First Time Ski Lift Family Fun:

[salsgang]

So...any of you with young kids (mine are 8 and 11) relate to this?

Go sking with the family first time this year today at Sunday River. This is the second time my boys have ever been on skis.

So, we are almost loading the lift #7 triple, and my youngest ski comes off, in our haste, we don't get the boot set all the way in the binding, you guessed it, it comes off again as we load the lift. So he rides up with one ski and crashes unloading at the top. Fortunately someone brought the ski up and we make it down the moutain.

Get on the triple the second time successfully. I am riding up with him and since he is young and short, he needs a bit of help getting of the lift since he has to kind of hop off the lift to unload. Well, I forget to help him, he doesn't unload and he does a U-Turn and starts heading back down the mountain. They shut the lift down of course and help him off.

At this point I am thinking he will never get on the lift again. But he is a trooper and is determined to ski. At this point we all get on the #2 quad which slows down on the load and unload which makes the dismount easier. Fortunately the rest of the day was much more successful on the lifts and we had a very fun day on the slopes.

Last year at Shawnee Peak, or boys very first time skiing, we all crashed 4 straight times unloading the Quad. We finally figured it out how not to step on each others skis on the 5th try and had a great day after that.

One thing we noticed at Sunday River Quads is that there is a little incline right before you go through the bars to load the chair. Getting up that incline is tough for new skiers sometimes. There was a couple of times we had to miss chairs because the boys were trying to get up the little hill. Does anyone know if this this problem go away when there is more natural snow on the ground?

 

[Sky]

Great Story! Congrats to the "trooper" for hanging in there!

Hey, "I" have trouble sometimes with those inclines! Either way (up to or down towards)! My triceps get a work out controlling slippage. I don't think it has anything to do with the type of snow...just the "angle".

Best of luck with the continued family experiences!

 

[hammer]

Can definitely relate...my family and I are all still pretty new to the sport and we've had our share of lift incidents along the way, including lost skis on loading (unloading with one ski on is real fun), falls on unloading, stepping on each other on unloading, etc...

My biggest problems occur when I'm trying to make sure that my kids or spouse are OK and I don't pay attention to what I'm doing...

 

[tcharron]

Can definitely relate...my family and I are all still pretty new to the sport and we've had our share of lift incidents along the way, including lost skis on loading (unloading with one ski on is real fun), falls on unloading, stepping on each other on unloading, etc...

My biggest problems occur when I'm trying to make sure that my kids or spouse are OK and I don't pay attention to what I'm doing...

I think the most interesting lift incident we've had with my sons this year was my oldest. He's 12, and this is his second year snowboarding, but last year was only two of three times. Since getting the season pass, we've been like 6 timers so far.

Anyhow, he took the lift up at Crotched, and he didn't get off the lift in time. By the time I looked back, the chair was starting to turn, and to my surprised, he jumped down and landed cleanly on his board from 4 feet.

The look of 'holy crap I didnt DIE!' was amusing..

 

[mitchmac]

So...any of you with young kids (mine are 8 and 11) relate to this?

Go sking with the family first time this year today at Sunday River. This is the second time my boys have ever been on skis.

So, we are almost loading the lift #7 triple, and my youngest ski comes off, in our haste, we don't get the boot set all the way in the binding, you guessed it, it comes off again as we load the lift. So he rides up with one ski and crashes unloading at the top. Fortunately someone brought the ski up and we make it down the moutain.

Get on the triple the second time successfully. I am riding up with him and since he is young and short, he needs a bit of help getting of the lift since he has to kind of hop off the lift to unload. Well, I forget to help him, he doesn't unload and he does a U-Turn and starts heading back down the mountain. They shut the lift down of course and help him off.

At this point I am thinking he will never get on the lift again. But he is a trooper and is determined to ski. At this point we all get on the #2 quad which slows down on the load and unload which makes the dismount easier. Fortunately the rest of the day was much more successful on the lifts and we had a very fun day on the slopes.

Last year at Shawnee Peak, or boys very first time skiing, we all crashed 4 straight times unloading the Quad. We finally figured it out how not to step on each others skis on the 5th try and had a great day after that.

One thing we noticed at Sunday River Quads is that there is a little incline right before you go through the bars to load the chair. Getting up that incline is tough for new skiers sometimes. There was a couple of times we had to miss chairs because the boys were trying to get up the little hill. Does anyone know if this this problem go away when there is more natural snow on the ground?

Sounds like you need to call Warren Miller the next time you take the family skiing!