Your worst experience with a chairlift

[Nick]

I've been stuck on one at Okemo and had to get roped down after 50 minutes. And who could forget my infamous wipeout on the Skyline chair at the Loaf during the 2012 Summit.

Anyone have any crazy / interesting chairlift stories? (PS; did a search and didn't find anything obvious; if anyone remembers a similar thread I'd be glad to merge).

 

[o3jeff]

Ski sundown with my nephew. The chair came around with the safety bar down in the liftys were too busy talking to each other and didn't notice until we started yelling.

 

[deadheadskier]

Three experiences come to mind.

1. As a kid we skied the Interlaken region in Europe. They had a super steep T-Bar at the Schilthorn. Me being 8, my father being 6 foot and us both being novice skiers it wasn't a good match. We tried three times to get to the top, but kept falling off. It was the only way to get up to the restaurant up top where my mother and brother were waiting for us. Third time we got close and decided to walk. I passed out from the altitude and had to be awaken by some Frenchman skiing by who had smelling salts.

2. Okemo as a kid. Wind blew the lift bar down on the summit Triple just as I was getting off and I got closed lined by the foot rest.

3. MRG a couple of year ago. Gneub lift operator went to grab the single chair and pulled it way to the inside of me and I got nailed in the left hip by the outside of the chair. He did it to someone else a few rides before me. After nailing me, he was relegated to ski pass checking duties for the rest of the afternoon.

 

[wa-loaf]

my father being 6 foot and us both being novice skiers it wasn't a good match

Your dad is 6ft? What happened to you? :lol:

 

[Puck it]

Your dad is 6ft? What happened to you? :lol:

Milkman!!!!!!

 

[WoodCore]

2 come to mind:

1. Riding the express double at Berkshire East with the seat cover (plastic Hall type) blown into the upright position. Really nothing to sit on.

2. On Madonna I @ Smuggs got caught in a wind gust that blew the chair straight backwards leaving me hanging on by my arms wrapped around the chair-frame.

 

[skifree]

this year getting off sunnyside chair at waterville with my 12 yr old son and he is nowwhere to be found .
i look around and he is suspended by the back of his jacket under the chair . just dangling with arms and legs flailing away.
luckily he hit stop bar but he didn't stop till heading partially down hill. liftie helped him off. said it happens every now and then. wtf with that! anyways still love that chair but BEWARE!

 

[skifree]

#2 spent 20 minutes on the lift at mt snow in the rain a few years ago after transformer blew.
very enjoyable

 

[skisheep]

Last march during the torch, was at whiteface on that monday where it got up to 70 during the day, was riding the lift in shorts and a t-shirt. When loading, the summit quad runs very close to the ground for the first 50 feet or so, and clears a field before it starts going up. this field was bare, and I was chatting with friends, resulting in one of my ski's popping off(fail...). The liftie gave it to someone on the next chair, and they would give it to me when I got to the top. 1/2way up, the lift broke down. After sitting for 10 minutes or so and baking in the sun, we started moving at probably 1/3rd of normal speed(and it's a slow lift to begin with). I was sort of glad that it slowed down, since getting off the lift with one ski was going to be deicy. Of course, 50 feet before we unload, the chair goes back to normal speed. I tried to get off on one ski, epically failed, and careened down the exit ramp. Now, anyone who has ridden the summit quad at Whiteface knows that you have to make a sharp left right after coming off the exit ramp, or you run into a wall of snow. Of course, you can guess what happens, that being a total yardsale into the wall of snow, loosing the other ski and ending up sprawled out at the exit ramp. The liftie was laughing his head off

While not as insane as some of the stories you all must have(never been evacuated, thankfully), it was a pretty spectacular failure on my part, although a fun story to tell!
-skisheep

 

[twinplanx]

A few years ago I was at Jiminy Peak riding the 6-pack. I had gone up with a friend who is a phenomenal skier and we met up with his uncle/mentor. When it came time to offload I realized I was stuck. My f.ing backpack was lodged in between the rungs in the back of the chair. The rest of the group got off the chair and had a good laugh at me, dangling about 15' off the ground. Luckily the liftie noticed my trouble and stopped the lift before I reached the bullwheel. Not wanting to endure further embarrassment I decided to do what any real man would do and jumped out of the chair. Everyone had a good laugh and we continued skiing. It wasn't until my next skiing adventure that I realized one of my skis was "comprised". I'm still pissed about that... And IF I'm skiing with a backpack these days, it goes papoose style on the lift...

