time? Exactly! Just preparing to get off the chair at the top. We were like 100 feet out, bar up, chair going slowly because of the wind when the gust hit. The chair swung back so hard and pushed our tips down so quickly we thought we were all going to get dumped out! It was all we could do to get our tips up and out in front of us. And of course I was in the middle so didn't have anything to hold onto. Scary stuff. Needless to say the top shut down right after that. Definitely something I don't need to experience ever again!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Oh, the wind. Glad you got off okay!!
Speaking as a frequent skier of a notoriously very windy mountain (Sugarloaf, ME), I am aware.

Not long ago, DH and I were among the last to unload a HSQ, which was starting to have issues with the re-engagement mechanism due to lateral sway. And there definitely are times when unloading is next to impossible due to head winds.

"Wind hold" is a frequently heard expression at this mountain, which would benefit (to the cheers of the regulars) from reinstating a few more t-bars (only one remains and is often the sole lift to anywhere near the summit during wind hold) -- the resort used to have quite a few; the t-bar lines are now open, narrow runs. It wouldn't be altogether difficult to put them back (different ones, of course, the originals being long gone). At least no forest-clearing would be required.

I think last season had at least 10 complete wind hold days (meaning NO lifts running ANYWHERE on the mountain...real bad for business...)

 

[Pequenita]

The chair swung back so hard and pushed our tips down so quickly we thought we were all going to get dumped out! It was all we could do to get our tips up and out in front of us. And of course I was in the middle so didn't have anything to hold onto. Scary stuff. Needless to say the top shut down right after that. Definitely something I don't need to experience ever again!

This is actually a fear I have, that winds will someday catch on my skis and flip me out. Yikes. I'm glad you made it through your experience!

 

[Robyn]

Oh, the wind. Glad you got off okay!!
Speaking as a frequent skier of a notoriously very windy mountain (Sugarloaf, ME), I am aware.

Not long ago, DH and I were among the last to unload a HSQ, which was starting to have issues with the re-engagement mechanism due to lateral sway. And there definitely are times when unloading is next to impossible due to head winds.

"Wind hold" is a frequently heard expression at this mountain, which would benefit (to the cheers of the regulars) from reinstating a few more t-bars (only one remains and is often the sole lift to anywhere near the summit during wind hold) -- the resort used to have quite a few; the t-bar lines are now open, narrow runs. It wouldn't be altogether difficult to put them back (different ones, of course, the originals being long gone). At least no forest-clearing would be required.

I think last season had at least 10 complete wind hold days (meaning NO lifts running ANYWHERE on the mountain...real bad for business...)

Interesting. Around here our Poma at Copper gets shut down frequently for wind (as it did the day the Summit was there). I wonder what the official difference is for wind speed shut down for a lift vs. surface lift?

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Oh, I know that poma, and it's OUT THERE - very exposed and wind-vulnerable.

Since we get such frequent wind holds here, the subject comes up often for discussion on resort forums, with lift employees frequently contributing. Mostly, chairlift closures have their basis in 2 things: wind direction and speed. Lateral winds are murder on detachable chairs. Not good for most, but particularly hard on detach. Head winds affect the bullwheel and unloading. All of this gets a little mechanical/techno-geek for me, however, as I'm not real familiar with even the names of the various chairlift parts. However, out here, the mountains are extremely wooded, almost TOO wooded (we are forever clearing our glades of undergrowth and brush). So surface lifts generally have a lot of wind protection from either side in a narrow t-bar track. (Although unloading in an open area, as I will attest, can be tricky.) Once the unloading and swing of the mechanism (t-bar or poma) are impeded, the lift is dangerous.

 

[Slidergirl]

The NOAA website showed a 73mph gust at high noon at the top of Bald at DV yesterday. And where was I at that time? Exactly! Just preparing to get off the chair at the top. We were like 100 feet out, bar up, chair going slowly because of the wind when the gust hit. The chair swung back so hard and pushed our tips down so quickly we thought we were all going to get dumped out! It was all we could do to get our tips up and out in front of us. And of course I was in the middle so didn't have anything to hold onto. Scary stuff. Needless to say the top shut down right after that. Definitely something I don't need to experience ever again!

