Chair Lift Safety Bars... Dangerous?

A cautionary tale...<br><br>I was enjoying the last night of night skiing on Saturday at Summit Central with my brother and husband. We were getting on the Express chair. When the chair came and hit the back of our legs, I went to sit when all of a sudden something pinched my head against the vertical side bar of the chair. I was forced down in a pike position and my head trapped. I didn't know what was going on. (Before getting on the chair I remember watching the lift operators hanging out inside their hut. No one was outside watching the chair.) As the chair pushed us away from the loading zone I realized my head was trapped between the safety bar and the side of the chair and I was under the safety bar, not contained by it. The chair wasn't stopping as we began to leave the loading zone and I knew I was in trouble. I tried to ditch the chair but I was stuck. Visions of riding the lift hanging by my head really freaked me out. One last attempt and finally I push myself off the chair with a second to spare. <br><br>Once on the ground the left operator, not paying any attention, still hadn't stopped the chair. So I scooted out of the way and climbed away from the chair.<br><br>What happened? Well let me tell you. My brother watched the guy in line behind us mess with our chair with his ski pole. He engaged the safety bar, thus pinching my head and pinning me under the safety bar.<br><br>My brother skied down the hill the catch the guy that caused all this trouble and have a few words with him. I guess he felt sorry about what he did. <br><br>Well, I will be sending the Summit at Snoqualmie a little complaint about the attentiveness of their lifties.<br><br>And, by the way, the bruises on my head are great. &gt;<br>

Crap! I think a few words with the liftie would be in order.... Also, a helmet? <br><br>...My ski partner and I felt the chair at the back of our legs, sat down... and there was no seat! We had to bail out quick. On the Crystal Mtn. Forest Queen Express, six pack, someone had flipped up the seat and we hadn't seen it. The liftie did stop the lift as we bailed.

That's pretty wild stuff.<br>Sorry to hear about your injuries, hope for a speedy recovery.<br><br>It always amazes me what can happen trying to get on a chair moving slower than a snails pace before it engages to high speed.<br>A good lesson to always pay attention.<br><br>I almost always make sure there is nothing on the chair that I am going to get on, the seat is down, the right amount of people are getting on the chair and put my hand up on the safety bar to make sure the person behind does not push it down on my head. Often times the ramp is slick and the person behind is using the bar to slow down and not run into the chair ahead. It is not uncommon for the liftie to be seated away from a high speed chair, so I take responsibility for those minor actions to mitigate any problems. The chair moves slow enough to step aside if there are problems. Although getting on a lift seems harmless, I just need to know that getting on a moving mechanical object is a risk and not take it for granted. Not rely on a $7 an hour liftie to always look after my safety.<br><br>Rule when riding the lift with unfamiliar folks-When the chair takes off I have my hand on the safty bar to not get my head bashed as they pull the bar down. My personal opinion of ettiquette is to ask before one pulls the bar down, so everyone is prepared.<br><br><br>Joe

Hi<br><br>The same thing happened to me and my wife at Alpine Meadows a few years back. We were lucky in that I had turned around to spot the back of the chair and size up our new chair-mates (it was a 6 person chair with a mix of abilities), so I saw the guy grab the bar and push it forward. In fact, I was looking right at him as he did it. I grabbed the bar, set and edge and pushed back. The bar came back up as the chair crept forward, so he lost and no one ended up with the bar coming down on their head, or under the 800 lb 6-person chair. But we didn't load in time. <br><br>His friends immediately started apologizing for him. It was all pretty silly.<br><br>The lifties weren't sure what had happened but they did realize things weren't working out for us and stopped the chair.<br><br>So I guess its always a good idea to spot the back of the chair or the bar, to see if the seat's down and clear, to check your neighbors, and maybe to spot the hoodlums in the line.<br><br>Its always nice when the lift-riding is less risky than the skiing.

Am I the only one who is concerned with a person who's husband is also their brother???<br>That being said, it seems at this point in the season the lift op's are pretty much just picking up an unemployment check. Last saturday at Crystal, not once in seven times up High Campbell did a lift op touch the chair.

Watch out if you're overseas. Your chairmates will slam that thing down on you before your rear hits the seat. I also heard that the bars are required in some eastern states. On the other hand I have heard of the bar saving a nasty fall more than once, so use it but warn others first and bring it down slow.