Singles Line

[Greg]

Do you use it? Obviously, if skiing solo on a crowded day, I'm all over it. If with others, I'll propose it, but if I only get a lukewarm response, I won't push it...

 

[from_the_NEK]

I usually won't do it when I am with more than 3 people. :flame:

 

[Grassi21]

During the 10 or 11 days my wife and I skied last season we never thought about it. Since my wife will most likely be taking this season off, I plan on taking advantage of this privilege as much as possible.

We had a group of 5 at Killington last year. One of our crew brought up the idea and I gave him a dirty look. In the grand scheme of things, no big deal. But if I saw a group doing it while I was standing in line I would be pretty pissed.

 

[Angus]

one of the great breakthroughs last winter was my son turning to me at Sunapee and saying "Hey, Dad you want to ski the singles line?" It's great to watch 'em grow up!

i've found that the single line and whole sharing a lift protocol has changed in the last 20 years (I took a 16 year hiatus returning to skiing 4 years ago). Whereas in the 70's and 80's riding with strangers seemed to be part of the ski experience, people nowadays seems to be real resistant/hesitant to jump on or invite someone to join them on ride up. weird.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

But if I saw a group doing it while I was standing in line I would be pretty pissed.

Why where you pissed? As long as they fill in as singles there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Grassi21]

Why where you pissed? As long as they fill in as singles there is nothing wrong with that.

I was speaking hypothetically. I've never noticed it happen to me. But you are right, if they are filling in as singles, no big deal. I retract my earlier comment. ;-) The lacrosse side of my personality momentarily dominated my Yoga side.

 

[roark]

Whereas in the 70's and 80's riding with strangers seemed to be part of the ski experience, people nowadays seems to be real resistant/hesitant to jump on or invite someone to join them on ride up. weird.

I always hop on if there is space, say hi, nice day or whatever to break the ice. If they want to talk, fine. If not, fine. One group of younger kids did seem miffed that I joined them. Perhaps they were planning on a smoky lift ride and didn't want to share

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

A few years ago my wife was skiing with me while waiting in line a guy asked here if she was single. She replied, "Sorry, I'm married and my husband is right her." What a gapper she is. :lol:

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I always hop on if there is space, say hi, nice day or whatever to break the ice. If they want to talk, fine. If not, fine. One group of younger kids did seem miffed that I joined them. Perhaps they were planning on a smoky lift ride and didn't want to share

I use the single line when necessary, but especially on a gondi, it can be a long ride if you get in with the wrong group.

 

[roark]

Why where you pissed? As long as they fill in as singles there is nothing wrong with that.

I wouldn't be thrilled if I was skiing single and saw a large group do this in front of me. Kind of like a single occupant getting in the carpool lane.

 

[JimG.]

I was speaking hypothetically. I've never noticed it happen to me. But you are right, if they are filling in as singles, no big deal. I retract my earlier comment. ;-) The lacrosse side of my personality momentarily dominated my Yoga side.

I see your point though...if a group of 3 was on the singles line for a triple and when they got to the loading area they all jumped out and formed a group of 3, I would be pissed off too.

When you ride the single line, you ride the lift as a single filling empty seats on a chair and you wait for the rest of your group at the top.

 

[riverc0il]

i usually ski single and use the singles line when ever there is a line. always best to load every chair up when possible. when there is no line, depends how the line is flowing, but i'll snag a solo chair if there are only one or two groups/people in line.

i think groups using the single line is generally not cool. powder days are of course the exception since there are no friends on powder days :lol: but not something i worry about since rare is the day i wait in line. if i am skiing with other folks, i would rather ride up the lift with them any ways.

 

[riverc0il]

When you ride the single line, you ride the lift as a single filling empty seats on a chair and you wait for the rest of your group at the top.

you also make the line longer for the real singles using the line for what it was meant for. they don't call it the "fill the empty seats line", it is called the "singles line." i like the reverse car pool analogy. essentially, you are using a line for other than what it was meant for if you break a group up.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

one of the great breakthroughs last winter was my son turning to me at Sunapee and saying "Hey, Dad you want to ski the singles line?" It's great to watch 'em grow up!

i've found that the single line and whole sharing a lift protocol has changed in the last 20 years (I took a 16 year hiatus returning to skiing 4 years ago). Whereas in the 70's and 80's riding with strangers seemed to be part of the ski experience, people nowadays seems to be real resistant/hesitant to jump on or invite someone to join them on ride up. weird.