Yeah, it was a mess up at DV/PC yesterday, wind-wise. I'm glad that you made it down off of Baldy OK. It was pretty scary on the chairs yesterday. I guess wer're lucky we didn't get stuck and have to get roped down like those folks at the Bird. When I was on my way up Crescent, my skis kept getting pushed downward. I worked hard to keep my tip up. Yep, I didn't have the bar down, but I was holding to the back of the chair. I kept thinking "so this is how the ski jumpers feel" as the wind pushed under my skis. I was watching the chairs ahead of me sway back and forth - I know when the sway gets to about 6 inches, they will shutdown. I could hear the metal flashing along the tower ladders rattling as I went from tower to tower. Crescent isn't the highest chair at PC, but it is at the top of the first ridge (Ski Team Ridge).

Did you notice all the dust in the air??? It made the sky look just like it does when it's snowing - that low-hanging cloud-like look. When I got down to the base, I put my ungloved hand to my face and felt nothing but GRIT!!! My eyes felt really gritty, too, despite wearing my sunglasses. When I got home, I washed my face pretty well and took out my contacts and doused my eyes in saline.

 

[missyd]

Interesting. Around here our Poma at Copper gets shut down frequently for wind (as it did the day the Summit was there). I wonder what the official difference is for wind speed shut down for a lift vs. surface lift?

There is a big difference! Chairlift has to shut down (or at least slow down) if the wind gets around/over 40km/h. Constant windspeed will shut down the motor automatically on newer chairlifts. Gusts may reach higher windspeeds but the chairlift will slow down. On older chairlift models its up to the operator to slow down/shut down the lift which may be a high risk factor. It also depends which chairs are used (2-8person, with bubble, fixed/detachable etc.). A skilift (surface lift) maybe shuts down because people will be "blown away" ... I would say around 60-80km/h .... but with windspeeds of 60-80km/h its not fun to ski .... so it may shut down before the wind reaches this speed!
In Switzerland at an older chairlift (2p) the cable derailed first and then because of the high winds jumped out security catches on the pylons. Some chairs crashed on the slope and 1 man died and 2 where injured seriously!!! The accident could have been prevented by shutting down the lift automatically and by using other wheels on the pylons.

If somebody is interested I can ask my buddies from the chair/skilift forum.

 

[GimpyGal]

At my old home area in Washington the upper mountain used to declare wind holds with the faintest of breezes. The local joke was that they were cutting back so that they could afford to pay the electric bills!

While the other chairs on Bald were shut down the one I was on faced directly into the oncoming wind so there was little to no lateral chair movement and was able to stay up and running longer. I sure was nervous going up it though as it kept going slower and slower. I know once those sensors say "enough" that's it and you're pretty much stuck like those folks were at the Bird.

The dust was something wasn't it. It kept getting worse and worse as the afternoon wore on. And with the new snow that mixed in with it last night all our windows are now a speckly mess!

 

[Slidergirl]

Yeah, my windows are a mess now, too. I've never seen dust like that here in the 20 years I've been here. The night before, we took down all of our lift maze fences so we could minimize wind damage. We still had some - a couple of the 4x4 poles in the ground that we attach fences to were broken. The start tent at the top of the race course was blown apart, and some trees were down around King Con. There were branches everywhere I looked. On my way down after lunch, if I came across a branch, I'd stop, pick it up, and ski it to the side of the run.

 

[dloveski]

Well, things were quite messy yesterday, but oh my my, what the wind did blow in------the snow did come and the skiing today in BCC was MAHVULOUS---------

 

[RachelV]

Well, things were quite messy yesterday, but oh my my, what the wind did blow in------the snow did come and the skiing today in BCC was MAHVULOUS---------

Oooooooh, save some for Sunday!

 

[dloveski]

don't worry, we're making more....it's on the way.

The new snow was just heavy enough to not get scraped off to cover the icy crud underneath---it was great fun.