Date: December 25, 2006
2006 Trip Report #: 12
Resort: Burke Mountain
Conditions: FG/Grass and Air. :wink:
Weather: Partly cloudy, becoming cloudy. Temps in the 30’s.
Trip Report: An AZ First here I think. And a Trailboss first as well on two counts. First, being that this was the first ever Christmas Day that I was on the slopes. Second, this was the first time that I had to be Evac'ed from a chair!
Yep, you are not a skier unless you have been stuck on a chair and had to be evaced.
Had a wonderful Christmas with the fam. My brother was sick in the night….so we started late. Got some nice ski related stuff, including a couple of official Burke mugs, a nice handpainted Burke Mountain portrait from a local artisan, my season pass (of course), and my own custom NESM Ski Tie. I had decided to try to get a couple hours on the mountain after opening presents and spending time with the family…you know…when you need some time to yourself.
I pulled into the lot at 1:45pm to find a few cars and that MidBurke Lodge was closed (a good thing). I met the_original_trailboss and his wife leaving the mountain…guess it was an omen.
The mountain had Shoot and Upper Bear Den open as well as the other trails…so I was planning four or five runs at most before picking up my Grandmother and heading back home.
I booted up outside the car and skated to the Willoughby Quad. I had brought some Christmas Treats for the lifties since they had to work today…turned out to be a great decision. Some familiar faces and figured it would be a nice gesture. They liked it.
I boarded Chair 21 and got ready for the turns down Willoughby. Passed Towers 2, 3, 4, 5, and then 6. And then the lift stopped. Stopped solid. No backup came on and the lift did not shift into lower gear as it normally does. Just stopped dead. When it did not kick on after 3 minutes, I knew something was wrong.
Snowmachines came flying to the base terminal, several hundred yards behind me. I saw the lifties climb up the terminal and into the drive room. They turned on the auxiliary…the diesel engine kicked on and I could see the exhaust coming out of the muffler. It was not a electric issue because the HSQ was still running. So it had to be something with the quad.
After five minutes or so, the auxiliary kicked off, having never engaged the line. We were still holding still. Skiers at the bottom were being turned away and staff members were gathering at the terminal, looking up, running into the control room, and getting things out of the control room.
Great. First run and I was stuck. On the other hand, I had a good view and was outside. Plus there may be a chance for me to do my first ever lift evac.
“What is going on?” The snowboarder ahead of me asked.
“Lift is down. Auxiliary did not kick on. That means that we may have to be evac’ed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ski patrol will come up with a harness and line, throw it over the cable, give you the harness and a chair like thing, and lower you down.”
“So, I will have to come out of this chair?”
“Yep.”
And within ten minutes, the lifties on three sleds came racing up the trail and parked under Tower 8. They gathered together and got out the rescue sack. The lift super got to work getting the rescue chair ready while another lift mechanic got a lighter line with a baseball size weight on it. He threw the line over the cable and it came down. They attached the climbing line onto that light line and pulled it back over the cable, in front of the chair with a skier in it. The climbing rope had a special “^” shaped bracket/rope guide on it that slid onto the chairlift line, so as to make a pulled. The crew attached the rescue chair, which was a “T” shaped, that looked like a bucket, with a safety harness on it.
I could hear them shout the instructions to the skier.
“Open up the safety bar. Pull the rescue chair to you. Slide the seat underneath you, slide the safety harness over your head and shoulders, tighten it and then slide gently out of the chair. Don’t worry…we’ve got you.”
With that, the team lowered the person to the ground.
The snowboarder ahead of me was a bit more nervous, but she came down. I took some pics with my camera phone. Then it was me.
“No pictures, please!” The lift supervisor said. :wink:
I heard that the lift had blown a fuse and that the entire resort lift system was down because every patroller was working on evacing the lift. One team was at the top working down while this crew was working on the lower part of the lift.
Ski patrol and other staffers were assisting the rescue.
I was completely calm and slid the chair underneath me. The harness fit around me….it was a bit tight, and a bit stubborn, but it worked. Brand new item as well. The worst part was, as you guessed, sliding out of the chair with that rescue chair and being suspended in the air. The rescue line was quite tight…no slack and all….and I came out easily. James Bond Trailboss I guess! :lol: Suspended above the ground and out of the chairlift, they began to lower me.
“Watch your head,” they said. That was kind of tough…my helmet caught a bit on the seat, but they got me down real easily. I spun around on the descent…getting a nice view of the ‘gap behind me. Then I was on the ground.
“You alright?”
“Yep. Thanks guys. Happy holidays again.”
“Sorry about that. Head down to the lodge and they have a free ticket for you.”
So I thanked them again and headed down the grassy liftline. I did ski the small patch of snow on the trail and then back to the base of the lift. The observers asked me about the rescue and that the resort was closed. I also talked to a nice shop tech, named Owen.
Owen liked my K-2 Fours….the rock skis I told him. We talked for a while about the mountain and skis. Then he made a really nice offer. “Listen, since you were caught in the chair and did not get any skiing, you drop those skis off at the shop and I will tune them for you for free.” :beer: That was a very nice offer….Burke is tops when it comes to service. Even if you don’t ski I guess. I thanked the shop guys and gave them some holiday treats.
They are all about the prospect of snow.
Hope it does…next visit is slated for Thursday afternoon.
