Bad Moves on the Lift

[bvibert]

Drink a few beers maybe your blood pressure will stay happier.

I wish some of you could spend just one day working as a liftie scanning passes/tiks. It's just as frustrating to the liftie when the scanners don't work. It may shock you but they want to keep every chair full on busy days as much as you do. On some days problems with the scanners happen too often, especially in cold weather. Some scanners don't scan thru the plastic see-thru pocket you might have your pass/tik in. Most lifties if it won't scan after 2/3 times will let you pass.

All the scanners should work most of the time but sometimes they don't. Please don't take it out on the liftie/scanner as it usually not their fault. Alot of the problems have to due with the battery. Resorts should have charged batteries ready to go in the bottom lift station of every lift and should change them before they go dead or a low enough charge they won't scan. It would be great if every resort had have the latest most powerful scanners, enough extra batteries and the time to check the battery level often when it's busy but the reality is they all don't.

Other things that slow down the line, people who put their pass/tik in a place the liftie can't readily see. Perhaps some people do it on purpose. :wink: Have your tik/pass out and ready to be scanned.

We all want to get going up the mountain, the lifties want the same thing. If the scanner isn't working I don't think it would delay things for more than 10 sec. I hear alot of disrespectful comments. No need for it.
The liftie is probably already having a bad day and probably trying to make the best of it. Put yourself in their place, keep your cool.

Thanks SRO, well put.

FYI to others that have mentioned it; scanning the tickets is to prevent ticket fraud, plain and simple. They may get some marketing value out of the data, but it's secondary.

 

[kingslug]

Scanning.....annoying but what can you do? It's the same as me having to show my ID every time I enter my building...and I run the place.

 

[RENO]

At Blue mountain..they scan outside of both lodges so I can put my pass in my pocket while skiing if I want so it's not flapping in the breeze..and it works out well because there is no need for anybody to check passes at the lifts...it's also good for people who buy a morning pass because they can ski longer as long as they don't go into the lodge..

That's what I usually do at Blue. :-D I'll take a lunch break about 11:30 and then head back out around 12 and usually go till 2. Haven't been there in a couple season's. Plan on hitting Blue this coming season though...

 

[severine]

At Blue mountain..they scan outside of both lodges so I can put my pass in my pocket while skiing if I want so it's not flapping in the breeze..and it works out well because there is no need for anybody to check passes at the lifts...it's also good for people who buy a morning pass because they can ski longer as long as they don't go into the lodge..

FYI to others that have mentioned it; scanning the tickets is to prevent ticket fraud, plain and simple. They may get some marketing value out of the data, but it's secondary.

EXACTLY. And what GSS mentioned IS ticket fraud. Knowing that if he didn't have his ticket scanned right away, he could get away with using it longer than the stated time on it.

Ticket scanners where I worked were considered Loss Prevention employees.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

That's what I usually do at Blue. :-D I'll take a lunch break about 11:30 and then head back out around 12 and usually go till 2. Haven't been there in a couple season's. Plan on hitting Blue this coming season though...

Totally I have a season pass so it doesn't matter to me but I always used to do exactly what you described..The good thing is that the weekend morning pass is good from 7:30AM-12:30PM for 5 hours which allows lots of runs..

 

[cbcbd]

I've been known to throw the accidental elbow to avoid that. They're gonna fall anyway, no need to get dragged down with them.

I find that growling to myself on the lift keeps people from touching me.
And usually when I get on the lift I start off by telling the other chair mates my personal disclaimer:
"No smoking or I'm calling the cops. Especially if I smell Mary Juana.
I control when the bar goes up or down and will tell YOU when that shall happen.
If you start swinging the chair I will bite you.
If you touch my skis with yours I will bite you.
If you do anything that endangers my vert or run count for the day I will bite you.
Understood?"

And they usually do.

 

[billski]

All I'm saying is that scanners at the base lifts are now part of the process at many of the large resorts. They are not going away.

, no reason to get upset at them. That's all.

Agreed, but good management empowers it's employees to compensate for the failure of the infrastructure...(i.e., scanner fails, let 'em go...)

 

[billski]

I find that growling to myself on the lift keeps people from touching me.
And usually when I get on the lift I start off by telling the other chair mates my personal disclaimer:
"No smoking or I'm calling the cops. Especially if I smell Mary Juana.
I control when the bar goes up or down and will tell YOU when that shall happen.
If you start swinging the chair I will bite you.
If you touch my skis with yours I will bite you.
If you do anything that endangers my vert or run count for the day I will bite you.
Understood?"

And they usually do.

Gee Chris, this really motivates me to ride the chair with you!
Make you a deal. We'll get on a 6-pack (chair that is), left is your side, right is my side, nobody in the middle. The Indians figured that out a long time ago...

