Under the Chair

[highpeaksdrifter]

This statement gave me an idea for a new topic:

DMC wrote - btw.. There are some tough parts of Hunter but they aren't marked..
We've skied under the Quad before after dumps... Nice 20 foot drops.. People chearing.. Good stuff..

Do you like to ski under a chair where people can watch you ski/ride, feel uncomfortable about it or never give it a thought?

I have a friend who is very skilled, but doesn’t enjoy people watching him. He’ll do it, but you can tell he kind of stiffens up.

I really enjoy it, especially in the bumps. I think it brings out my best skiing. I might be the guy who wipes out one time and everybody laughs at, but I don’t care. The next run I’ll come back and be the guy they’re watching that’s bangin down the zipper.

At Whiteface the HSQ goes right over the NASTAR course. Same deal, I love it.

As I reread this before posting I’m thinking I’m making myself sound like a show off, but I’m really not like that in other aspects of my life.

 

[riverc0il]

oh yea, liftlines are where it's at. most of my favorite non-gladed terrain is under the lift. it's usually the steepest part of the mountain as well, which always helps. a large number of liftlines do not get groomed which is also a nice bonus. i have always been a performer after years and years of performing in various musical ensembles, so the crowd factor is sure fun. i'd be lieing if i said i wasn't thinking i have to make this run look good when i am at the top of a lift line trail. call it shallow and vain or whatever, but it gets me pumped for the run

 

[BeanoNYC]

I get very nervous when skiing under a lift. I am a new skiier and don't have the confidence in my skiing yet to feel at ease. I'm sure with time, it will come.

 

[dmc]

Don't tell anyone... BUT....
I find the snow under the chairs to be great...
I think it's because people get intimidated by the comments from above...


I don't mind comments...
Believe me... I make enough comments to "gapers" on expert trails from the chair...

An occasional hoot of support is awesome from the chair...

 

[riverc0il]

i particularly like red line at magic for good skier-chair lift banter. the chair is nice and low, so when you stop for a breather, folks riding the lift are practically right on the trail with you.

my only issue with lift lines is (stupid, i know) i get winded quickly in difficult terrain and tend to stop often to catch my breath. but under the lift, i hate looking like a gaper, so i often wear myself out by not stopping long enough

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

my only issue with lift lines is (stupid, i know) i get winded quickly in difficult terrain and tend to stop often to catch my breath.

WHAT :blink: Come on Oil, a young man like U? U get out there and do the work u have to do to be ready for November. U hearin me boy? :wink:

 

[riverc0il]

*nods*

Yes sir!

actually, just got back from a run speaking of doing the work

 

[tirolerpeter]

i particularly like red line at magic for good skier-chair lift banter. the chair is nice and low, so when you stop for a breather, folks riding the lift are practically right on the trail with you.

my only issue with lift lines is (stupid, i know) i get winded quickly in difficult terrain and tend to stop often to catch my breath. but under the lift, i hate looking like a gaper, so i often wear myself out by not stopping long enough

Shame on you. There is a message in your comment: "..i get winded quickly..." Either you need to have a medical check-up to find any sort of cardio-vascular problem you might have; or, you need to get off your posterior maximus and work on some serious conditioning. Take it from an old-timer: It's easier to keep yourself in shape then to try to get back after losing it as you age.!

 

[NHpowderhound]

I absolutely LOVE skiing under the lift. Like HPD says

I really enjoy it, especially in the bumps. I think it brings out my best skiing.

I just wont ski directly under the chairs if I can help it. Too many punks nowadays that are willing to throw stuff,knock snow from thier skis at you,or even spit on you. But I'll ski the steepest line under a lift to get a cheer! I give 'em and love to hear 'em.
((*
*))NHPH

 

[riverc0il]

Shame on you. There is a message in your comment: "..i get winded quickly..." Either you need to have a medical check-up to find any sort of cardio-vascular problem you might have;

ummmm, yup! here, have a :beer: i still run to condition myself, but i have always had issues with my cardio vascular system. that aside, i ski pretty hard and take some hard turns and hard lines. if you ski hard enough, it should wind you! i may get winded, but only slightly more than those i ski with.

 

[thetrailboss]

Love liftlines. Some of my favs include Burke's Fox's Folly, SB's Ripcord and Black Diamond Rush, and Pats Peak's Vortex and "unofficial" Peak Double Liftline that they opened last season (and plan to reopen this season thanks to our input here from AZ :beer

 

[Treeliner]

Yeah, I agree with all the previous posters. I remember this one day at Killington after a 3 or 4 foot storm, I was riding down under a lift and I'd smash through a wind drift and people would just be cheering cause, ya know, they were about to be getting it to - there's just this super postive energy on days like that. Nothing like hearin a cheer when going down under a lift...

 

[awf170]

i love it, its the best when u get laughed at. This happen to me at snowbird when i hucked off a fracture line then rolled down the whole trail. I dont care at all at though, even though im a bad bump skier, i still always ski under the lift at wildcat. For some reason i dont even think about people looking at me

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

My two favorite sections of Liftline I always ski at Sweep (when they're covered). Sure, no audience, but since the two sections are "Permanently Closed", I'm supposed to "set a good example."

(Sometimes I look the other way with Riv and Orangegondola :wink: )

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

As previously posted, generally I find the trail conditions under the chair are good...if you focus on what you're doing (one of them is avoiding the lift towers) you won't even notice the critics/audience on the chairs...make nice turns and go like hell and SMILE

 

[Zand]

I have two ways of approaching a run under the chair.

1. If it's a tough run I just completely ignore the fact there's a chair overhead and ski. Sometimes, I go down a liftline and forget there's a chair overhead until a support tower comes up.

2. If it's a trail you can get some air on and it's easy to build up speed on (like 10th Mt. at Wachusett), I put on a show for the people overhead. If you wipeout at the end of a good run, let out a big "whoohoo!" after it's over and people will cheer.

 

[awf170]

i remember i got a pretty good cheer at sugarloaf last year after pulling a 180 with a good amount of speed, that was pretty cool

 

[Greg]

We had a cool thread going about the best liftlines a while back. I enjoy them and tend to ski well given the added pressure of an audience.

 

[deadheadskier]

While I don't rule out skiing under the chair, its usually not something I seek out. I'm pretty impartial to crowds all together. I'm not the prototypical backcountry skier who likes to earn his turns, but for the most part I like to spend the majority of my time in unmarked woods at a ski area away from the crowds.

I guess that's why I enjoy Stowe so much - the unmarked gladed terrain. Even on the busiest of days you can find solitude on that mountain.

 

[JimG.]

Love liftline runs...like dmc said, snow right underneath the lift is usually the best on the hill...don't care about folks who want to spit or shake snow on me, I'm going too fast for them to hit me with anything anyway.

Always up for the commentary, and nothing is more satisfying than a good round of applause after a total yardsale :lol: .