Chairlift incident at Crotched

[skiNEwhere]

like looking uphill before they start skiing from a stop behind their dad on a busy trail?

O No....

 

[jack97]

My greatest fear is having a kid slip out that gap between the chair and the safety bar, so I'm a bit neurotic about making sure they're seated all the way back in the chair when they ride with me.

IMO... all parents would appreciate single riders for doing that.

First time my daughter went on a long ride up on high speed quad, she tried to lean back on the rest, I remember my biggest fear was that she would slip out. Told her right then to stop that and just wait it out until we reach the top and get off. A couple of things are working against young children when it comes to the chair lift; size and fatigue. First one is obvious but the second is most children do no have the muscle mass at the thighs to ski efficiently, they end up doing snow plows and that wears them down.

For this reason, I don't blame some resorts for bring the chair lift down so that the kids can sit in a secure position with out squirming their way around.

 

[ScottySkis]

IMO... all parents would appreciate single riders for doing that.

First time my daughter went on a long ride up on high speed quad, she tried to lean back on the rest, I remember my biggest fear was that she would slip out. Told her right then to stop that and just wait it out until we reach the top and get off. A couple of things are working against young children when it comes to the chair lift; size and fatigue. First one is obvious but the second is most children do no have the muscle mass at the thighs to ski efficiently, they end up doing snow plows and that wears them down.

For this reason, I don't blame some resorts for bring the chair lift down so that the kids can sit in a secure position with out squirming their way around.

When I was 10 at Mount ST. Anne in Quebec this happen to me. All I remember was I was in bunch if soft snow( it was April) maybe 10 foot drop. My dad stay on the chair my mom panicked because of me and she jumped down to make sure I was okay. I miss her love you mom.

 

[Smellytele]

When I was 10 at Mount ST. Anne in Quebec this happen to me. All I remember was I was in bunch if soft snow( it was April) maybe 10 foot drop. My dad stay on the chair my mom panicked because of me and she jumped down to make sure I was okay. I miss her love you mom.

This actually made tears well up in my eyes.

 

[Riverskier]

This actually made tears well up in my eyes.

Me too.

 

[C-Rex]

When I was 10 at Mount ST. Anne in Quebec this happen to me. All I remember was I was in bunch if soft snow( it was April) maybe 10 foot drop. My dad stay on the chair my mom panicked because of me and she jumped down to make sure I was okay. I miss her love you mom.

It's amazing the things a mom will do for her children. Sounds like yours was no exception. So sorry she had to leave so young.

A couple years ago, I was at Butternut (I think) and a kid slipped off the chair while ascending. The father grabbed him but couldn't pull him back up. The lifties had stopped the lift but they were already a good ways up. They got out an air bag super fast and the father was able to drop his son safely on to it. He got on the next chair smiling. I think he thought it was fun although I bet his father nearly had a heart attack. Huge applause for the lifties acting quickly and saving a kid from some injury and trauma.

 

[Abominable]

When I was a kid this happened to my buddy, we were both maybe 10 -12, riding up at Big Squaw. He starts to fall through, I've got him grabbed by the armpits, we're starting to get higher and coming to the point where the ungroomed powder of the take-off zone was going to end and the groomed trail start, I can't pull him back up, time is running out, "You want me to drop you?" "You better"......POOF!

Luckily we weren't that high and he landed in soft snow.

I also get nervous with other people's little kids on the chair.

 

[jaysunn]

This is sad, there is a video recently posted over at unofficial of a kid falling from a lift, very tough to watch. Not posting it, but feel free to google it. Hope mom and kid fully recover.

 

[tnt]

absolutely

I ski alone fairly frequently and ride the singles line. Over the years, I've often found myself paired up with young kids in a lesson and asked if I'm comfortable riding up with the youngsters. My greatest fear is having a kid slip out that gap between the chair and the safety bar, so I'm a bit neurotic about making sure they're seated all the way back in the chair when they ride with me.

This is me as well.

 

[Domeskier]

I witnessed a young teen fall from a chair at Sundown last season. It was the middle chair just before the top. I thought at first that someone had just dropped a jacket until I heard screaming and the chair stopped. The ski patrol was on the scene within minutes and I could find no further info about, so I assume the kid was okay. Luckily that lift never gets close to 40 feet off the ground as far as I can tell.

 

[DoublePlanker]

The article in UnionLeader today says 25 feet instead of 40. I hope the mother and daughter are ok. That is so scary.

