Snowboard lifts

One of the things that people pointed out to me in the thread I started is
that it's easier to ride a lift with skis than with a snowboard. I have read
other comments to that effect elsewhere as well. (Of course, if you don't
know what you're doing, anything can be difficult. While in Breckenridge
this August, my son and I took the lift up to the top of peak 8, so we could
hike around up there. It was by far the longest lift I've ever been on in my
life. However, we didn't know how to work the safety bar at first -- you
have to reach way up and pull it down in front of you -- so all the way up
there was nothing holding us in our seats but friction and fingers. It was
rather unnerving, I must say, especially since the ride went on forever. My
wife wasn't too happy when we told her about this "adventure.")

Anyway, it occurred to me that everything about ski lifts -- the chairs, the
bars, the loading and unloading platforms -- was designed with skiers in
mind. It's sort of a forced marriage for snowboarders to use them, right?
Not surprising that it can be awkward. Has anyone thought of designing lift
chairs or loading areas with snowboarders in mind? As boarders become a
greater and greater percentage of total ski resort guests, it may make sense
to modify more of the facilities to accommodate them. For example, perhaps
slots to hold boards could be added in back of the seats, so riders wouldn't
have to dangle their boards from one foot. Or maybe loading areas could be
enlarged or redesigned to provide space for riders who need to adjust their
bindings. It just seems logical to me that some changes could be made that
would assist snowboarders without inconveniencing skiers.

Joe Ramirez

Baka Dasai wrote in
news:slrnbvl0t3.4ko.idontreadthis@yahoobb220004112 021.bbtec.net:

snip


Anybody got any weird lift stories? My current issue is that I'd
like to get a longer board, but if I do I won't be able to fit it in
the gondola at my home mountain.

There's a life in Flaine (France) known as 'the eggs' (dunno the proper
name). It's called the eggs becuase the cabins are little egg shaped
things which split vertically down the middle to load/unload, with two
little bench seats to hold a (nominal) four people. Anyhow it has the
customary ski/board holders on the outside, but as normal the board
holders are designed for dinky little freestyle boards and won't hold a
proper 172. So the lifties just load you into the eggs with your board
between your legs, which is fine, except it stops the 'egg' from closing
properly, and your board sticks out the top. Makes for an interesting
ride watching the ground through the gap in the base of the lift cabin...
(good for ventilation though...)

"Joe Ramirez" wrote in message
...
One of the things that people pointed out to me in the thread I started is
that it's easier to ride a lift with skis than with a snowboard. I have
read
other comments to that effect elsewhere as well. (Of course, if you don't
know what you're doing, anything can be difficult. While in Breckenridge
this August, my son and I took the lift up to the top of peak 8, so we
could
hike around up there. It was by far the longest lift I've ever been on in
my
life. However, we didn't know how to work the safety bar at first -- you
have to reach way up and pull it down in front of you -- so all the way up
there was nothing holding us in our seats but friction and fingers. It was
rather unnerving, I must say, especially since the ride went on forever.
My
wife wasn't too happy when we told her about this "adventure.")

Anyway, it occurred to me that everything about ski lifts -- the chairs,
the
bars, the loading and unloading platforms -- was designed with skiers in
mind. It's sort of a forced marriage for snowboarders to use them, right?
Not surprising that it can be awkward. Has anyone thought of designing
lift
chairs or loading areas with snowboarders in mind? As boarders become a
greater and greater percentage of total ski resort guests, it may make
sense
to modify more of the facilities to accommodate them. For example, perhaps
slots to hold boards could be added in back of the seats, so riders
wouldn't
have to dangle their boards from one foot. Or maybe loading areas could be
enlarged or redesigned to provide space for riders who need to adjust
their
bindings. It just seems logical to me that some changes could be made that
would assist snowboarders without inconveniencing skiers.

I'm not sure, but the complaints might've been about drag-lifts, as opposed
to chair lifts. Chair lifts aren't that comfy on a board, and getting off
often involves falling over in a (hopefully) comedy manner, but they're not
that bad.

Drags (such as button lifts or T-bars) on the other hand can be a nightmare
for beginner boarders. They're pretty much everyhwere here in Scotland, and
some of them pull you into the air when you start moving. Now, if you're
just learning to board, that'll knock you right off. So as a result, many of
our lifts here have an untidy wee pile of newbie boarders next to them... It
can be fairly demoralising when you can't even get up the hill on a lift,
let alone down it.

"Joe Ramirez" wrote in message ...


I'd say this is one of those things to just suck up and deal with. Sorry
to be blunt, but the lifts and ramps are a small price to pay for a lot of
fun and yeah...snowboards came second & we have to adapt. You are correct
thought, the lifts, ramps and even the foot rests are all designed for
skiers. Certainly some mods could be made to make it easier. I have
noticed enlarged unloading areas to give people space (and signs to keep
people from strapping in RIGHT in front of the lift ramp)

While in Breckenridge
this August, my son and I took the lift up to the top of peak 8...
... However, we didn't know how to work the safety bar at first -- My
wife wasn't too happy when we told her about this "adventure.")

You had a bar? Wait till you get on one of the OLD chair lifts where
there is only one center pole holding your chair which has low sides and
no bar and it swings in the wind! Heck, the majority of areas don't even
have bars except on the newer lifts.

