Chair falls off lift

legalskier · Mar 30, 2015

Empty, thank goodness, at Mt Bachelor:

http://www.ktvz.com/news/empty-chair-plunges-off-mt-bachelor-ski-lift/32078340

'Witness Scott Fleck said the "chair slid down the cable (and) met another chair, then went into the towers and peeled off," falling to the snow below.'

Edd · Mar 30, 2015

Holy shit.

Not Sure · Mar 30, 2015

In the 70's A buddy of mine was next inline loading when a chair came around Bull wheel and flew off , fortunately no one was hit.
Same place had a T bar d rope , kids doing snowplow/slingshots although I did it too but wasn't responsible that night.

thetrailboss · Mar 30, 2015

Looks like an older Doppelmayr HSQ. I think I heard that those grips could be problematic.

HowieT2 · Mar 30, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to watch the lift mechanics reinstalling a chair onto the castlerock lift at sugarbush. They had taken it off to put on a work platform in order to address a sheave alignment issue. Basically, what I saw was them manually hoist the chair onto the grip which is attached to the cable. Then they seemed to secure it with a big wrench. Interesting to me.

Jully · Mar 30, 2015

thetrailboss said:
Looks like an older Doppelmayr HSQ. I think I heard that those grips could be problematic.

Problematic like older, original Yan detach grips problematic? That's a tad frightening

thetrailboss · Mar 30, 2015

Jully said:
Problematic like older, original Yan detach grips problematic? That's a tad frightening

Not quite as bad as the Yan issues. The Yan problem was very widespread.

My understanding was that Doppelmayr, out of an abundance of caution, was going to replace these grips that were used on their first/second generation of HSQ's from the early and mid 1990's.

I think that they have redesigned them so that they have heavier springs.

SkiingInABlueDream · Mar 30, 2015

It's also fortunate the chair didn't hit anyone on the ground.

It occurs to me that possibly every account I've read of chairs sliding on the rope and getting tangled up, also involves a chair falling to the ground. I don't know, I could be mis-remembering.

But it has me wondering now what to do in the situation where the chair in front of you is sliding back toward you, or you sense the chair you're seated on sliding backward. What to do? If I *had* to fall 40ft I think I'd rather not fall with the chair.:sad:

wa-loaf · Mar 30, 2015

After the whole Sugarloaf thing I spent every chair ride this weekend trying to figure out the best place to jump off if needed ...

Domeskier · Mar 30, 2015

skifastr said:
If I *had* to fall 40ft I think I'd rather not fall with the chair.:sad:

It's got me wondering whether riding with the bar down might be risky too. I suspect it would be pretty difficult to get free of a falling chair even if the bar was up, though...

SkiingInABlueDream · Mar 30, 2015

Domeskier said:
It's got me wondering whether riding with the bar down might be risky too. I suspect it would be pretty difficult to get free of a falling chair even if the bar was up, though...

That's an interesting point and I've heard ppl cite that as a rationalization for riding bar up. I'd say technically yes, you have better chance of separating yourself from a falling chair with the bar up in the first place. But in reality I think the difference is nil. If the chair falls you're going down with it either way. Gravity is a fast acceleration.

And further, by leaving the bar up you lose it's benefit if the chair makes a sudden stop or some extreme swinging or bouncing develops.

I'm past the point where I need disobey rules just because they're there.

tumbler · Mar 30, 2015

Glad Sugarbush doesn't have any Doppelmayr HSQ's from the mid 90's....I'll be thinking about that next time I go over the ravine in Slide Brook.

C-Rex · Mar 30, 2015

skifastr said:
That's an interesting point and I've heard ppl cite that as a rationalization for riding bar up. I'd say technically yes, you have better chance of separating yourself from a falling chair with the bar up in the first place. But in reality I think the difference is nil. If the chair falls you're going down with it either way. Gravity is a fast acceleration.

And further, by leaving the bar up you lose it's benefit if the chair makes a sudden stop or some extreme swinging or bouncing develops.

I'm past the point where I need disobey rules just because they're there.

Agreed. I'd imagine the odds of falling off a chair are much higher than the odds of the chair falling off the rope. I don't even pretend to be the tough guy that has to leave the bar up. I've read way too many stories about people falling off to screw around. Even with the odds being really low, it just seems like a stupid way to potentially get killed when it can be fairly easily prevented. Plus, I like to lean forward, and chairs with foot rests are much more comfortable.

SkiingInABlueDream · Mar 30, 2015

^^^ Agree on all points. Except footrests. I prefer no footrest. I'm usually more comfortable with my feet free hanging.

Die heretic!!!:flame:
j/k

thetrailboss · Mar 30, 2015

tumbler said:
Glad Sugarbush doesn't have any Doppelmayr HSQ's from the mid 90's....I'll be thinking about that next time I go over the ravine in Slide Brook.

Um, they do. Unless they swapped out the grips on the Super Bravo, Slide Brook, and Gate House, those are similar to this one. (Someone correct me if I am wrong).

Edd · Mar 30, 2015

skifastr said:
That's an interesting point and I've heard ppl cite that as a rationalization for riding bar up. I'd say technically yes, you have better chance of separating yourself from a falling chair with the bar up in the first place. But in reality I think the difference is nil. If the chair falls you're going down with it either way. Gravity is a fast acceleration.

And further, by leaving the bar up you lose it's benefit if the chair makes a sudden stop or some extreme swinging or bouncing develops.

I'm past the point where I need disobey rules just because they're there.

Yeah, bar down all the way for me. Even though, I often ride with it up, which is dumb I think.

CoolMike · Mar 30, 2015

tumbler said:
Glad Sugarbush doesn't have any Doppelmayr HSQ's from the mid 90's....I'll be thinking about that next time I go over the ravine in Slide Brook.

I wish I hadn't read this. Now this will be on my mind as well heading across the basin on the lift...

catskills · Mar 30, 2015

skifastr said:
......
But it has me wondering now what to do in the situation where the chair in front of you is sliding back toward you, or you sense the chair you're seated on sliding backward. What to do? If I *had* to fall 40ft I think I'd rather not fall with the chair.:sad:

Many years ago I was liftie at mid-station on a day that my lift had a loaded chair slide back into another loaded chair. Fortunately the chair below had two employees that slid off the chair without raising the safety bar. I talked to them personally and got to see the damaged chair first hand since it was removed it at my mid-station ramp. There was NO TIME to raise the safety bar. The employees dropped only 7 feet to the ground since this was at the lowest spot on the lift at a pull down tower. The loaded chair slid into the employees chair and bent their chair really bad. The two employees in the chair below would have had 4 broken legs if they did not get off that chair. The loaded chair that slid backward stopped when it hit the employees chair below. It was reported that the customers in the chair that slid had only minor back pain.

skiNEwhere · Mar 30, 2015

skifastr said:
That's an interesting point and I've heard ppl cite that as a rationalization for riding bar up. I'd say technically yes, you have better chance of separating yourself from a falling chair with the bar up in the first place. But in reality I think the difference is nil. If the chair falls you're going down with it either way. Gravity is a fast acceleration.

And further, by leaving the bar up you lose it's benefit if the chair makes a sudden stop or some extreme swinging or bouncing develops.

That makes about as much sense as refusing to wear your seatbelt out of fear that you'll drown if you crash into a lake.

Like you were saying, if you leave the bar up you'll lose your benefit for a small amount of protection if an unexpected gust of wind hits you, which is much more likely than a grip failure.

Chair falls off lift

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