 

[KevinF]

Back in my brief ski-instruction career, kids were on one hand the most fun to teach but riding the chairlifts with them -- ugh! Their femurs are too short to sit "all the way" back in the chair, so they'd sit forward and then they'd lean on the safety bar. I'd be holding my breath the whole way up. Thank God nothing ever happened, but I'd sometime give them a little push back.

I've been asked many times to assist an instructor herd their kids onto the lift, and as somebody said above -- I watch 'em like a hawk.

 

[KevinF]

The article in UnionLeader today says 25 feet instead of 40. I hope the mother and daughter are ok. That is so scary.

I'm not sure 25 vs. 40 feet makes a whole lot of difference in terms of the severity of the injuries that can be sustained in a fall from that height.

I attended school at Penn State, and at the time they had their 10-meter (33 feet) diving platform open to anybody willing to jump off the thing. I never had the courage to try it, but my friends and I would routinely make pizza bets ("betcha won't jump!"). It ran about 50/50 of people getting up there and jumping vs. getting up, looking down, and saying "no".

 

[dlague]

Back in my brief ski-instruction career, kids were on one hand the most fun to teach but riding the chairlifts with them -- ugh! Their femurs are too short to sit "all the way" back in the chair, so they'd sit forward and then they'd lean on the safety bar. I'd be holding my breath the whole way up. Thank God nothing ever happened, but I'd sometime give them a little push back.

I've been asked many times to assist an instructor herd their kids onto the lift, and as somebody said above -- I watch 'em like a hawk.

The problem with leaning back with little ones is their butts cannot reach the backrest of the chair so they would have to sit at an angle. Unfortunately this makes them slide forward and in some cases, where the foot rest is too low or there is not one at all, makes the situation even more precarious. We have our youngest always sit upright and as far back as possible and have them hold onto the bar. He is now at the age where he thinks we are a pain in the a$%.

When he was about 6 he had a tips down issue at the unloading ramp because he thought he would not be able to reach the ramp when unloading. It was a like a slow motion thing yet happened very fast - I could see it happening and I was telling him to keep tips up but reaction times were not fast enough! Luckily he ended up in a net!

Lifties often see people not loading properly and generally let the chair go because most manage to right themselves or their kids. If there is an issue, they are already paying attention to the next chair! From the one picture I saw it looked like it was a ways from the loading area so they may have thought that she was ok or she may have even loaded fine but slipped out afterwards. Ski pants are slippery when everything is cold!

Hope they will both be OK!

 

[Dickc]

Sunday River has a pair of wooden 4x4's just after the load station with an electric cord between them. If you misload, and hang down, you will pull out the cord and it E-Stops the lift. These were put in for just this reason. The only problem is that sometimes a snow boarder will unintentionally have his board hang down enough to pull out the cord. If you slip out past these, all bets are off.

Once had my son misload at Cannon mountain. We got paired up late with another couple at a fixed quad and none of us was ready when the chair got there. They wiped out totally, I saw the chair a split second before it hit me in the legs. Grabbed for my son (14 at the time) and managed to pull him into the chair before we got too far. Lifties had it stopped pretty quick.

 

[Smellytele]

The lifts with foot rest actually help out if you go on a triple with 2 people or a quad with less than 4 then the younger kid can sit with their legs on either side of the pull down.

 

[jack97]

Their femurs are too short to sit "all the way" back in the chair, so they'd sit forward and then they'd lean on the safety bar. I'd be holding my breath the whole way up. Thank God nothing ever happened, but I'd sometime give them a little push back.

The problem with leaning back with little ones is their butts cannot reach the backrest of the chair so they would have to sit at an angle. Unfortunately this makes them slide forward and in some cases, where the foot rest is too low or there is not one at all, makes the situation even more precarious.

I agree w/ dlague..... if they sit back too much,they may slide forward and then out of the chair.

I see nothing wrong with leaning on the safety bar and the back of the knees are hinged to the seat. This would keep them in a balance sitting position through out the ride.

Once the bar is lifted for unloading, and if they are leaning slightly over...i would keep a free hand ready to grab them in case something went wrong. I did this with my daughter and when I ride single with any young kid that sits next to me.

 

[KevinF]

Sorry, I should have clarified my "give them a little push back" comment... I meant the kids would be sitting with their femurs half on and half off the chair, so I'd scootch them back so their knees were hinged on the end of the chair. I agree that having them simply lean their torso backwards against the backrest is potentially dangerous.

 

[Savemeasammy]

I always have my little boy keep his arms over the bar. When it's time to lift the bar at the top, I like to have ahold of his arm. He hates it, but tough $h!t.


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[Mapnut]

Is it a good idea to use your poles as a backup safety bar, across the child's lap?