Again, its just something you get used to as you learn the sport. Throw
an arm behind the chair to stabilize yourself if you like. By the time
people are riding some of these old lifts up steep expert terrain, they
are usually comfortalby with the ride up (or should be!)


.....now, regarding ramps, holy logflume batman that ramp at the top of
Mt. Baker's chair 6 is the longest steepest ramp I've ever been on!
How the heck do you all ride that thing when it ices up???? (I actually
noticed the majority of locals buckling their rear foot on the lift)

-todd

On 6 Jan 2004 09:45:15 GMT, Baka Dasai
wrote:

I'm having a hard time thinking of how to redesign lifts around the
needs of snowboarders.

It would be nice to sit at about a 45-degree angle to the exit, rather
than a 90-degree angle. It would eliminate the twisting motion
necessary to properly orient the board. Think of the chair as a
V-shape (with the point forward) rather than a straight line. Of
course then you'd have to sit on the correct side depending on whether
you're regular or goofy, but this would also eliminate boards clunking
into one another when regular sits next to goofy on today's lifts.

Dangling the board from one foot is far more convenient than taking
off your board for every lift.

It can be uncomfortable, especially with heavy bindings like my Flows.
I'd rather take it off on a long ride -- it's trivial to put it back
on with the Flows.

-- Robert

Robert Stevahn wrote:

On 6 Jan 2004 09:45:15 GMT, Baka Dasai
wrote:

Dangling the board from one foot is far more convenient than taking
off your board for every lift.

It can be uncomfortable, especially with heavy bindings like my Flows.
I'd rather take it off on a long ride -- it's trivial to put it back
on with the Flows.

No need - just make the footrests much wider, and have them rotate so
that when the safety bar is brought down, they are parallel to the chair
movement and thus slip easily between the boards. Twist of a lever, and
they rotate 90 degrees and provide nice support. When the bar is
raised, they should automatically rotate back 90 degrees. This saves
the awkwardness of swinging boards around and up onto ski foot rests.

Neil

On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 15:19:38 -0000, "Barney"
wrote:

Drags (such as button lifts or T-bars) on the other hand can be a nightmare
for beginner boarders. They're pretty much everyhwere here in Scotland, and
some of them pull you into the air when you start moving. Now, if you're
just learning to board, that'll knock you right off. So as a result, many of
our lifts here have an untidy wee pile of newbie boarders next to them... It
can be fairly demoralising when you can't even get up the hill on a lift,
let alone down it.


Hmm, the wonderful rocket launchers @ Glenshee!! Funnily enought I
dont mind the tbars @ Nevis Range.

Whats worst is the exit from the sunnyside chairlift. Enought to scare
anyone away from boarding..

"toddjb" wrote in message
om...
"Joe Ramirez" wrote in message
...

While in Breckenridge
this August, my son and I took the lift up to the top of peak 8...
... However, we didn't know how to work the safety bar at first -- My
wife wasn't too happy when we told her about this "adventure.")

You had a bar? Wait till you get on one of the OLD chair lifts where
there is only one center pole holding your chair which has low sides and
no bar and it swings in the wind! Heck, the majority of areas don't even
have bars except on the newer lifts.

Again, its just something you get used to as you learn the sport. Throw
an arm behind the chair to stabilize yourself if you like. By the time
people are riding some of these old lifts up steep expert terrain, they
are usually comfortalby with the ride up (or should be!)

Do people ever fall out of the chairs? I've always wondered about that.
Surely there must have been some accidents over the years. And do lift
riders ever drop their skis or boards? That seems even more likely,
especially considering that among the lift passengers will always be some
folks who have been drinking and some who are just kids.

Joe Ramirez

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 16:54:46 GMT, (toddjb)
allegedly wrote:

....now, regarding ramps, holy logflume batman that ramp at the top of
Mt. Baker's chair 6 is the longest steepest ramp I've ever been on!
How the heck do you all ride that thing when it ices up???? (I
actually noticed the majority of locals buckling their rear foot on
the lift)

It's a beaut isn't it!

The locals seem to strap in more so on a busy powder day, so that they
can simply ride straight off.

When it's icy, it's not a problem, you just straight line the thing
until you run out of steam. However, the issue comes when said people
are strapping in and they put in a turn at the bottom to go back under
C6. Turn after turn after turn, and soon a bank forms at the bottom.
Then the folk that are straight lining it have the ride up and over that
back.

I've seen some really nasty splats because of that, especially people
getting launched off one berm, and smacking into another just behind it.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

"Joe Ramirez" wrote in message ...

Do people ever fall out of the chairs? I've always wondered about that.
Surely there must have been some accidents over the years. And do lift
riders ever drop their skis or boards? That seems even more likely,
especially considering that among the lift passengers will always be some
folks who have been drinking and some who are just kids.

Joe Ramirez

I have never seen anyone fall out. Perhaps the riders just don't relax quite
as much as you would on a high speed dome covered quad! As far as dropping
things, why would you? The skis and boards are attached to your feet just
as on any other lift. I never see anyone carrying a board if that's what
you mean.

Tell ya, from my perspective, I'm comfortable on the lifts but I don't do
as much moving around or picture taking as I might on other more roomy
lifts.

Again, I think the people who are uncomfortable with these lifts don't
ride them more than once, and hopefully don't board drunk either way.

-todd