 

[bobbutts]

Was on chair during a heavy thunderstorm with many strikes right nearby at Sierra at Tahoe. We contemplated jumping but it was too far.. Just sat there waiting to be struck until the finally got the lift turning again.. Feel lucky to have made it out of that one.

 

[ScottySkis]

When I was about 12 in at Mount ST. Anne in Canada, I was getting on the chair with my mom and dad. It was late March and warm. I didn't get on the chair correctly and as it starts to go fast I fell off near the beginning of the ride, I was fine. My mom was very worried about me being hurt so she jumps off the chair and lands in lots of water by the base of the chair. No one was hurt, I miss my mom.

 

[Zand]

The old high-speed double at Berkshire East almost took my head off once. Was trying to load with some other guy, but the chair came flying around the corner and for some reason the liftie couldn't handle it. The side of the chair hit the guy next to me in the ass and we both proceeded to fall off. Liftie e-stopped the chair very quick so it swung forward and then missed my head by about an inch on the backswing. That chair was always all kinds of fun to try to load.

Otherwise, everyone at Wachusett knows how the summit lift likes to have some major problem about once every other year. I've been stuck for upwards of 30 minutes a couple of times on it. Didn't have to be evacuated at all but both times it was running on diesel to unload the lift.

 

[Bene288]

I wiped out at the magic carpet lift thing at Mt. Snow in front of a holiday crowd...not my proudest moment. I had to jump off at a mid station at Belleayre a few times because my skis or poles got caught in the landing. The worst was being stuck on the triple at Jiminy for 1hr and 20. It was so cold and windy. Of course it happened to be over the highest, rockiest part of the lift line.

 

[ZYDECORICH]

At Mountain Creek about 5 years ago with my wife and kids on the south lift when my little on slips out fo my wife's grip and starts to go around back down the mountain with the bar up. Her legs were to short to clip the safety trip. The lift guy must have been stoned and allowed her to go at least 30 yards down the mountain,about 50 feet above the ground, while were screaming. Thank God a guy opposite her coming up clamly walked her through lowering the bar. She continued down as I raced to meet her. She was fine,but scared shitless.

 

[spring_mountain_high]

 

[ScottySkis]

Not fun times? Were that happen?

 

[deadheadskier]

Your dad is 6ft? What happened to you? :lol:

:lol:

My dad is the "Giant" of the family at 6'. I'm 1 of 17 male cousins and the tallest is my brother at 5'11". The rest of us are 5'6"-5'9". I'm at the upper end of the scale at 5'8.5" :lol:

Milkman!!!!!!

Well, I guess my mother liked that Milkman an awful lot. My brother and I are 8 years apart and look almost exactly alike aside from him having brown, well now mostly gray, hair.

True story, my aunt left her husband for her Milkman. He delivered milk for Maple Farm Dairy out of Mendon, Mass for 30 years.

 

[Warp Daddy]

On the last FN run of the season very late in the day , me and my buddies were anticpating , NO savoring just HOW FANTASTIC our last run of the season was gonna BE , . Two of them were heading to Fleida thnext am and were planing to take an EPIC last run

The fourth dude on the quad was both stoned and drunk as a skunk . Sumbitch was incoherent , smelled like cheap hootch and had been BOMBING the slopes at CAMP Fortune near Ottawa all afternoon and damn near killed a guy when he narrowly avoided a collision
D up to the
Well the damn lift seized up , we were swinging in the air for about 30 minutes this Quebecois is getting sicker than a dog and decides to cry and wail and then BLOWS LUNCH all over himself . By this time we were not amused with his antics , and the poor sumbitch was probably ready to go into the DT,s so by the time we got sloowly off the lift which was now being cranked to unloading platform there was NO time for a last run since we were in an area isolated from the main lodge where our stuff was . So all we had time to do. Was ski back on a boring. , flat , narrow connector to the main ski lodge . . So there was a lot of pissin and moanin on that drive back to the River . i never heard Men of a certain age cry ass for so long

 

[mlkrgr]

My worst experience is just crazy NYers that insist on smoking in the Killington gondolas; I think I have to say I've been pretty lucky.