2006 Trip Report #: 12
Resort: Burke Mountain
Conditions: FG/Grass and Air. :wink:
Weather: Partly cloudy, becoming cloudy. Temps in the 30’s.
Trip Report: An AZ First here I think. And a Trailboss first as well on two counts. First, being that this was the first ever Christmas Day that I was on the slopes. Second, this was the first time that I had to be Evac'ed from a chair!
Yep, you are not a skier unless you have been stuck on a chair and had to be evaced. Had a wonderful Christmas with the fam. My brother was sick in the night….so we started late. Got some nice ski related stuff, including a couple of official Burke mugs, a nice handpainted Burke Mountain portrait from a local artisan, my season pass (of course), and my own custom NESM Ski Tie. I had decided to try to get a couple hours on the mountain after opening presents and spending time with the family…you know…when you need some time to yourself.
I pulled into the lot at 1:45pm to find a few cars and that MidBurke Lodge was closed (a good thing). I met the_original_trailboss and his wife leaving the mountain…guess it was an omen.
The mountain had Shoot and Upper Bear Den open as well as the other trails…so I was planning four or five runs at most before picking up my Grandmother and heading back home.
I booted up outside the car and skated to the Willoughby Quad. I had brought some Christmas Treats for the lifties since they had to work today…turned out to be a great decision. Some familiar faces and figured it would be a nice gesture. They liked it.
I boarded Chair 21 and got ready for the turns down Willoughby. Passed Towers 2, 3, 4, 5, and then 6. And then the lift stopped. Stopped solid. No backup came on and the lift did not shift into lower gear as it normally does. Just stopped dead. When it did not kick on after 3 minutes, I knew something was wrong.
Snowmachines came flying to the base terminal, several hundred yards behind me. I saw the lifties climb up the terminal and into the drive room. They turned on the auxiliary…the diesel engine kicked on and I could see the exhaust coming out of the muffler. It was not a electric issue because the HSQ was still running. So it had to be something with the quad.
After five minutes or so, the auxiliary kicked off, having never engaged the line. We were still holding still. Skiers at the bottom were being turned away and staff members were gathering at the terminal, looking up, running into the control room, and getting things out of the control room.
Great. First run and I was stuck. On the other hand, I had a good view and was outside. Plus there may be a chance for me to do my first ever lift evac.
“What is going on?” The snowboarder ahead of me asked.
“Lift is down. Auxiliary did not kick on. That means that we may have to be evac’ed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ski patrol will come up with a harness and line, throw it over the cable, give you the harness and a chair like thing, and lower you down.”
“So, I will have to come out of this chair?”
“Yep.”
And within ten minutes, the lifties on three sleds came racing up the trail and parked under Tower 8. They gathered together and got out the rescue sack. The lift super got to work getting the rescue chair ready while another lift mechanic got a lighter line with a baseball size weight on it. He threw the line over the cable and it came down. They attached the climbing line onto that light line and pulled it back over the cable, in front of the chair with a skier in it. The climbing rope had a special “^” shaped bracket/rope guide on it that slid onto the chairlift line, so as to make a pulled. The crew attached the rescue chair, which was a “T” shaped, that looked like a bucket, with a safety harness on it.
I could hear them shout the instructions to the skier.
“Open up the safety bar. Pull the rescue chair to you. Slide the seat underneath you, slide the safety harness over your head and shoulders, tighten it and then slide gently out of the chair. Don’t worry…we’ve got you.”
With that, the team lowered the person to the ground.
The snowboarder ahead of me was a bit more nervous, but she came down. I took some pics with my camera phone. Then it was me.
“No pictures, please!” The lift supervisor said. :wink:
I heard that the lift had blown a fuse and that the entire resort lift system was down because every patroller was working on evacing the lift. One team was at the top working down while this crew was working on the lower part of the lift.
Ski patrol and other staffers were assisting the rescue.
I was completely calm and slid the chair underneath me. The harness fit around me….it was a bit tight, and a bit stubborn, but it worked. Brand new item as well. The worst part was, as you guessed, sliding out of the chair with that rescue chair and being suspended in the air. The rescue line was quite tight…no slack and all….and I came out easily. James Bond Trailboss I guess! :lol: Suspended above the ground and out of the chairlift, they began to lower me.
“Watch your head,” they said. That was kind of tough…my helmet caught a bit on the seat, but they got me down real easily. I spun around on the descent…getting a nice view of the ‘gap behind me. Then I was on the ground.
“You alright?”
“Yep. Thanks guys. Happy holidays again.”
“Sorry about that. Head down to the lodge and they have a free ticket for you.”
So I thanked them again and headed down the grassy liftline. I did ski the small patch of snow on the trail and then back to the base of the lift. The observers asked me about the rescue and that the resort was closed. I also talked to a nice shop tech, named Owen.
Owen liked my K-2 Fours….the rock skis I told him. We talked for a while about the mountain and skis. Then he made a really nice offer. “Listen, since you were caught in the chair and did not get any skiing, you drop those skis off at the shop and I will tune them for you for free.” :beer: That was a very nice offer….Burke is tops when it comes to service. Even if you don’t ski I guess. I thanked the shop guys and gave them some holiday treats.
They are all
about the prospect of snow.Hope it does…next visit is slated for Thursday afternoon.
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