I never noticed that. You don't need an invite for a open space on a lift. You pay for it when you buy your ticket. I'll ax if there is room in their group when I'm not sure (gondi, quad) other then that I'll just get on.

Actually, you're doing everyone in line a favor when you take an open space. It ticks me off when unfull chairs go up when there is a lift line.

 

[awf170]

I use the single line when necessary, but especially on a gondi, it can be a long ride if you get in with the wrong group.

Oh yeah. At Tremblant a few years ago my dad and I got on the gondi with 6 other people, I think mostly singles or doubles, and not one word was spoken by anyone the whole ride, talk about arkward.

 

[JimG.]

you also make the line longer for the real singles using the line for what it was meant for. they don't call it the "fill the empty seats line", it is called the "singles line." i like the reverse car pool analogy. essentially, you are using a line for other than what it was meant for if you break a group up.

I understand your point, but I don't agree with it.

I could use the reverse logic and say I'm helping out by making the group lines shorter. And on top of that, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how many empty seats I see on busy days. Like someone else said, it seems folks don't like to ride in full chairs. And don't start with the lifties because people routinely ignore them. That's BS and I'm not going to wait longer and watch while less than full chairs go up to the summit.

 

[riverc0il]

i've found that the single line and whole sharing a lift protocol has changed in the last 20 years (I took a 16 year hiatus returning to skiing 4 years ago). Whereas in the 70's and 80's riding with strangers seemed to be part of the ski experience, people nowadays seems to be real resistant/hesitant to jump on or invite someone to join them on ride up. weird.

i haven't noticed this at all, what areas have you noticed this hesitation to share lifts? i am always asking people if i can join them. and i usually join them before they can respond, so they might as well say yes because i am joining them any ways!! just trying to be curtious and friendly by asking. as HPD mentioned, you do everyone in line a favor by maxing out the capacity of a lift. it doesn't matter what a ski areas lift capacity is if they are not filling the chairs when there is a line.

 

[riverc0il]

I understand your point, but I don't agree with it.

I could use the reverse logic and say I'm helping out by making the group lines shorter. And on top of that, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how many empty seats I see on crowded days. Like someone else said, it seems folks don't like to ride in full chairs. And don't start with the lifties because people routinely ignore them. That's BS and I'm not going to wait longer and watch while less than full chairs go up to the summit.

i'll put in a clarifier.... if the singles line is empty, then by all means groups willing to split up should do so to fill those chairs. when the singles line is 50 people long, though, and half those people are split groups, they are not helping to fill seats that real singles are filling, they are just making one line longer instead of another.

a lot of areas have poorly setup loading areas and/or don't have a liftie directing traffic. these areas often send up lots of empty seats. often times because the single doesn't know if a line of people is a full chair or not due to poor queue system management. ski areas owe their customers good service in having excellent queue system management to ensure as many runs as possible and as short a wait as possible with a full capacity chair lift having every seat full.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

you also make the line longer for the real singles using the line for what it was meant for. they don't call it the "fill the empty seats line", it is called the "singles line."

I completely disagree. The purpose of that line is to fill single seats on a chair lift regardless of what it's called. It's purpose is to maxamize lift capacity, not to make the wait shorter for people skiing alone. What would be the purpose of making the wait shorter for a person just because he is skiing by himself?

 

[JimG.]

i'll put in a clarifier.... if the singles line is empty, then by all means groups willing to split up should do so to fill those chairs. when the singles line is 50 people long, though, and half those people are split groups, they are not helping to fill seats that real singles are filling, they are just making one line longer instead of another.

a lot of areas have poorly setup loading areas and/or don't have a liftie directing traffic. these areas often send up lots of empty seats. often times because the single doesn't know if a line of people is a full chair or not due to poor queue system management. ski areas owe their customers good service in having excellent queue system management to ensure as many runs as possible and as short a wait as possible with a full capacity chair lift having every seat full.

I still don't agree with your clarifier because of the second point you mention...when most ski resorts actually give "excellent queue system management", I'll stop splitting up my group to ride the singles line because I've yet to visit a ski resort that has such a system.