LAKE CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG

In the 1920's, a reporter for The Webster Times, Lawrence J. Daly, wrote that it was a Nipmuck Indian word meaning "You fish on your side, I fish on my side and nobody fishes in the middle." That stuck even though Mr. Daly confessed repeatedly that he had made the whole thing up.
source: http://www.websterlakeassociation.com

 

[cbcbd]

Gee Chris, this really motivates me to ride the chair with you!

Lol, I guess I forgot to close my post with:

" "


I'm just messin'... people on the lift don't usually bother me, everyone's got their quirks.
...I do enough damage to my skis on my own anyway, someone skiing over them (while annoying) or accidentally banging them on the lift doesn't really get a rise out of me.
...I like my helmet because I can get a smack on the head once in a while and not be bothered by it. Stuff happens, people don't usually mean to wack each other on the head with bars.
...I don't like tobacco smoke but hey, we're outside at least. I could care less about the cheeba cheeba when not around kids
...I guess the lifts I tend to ride have minimal gaperificness... I don't remember ever being grabbed for support - maybe its because I suck at skiing

 

[AdironRider]

As a former smoker (24 days butt free!) it always annoyed me when people would get all butthurt cause I was smoking OUTSIDE. There was one instance that still sticks out in my mind that happened last season on the Thunder lift at Jackson. Its a pretty low-key midweek day with a couple inches new (this past season that was nothing). Anyways Im riding solo on the lift (a full chair ahea of said douchebag) smoking minding my own business. We get to the top and unload and he proceeds to lay into me about how Im ruining his experience blah blah blah. I pretty much flew off the handle on the guy. Look people, your outside. I can smoke if I want to. I already cant indoors pretty much anywhere these days. But if you want to try and control my personal habits outdoors where its no harm to you, well you can pound sand....

 

[bigbog]

...agreed...

;-);-)..
I know what you guys mean....
I wish all the aholes that are a couple of descents away from bar-time...would simply give up, grow up, and just head to the bar...where they wanna end up anyways...

$.01
SteveD

 

[bigbog]

...uh uh..;-)

So how about a low-tech solution like reading the ticket date stamp?
1. Scan once
2. If scan fails, look at the ticket you're holding for the proper date and empower the liftie to just let them go.....

Unfortunately this is what is known as...the phony ticket! ...and, as you've shown...as most of us would encourage when in line, we would like the liftie to do exactly that...AND SO WOULD THE SCAMMER! ..nothing like group-peer-pressure to help out the photocopy artist... that's the easy way to photocopy your way to a free day of skiing....
I think the handheld HW is the most inexpensive way to go....hey, if MRG can survive...with it's single-lift I think we can wait...but would be great if lifties would be provided with several scanners...there's most always one person at the bottom with nothing to do...seems like they can clean off a scanner while the other two-three work...

$.01

 

[bigbog]

....wow..

Lol, I guess I forgot to close my post with:

" "

So cbc ...you're gonna simply accept that stuff about what's left and what's right..as well as a little emphasis of "authority to preserve order"....from a Massachusetts driver...? ...:roll::roll:

 

[riverc0il]

As a former smoker (24 days butt free!) it always annoyed me when people would get all butthurt cause I was smoking OUTSIDE. There was one instance that still sticks out in my mind that happened last season on the Thunder lift at Jackson. Its a pretty low-key midweek day with a couple inches new (this past season that was nothing). Anyways Im riding solo on the lift (a full chair ahea of said douchebag) smoking minding my own business. We get to the top and unload and he proceeds to lay into me about how Im ruining his experience blah blah blah. I pretty much flew off the handle on the guy. Look people, your outside. I can smoke if I want to. I already cant indoors pretty much anywhere these days. But if you want to try and control my personal habits outdoors where its no harm to you, well you can pound sand....

I think this issue has been dealt with before, but cigarette smoke really bothers some people (I am one of those people though my body tolerates it much more than it used to). It isn't just ruining the experience for some people, it makes some people feel sick and it is an annoyance to people who can not move to avoid the cigarette cloud. Normally, I don't care if people smoke outside. If I am down wind, I move or reposition myself. But when you are on a chair, you are stuck breathing in the smoke for the entire duration of the cigarette. Same when you are in the lift coral. No place to go. And trust me when I say that smoke from one or two chairs up is painfully noticeable. The smoke doesn't just dissipate instantly.

Regarding the "no harm" aspect, you are correct in that breathing a little second hand smoke outside really is not harming any one. But then again, it wouldn't be harming anyone to go up to them and spit on their clothing either. There are a lot of things we just don't do to other people even if it wouldn't cause them harm. Just common decency. No one is trying to restrict your access to smoking. Rather they are just saying please don't blow your smoke into my face. Which is exactly what happens when you are riding a lift and someone is smoking on the next chair.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

As a former smoker (24 days butt free!) it always annoyed me when people would get all butthurt cause I was smoking OUTSIDE. There was one instance that still sticks out in my mind that happened last season on the Thunder lift at Jackson. Its a pretty low-key midweek day with a couple inches new (this past season that was nothing). Anyways Im riding solo on the lift (a full chair ahea of said douchebag) smoking minding my own business. We get to the top and unload and he proceeds to lay into me about how Im ruining his experience blah blah blah. I pretty much flew off the handle on the guy. Look people, your outside. I can smoke if I want to. I already cant indoors pretty much anywhere these days. But if you want to try and control my personal habits outdoors where its no harm to you, well you can pound sand....

