Chairlifts with heated seats

speden · Aug 26, 2010

I was just reading that the Canyons in Utah is installing the first lift in the U.S. with heated seats. Apparently this sort of thing has been in Europe for a while. Anyone ever ride on one of those?

I can't find any information about how it works though. I wonder if they somehow supply electricity to the chairs via the lift cable. Seems like an interesting engineering challenge.

Not sure how expensive heating the seats is, but I can think of a few days where something like this might have saved me from making a warm up trip into the lodge. Maybe this could be a cheaper alternative to building a full blown gondola for some areas. I'll be curious to see if this makes its way to the northeast in a few years.

drjeff · Aug 26, 2010

speden said:
I was just reading that the Canyons in Utah is installing the first lift in the U.S. with heated seats. Apparently this sort of thing has been in Europe for a while. Anyone ever ride on one of those?

I can't find any information about how it works though. I wonder if they somehow supply electricity to the chairs via the lift cable. Seems like an interesting engineering challenge.

Not sure how expensive heating the seats is, but I can think of a few days where something like this might have saved me from making a warm up trip into the lodge. Maybe this could be a cheaper alternative to building a full blown gondola for some areas. I'll be curious to see if this makes its way to the northeast in a few years.

That lift will be warm with the bubble cover and heated seats. In the big scheme of things with where that lift line runs (or atleast the 1st 3/4ths of it which is basically the same route their Golden Eagle double ran) that will be a pretty sheltered lift, and a lift that both serves some pretty cool terrain and gives The Canyons what it really needs, another high volume lift to get folks out of the base area in during the morning rush.

Heating wise, I know from heated gondola's that each individual cabin has it's own electric heating unit, I'm guessing that these chairs will be have something similar

bvibert · Aug 26, 2010

I doubt it's any kind of system that transfers power via the haul rope. I'm thinking more likely there's a power source on the chair of some kind. Maybe a battery that gets charged as it moves through the drive and return terminals or something? It would have to be a quick charge though... I've also wondered how it would work??

neil · Aug 26, 2010

I find stuff like this absurd.

Warp Daddy · Aug 26, 2010

hey i'm ALL for Bun Warmers !!

jaywbigred · Aug 26, 2010

Haha, they need this more where we ski, and less-so in Utah, methinks.

I know my fiancée would love it! No more icy tears during lift stoppages when its 5 below.

skiNEwhere · Aug 26, 2010

Cold weather drives the crowds away. I remember when it was 30 below at killington (w wind chill) on a saturday, there were NO lift lines.

I say no on the heated seats

UVSHTSTRM · Aug 26, 2010

I hate crap like that, yeah I want a hot sweaty ass on the lift so when I get off I feel twice as cold. Plus, now that I think about it, my ass is the last thing that would be cold on a lift. Toes, fingers, face, then maybe ass. Either way it's winter so I expect to be cold.

deadheadskier · Aug 26, 2010

Whatever happened to good ole fashioned farting?

works for me and typically doesn't bother my chair mates unless the wind is blowing uphill

RISkier · Aug 26, 2010

I've ridden on them in Austria. Don't know where the power for the seat comes from. You can simply pull the bubble down like the safety bar. Ironically it was in the 30s, sunny, and not windy all but 1 or 2 days. Sort of fluff but there have been days I really wished the fourrunner quad at Stowe had heated seats and a bubble. They'd be a real nice addition to a lot of places in the Northeast.

deadheadskier · Aug 26, 2010

Fourrunner can be brutally cold. I can only imagine what the old single was like that ran there before it.

dmc · Aug 26, 2010

I wonder if people didn't like when Stowe used to give out blankets...

JimG. · Aug 26, 2010

skiNEwhere said:
Cold weather drives the crowds away. I remember when it was 30 below at killington (w wind chill) on a saturday, there were NO lift lines.

I say no on the heated seats

I like your thinking.

Totally agree.

Skimaine · Aug 26, 2010

Monte Saint Anne had a lift with a bubble (seats not heated). I found the bubble a bit distracting and a little claustrophobic. Generally not useful and we rode with it up every time. Might be useful on a windy day.

legalskier · Aug 26, 2010

Then again you could always rack it old school-

bvibert · Aug 26, 2010

legalskier said:
Then again you could always rack it old school-

There's been days when I wished I had one of those on!

Glenn · Aug 27, 2010

legalskier said:
Then again you could always rack it old school-

There's a legendary guy at Mt. Snow who skis with one of those. Just ask DrJeff. However, he skis with it on the ouside of his pants. True story.

drjeff · Aug 27, 2010

Glenn said:
There's a legendary guy at Mt. Snow who skis with one of those. Just ask DrJeff. However, he skis with it on the ouside of his pants. True story.

[size=+4]NBG!!!!![/size] :lol:

For the record, I'm NOT the legendary guy at Mount Snow that wears one of those things that Glenn was referring too! :lol:

True story about those butt covers too! Last spring a few of us Mount Snow/AZ regulars were enjoying a great spring day on the deck at Cuzzins at Mount Snow. We were talking to/joking with the general manager, and somehow the topic of the neoprene butt covers came up. It turns out that a college friend of the GM actually invented, and made a bunch of $$, from them!

Glenn · Aug 27, 2010

NBG rocks. I'll never forget the first time he blasted by me on Thanks Walt.....arms flailing as he over exagerated his pole plants. It was a sight to behold.

billski · Aug 27, 2010

dmc said:
I wonder if people didn't like when Stowe used to give out blankets...

Several places used to give out blankets. They only came out on the coldest of days and I for one appreciated them. They were relatively inexpensive, easy to administrate, didn't break down.

The easiest way to keep your butt warm was to keep it dry in the first place!

Chairlifts with heated seats

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