Chairlifts with heated seats

[SIKSKIER]

Basic physics

Isn't the whole point in wearing them to keep your rear end dry? If so, then why wear them under your pants when the pants will still get wet and damp? Doesn't this defeat the purpose?

You've obviously never used them.When a chair has ice on it,as soon as your warm ass sits on it the ice begins to melt and thus make your pants wet.The neoprene is a great insulator and prevents the ice/snow from melting.Even if you have a waterproof shell,which I do(Goretex),water does get through when pressure is allied(my ass).And even if you had inpervious pants(plastic/vinyl),the ice on that chair will still freeze those cheeks making that neo insul oh so nice.Believe me they work.

 

[skiNEwhere]

So I'm assuming the chair are detached from the lift at COB every night and has some contraption in the housing area that charges the chair?

Or maybe I'm complicating things there's just a small diesel engine on every chair

 

[speden]

So I'm assuming the chair are detached from the lift at COB every night and has some contraption in the housing area that charges the chair?

Or maybe I'm complicating things there's just a small diesel engine on every chair

I found a thread with some information on how it works in Europe. Some key quotes:

"On heated chairlifts I notice each lift has two condcutors near the top, some pointing uppward which others downward, which make contact with the electric when the chairlift goes around the bottom or top station, apparently for a burst of quick charge. It would appear a battery system must have been provided below the seats. Otherwise the heated chairlifts look no different from the unheated version."

"I can't say for gondolas, but chairlifts don't have batteries. If you noticed when riding up with them, they are warm only for first few seconds. I would say they are heated when going around bottom station, and are connected to electricity, and when they leave bottom station, and lose electricity connection, they just preserve heat for a little while (longer, if you are sitting on them)."

"feels very nice on the (w)hole"

The original thread is here:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=61268

So it's not clear from that if the chairs have batteries or not. Maybe they have a big capacitor rather than a chemical battery, which would recharge almost instantly and be less sensitive to the cold and require little maintenance compared to a chemical battery. Or maybe the seat is made of a material that can store a lot of heat energy and release it a certain temperature, like some of the high tech coffee cups, so a quick zap of electric in the base would keep it warm for most of the trip up.

 

[billski]

I asked how heated seats work over here:

http://www.skilifts.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8593


No Batteries.

I liked this suggestion best: "It would be more effective to give the lift-operators each a ping-pong paddle & have em' just whack each customer on the ass prior to loading. Double-whacks for the ladies. The marketing folks will go crazy."

 

[Black Phantom]

You've obviously never used them.When a chair has ice on it,as soon as your warm ass sits on it the ice begins to melt and thus make your pants wet.The neoprene is a great insulator and prevents the ice/snow from melting.Even if you have a waterproof shell,which I do(Goretex),water does get through when pressure is allied(my ass).And even if you had inpervious pants(plastic/vinyl),the ice on that chair will still freeze those cheeks making that neo insul oh so nice.Believe me they work.

Correct. I have never used them, nor have I felt a need for them. I can understand that they "work".

I still do not understand why you would wear the neoprene inside/under your pants. This seem to defeat the purpose as your pants would still get wet.

 

[billski]

Correct. I have never used them, nor have I felt a need for them. I can understand that they "work".

I still do not understand why you would wear the neoprene inside/under your pants. This seem to defeat the purpose as your pants would still get wet.

My bigger complaint is that the ice just makes me cold. I don't generate enough heat to melt the ice to begin with.

 

[Black Phantom]

My bigger complaint is that the ice just makes me cold. I don't generate enough heat to melt the ice to begin with.

I am with you billski.

What I fail to understand is why one would wear the neoprene inside? Once moisture is inside the garment, what is the point? You are then wet defeating the purpose and are then wearing Depends without a moisture barrier between you and your baselayer.

From the website:

For 15 years, Hot Buns Butt Warmers have been the solution for cold, wet such as sitting on chair lifts on snowy or wet days. Convenient protection for skiers and snowboarders that keeps you warm and dry in all conditions. Versatile neoprene wrap (dry suit material) covers the seat and rear thigh and protects against cold and frosty ski lifts or stadium seats. Or, if you are a sportsman, they are used by sailors, fishermen, and hunters too. And they are a favorite of ski patrollers who have to be out in all sorts of weather.

The waist band and bands around the thighs are held in place by Velcro fasteners.

Color is black.

Keep in mind that Hot Buns are worn over your pants/ski pants so consider this when selecting your waist measurement.

http://www.snowshack.com/detail/SNW+HB-01257+JR

 

[speden]

I asked how heated seats work over here:

http://www.skilifts.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8593


No Batteries.

I liked this suggestion best: "It would be more effective to give the lift-operators each a ping-pong paddle & have em' just whack each customer on the ass prior to loading. Double-whacks for the ladies. The marketing folks will go crazy."

Hey great followup Bill. I guess if they don't have batteries I should patent the idea of using capacitors for this. The quick burst of heat in the base isn't going to last for those really long lifts of the future.

There's a long thread on this in French (from 2006) over here:

http://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1549&hl=chauffage+si%E8ges

One guy says the chairs get about 17 seconds of juice during the trip through the base. The thread later devolves into an argument over how much energy is used by these things and if it's environmentally advisable or not. My impression is they wouldn't use very much power relative to other energy uses at the hill, but people are throwing out widely varying energy consumption numbers on speculation.

Opinion on if they are nice or not seems somewhat split, with many saying they are helpful, others being somewhat indifferent, and some scoffing at it as unnecessary (presumably the ones that don't get cold in the first place!)

 

[tjf67]

Correct. I have never used them, nor have I felt a need for them. I can understand that they "work".

I still do not understand why you would wear the neoprene inside/under your pants. This seem to defeat the purpose as your pants would still get wet.

+1. I think you have to be out of your mind to wear those things under your ski pants. Makes no sense to me. I must feel like skiing around with a load of sheat in your pants.

 

[neil]

I would point and laugh at anyone wearing those OUTSIDE of their pants though.

 

[tjf67]

I would point and laugh at anyone wearing those OUTSIDE of their pants though.

Not if it is raining out side and you have a wet ass. Nothing worse than skiing around with cold butt soup

 

[Glenn]

From the link Bill provided:

Less than 500W per person-seat... each carrier is in the station for 60 seconds tops... 1/60 Hr x 0.5kW = 0.008 kWh or 29.3 BTU per person-seat each time through a station.

It would be more effective to give the lift-operators each a ping-pong paddle & have em' just whack each customer on the ass prior to loading. Double-whacks for the ladies. The marketing folks will go crazy.

Classic! :lol:

 

[dl]

I owned and operated Snowshack for over 10 years and you'd be surprised how many pairs of Hot Buns we sold. On the right day, they do the job regardless if you wear them inside or outside. Bottom line (pun intended) for many - it allows you to stay outside longer than if you didn't have them. Great at a Pat's game too by the way (the amount you drink in the parking lot has a direct effect on your vanity level in wearing them in front of 60000 screaming fans).

One possible benefit about lift seat heaters that hasn't been mentioned - if they work like car seat heaters then I think I might be a little less stiff getting off a long, cold chair ride. The longer the chair ride, the more my body tightens up.