What do you do with your cigarette butt????:uzi:

 

[AdironRider]

Respect for others? Are you serious? I really could give a crap if it makes you uncomfortable that Im smoking 50 feet in front or behind you (complete guess on chair spacing, I bet its more), which was the case in question. I would argue that its respectful to let one do as they wish in that situation. If I was sitting next to you different story. Whenever I rode a lift with others I always asked out of respect as I would be sitting right next to them. But if Im 50+ feet away from you, you can deal. You might get a hint of the smell, but there certainly isnt a cloud overcoming you. Like I said, if you're going to get all worked up over that, pound sand. It would even be a stretch to complain about someone smoking 50 feet away from you indoors, let alone outside. That is not blowing smoke in your face, not even close.

I usually buttraped em (flicked the cherry and remaining tobacco away), and stuck the filter in my pocket, even though camels (my cig when I smoked) have 100% cotton filters and biodegrade. Its the marbs and parliaments that end up littering everywhere. Funny story actually. At the place I rented in Jackson my roomate and I would smoke butts out on the deck. There was 4 feet of snow out there the whole winter so we usually just flicked em into the snow and planned on sweeping em up in the spring when we moved. Come spring time all the camel butts were gone and the only ones left were his marbs. Got myself out of butt cleanup duty thanks to good ol mother nature. Sweet.

 

[riverc0il]

Respect for others? Are you serious? I really could give a crap if it makes you uncomfortable that Im smoking 50 feet in front or behind you (complete guess on chair spacing, I bet its more), which was the case in question. I would argue that its respectful to let one do as they wish in that situation. If I was sitting next to you different story. Whenever I rode a lift with others I always asked out of respect as I would be sitting right next to them. But if Im 50+ feet away from you, you can deal. You might get a hint of the smell, but there certainly isnt a cloud overcoming you.

I figured that was the response I would get. Much the same type of responses were made by both smokers and ex-smokers in the last thread we had on the issue.

You don't seem to understand, but with certain wind directions, cigarette smoke is actually worse when you are down wind (even at a distance, believe it or not) rather than sitting right next to someone (also, your 50 foot estimate is a bit far, IMO, except maybe for high speed lifts). In other words, it is worse for the chair downwind than for someone sitting right next to you in the chair. I have been in both situations and honestly was not bothered sitting next to someone that smoked that blew away from the chair though the person in the next chair back may not have felt the same.

Respect for others? Am I serious? Yes. Someone approached you about the problem and you failed to consider their personal perspective when you were infringing upon them. That to me is lack of respect. Not only did you not consider their perspective but you blasted them for expressing concern that you were doing something that negatively effected them. Your right as an individual extends to the point that your rights infringe upon other people. Infringing upon other people and not caring about said infringement is a lack of respect, IMO. Not to mention callous. Just because it doesn't bother you and you don't think your actions would be unpleasant to others does not mean that your actions can not possibly have a highly unpleasant effect upon someone else. That is essentially a sociopathic perspective on how one's actions effect other people. Sorry to sound preachy but it is this aspect of human nature that depresses me the most.

 

[Greg]

As much as I hate to agree with A-Ride for no other reason than his abrasive condescending tone, I do. While you might be annoyed by someone smoking a chair ahead of you, rarely will you get a cloud of smoke in your face. You'll smell it, sure, but not constantly unless it's an unusually calm day, and even then, you probably will only get a whiff here and there. I really can't imagine that smoke at that distance can make another person physically sick. And the spitting on someone's clothes analogy doesn't hold any water. Sorry, Steve, but in that instance you're defacing someone else's property. A closer analogy would be someone in the chair ahead of you with an annoyingly loud voice. Like a butt on the chair ahead of you, it's annoying, but really, that's all you can call it.

 

[awf170]

This thread makes me want to never ride a lift again...


-The Pretentious Turn Earner

 

[hardline]

I find that growling to myself on the lift keeps people from touching me.
And usually when I get on the lift I start off by telling the other chair mates my personal disclaimer:
"No smoking or I'm calling the cops. Especially if I smell Mary Juana.
I control when the bar goes up or down and will tell YOU when that shall happen.
If you start swinging the chair I will bite you.
If you touch my skis with yours I will bite you.
If you do anything that endangers my vert or run count for the day I will bite you.
Understood?"

And they usually do.

if someone said that to me i would do everything he said not to do. just for being such a crab ass and not even saying hello.