Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Hello, who uses the saftey bar? For a fact i do, a) its got foot rests b) makes me feel safe esspically on the big heights.
Also i have been watching some tv of sking and stuff, and they were showing pics of Park city, Olympic park etc; and i only noticed that a few use the saftey bar while the rest don't? Is it not required by law? I know in Australia it is?

In the Western United States and Canada, the bar is not on older lifts, and even on newer lifts with bars, it is not required. In the Eastern states, there are laws requiring bars. I live in the West, and only use the bar sometimes. A lot of the lifts don't even have them. I think people here are used to not having it.

In the east or at least in Vermont, the safety bar is a law. This does not mean everyone does it, but it is a law.

Living here in the east, I'm used to pulling the bar down usually because whomever I'm skiing with or whomever I ride the lift with wants it down. When I'm by myself I usually ride the lift with it up unless there are footrests. The only real exception to that for me is when I ride the Slide Brook Express at Sugarbush, as that thing definitely merits using the bar. Here in NH the bar is required to be on the lift but you are not required to use it.

I never use the comfort bar/footrest, unless someone else on the chair wants it down and even then I dont use the foot rest. Mostly I guess its the rebelious spirit from when I was racing, but more over I don't like anything comming in contact with my skis that could possibly scratch them(unless I'm on my rock or work skis) since I do all of my own repairs and every ding is that many more hours I have to spend to get them back to perfect.

To have the bar on the lift is law in Canada, but you don't have to use it. I don't.

I rarely use the bar....well now the depends on what bar we're talking about

maplevalleymaster, on Jun 24 2006, 05:34 AM, said:

Let's clarify. A few states in the East have laws requiring safety bars to be installed. But no state requires the safety bar to be used. It would be an unenforceable regulation.

I don't use them because I hate the leg rests that come with them. I want to let my legs stretch out and relax on the ride up, not have my knees pushed up into my face. And the safety bar itself is a safety hazard. From what I have read, there are far more accidents caused by bar use at the top and bottom than by folks falling out of the lift.

(OTOH, there are places where I hold on tight!)

Cheers, TCS
This post has been edited by tcs: 25 June 2006 - 08:29 PM

tcs, on Jun 24 2006, 08:08 PM, said:

Like the top of the falcon or the Riva Bahn?
There was a college kid that fell off the Colorado Superchair at Breck about 10 years ago at the high part where it used to cross chair 2. He was seriously injured but the fall was the result of him reaching for a dropped camera and he slid out from under the comfort bar/footrest. I would hesitate to call anything other than the automatic bars that some Dopps have on them safety bars. More than anything the comfort bar/footrest creates a false sense of security and would, in my opinion, lead to more accidents or falls from the chair since people think that it will actualy restrain them from falling.

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Well whats the point of putting them on then, required by law to put them on but dont have to use them. How silly that is. Why bother? Why not say you have it installed and they have to use it or say dont even bother about the saftey bar. In a Ski Resort Manager view, not having the bar required by law might same a dew bucks here and there.

Benbosnow, on Jun 25 2006, 01:59 AM, said:

I think it covers the tramboard's butt if something were to happen...then it would fall on the resort. I'm sure it's a safety cushion for a resort's insurance to have safety bars installed on chairs...that way if someone were to fall out of a chair, the resort could go back and say we have them installed, why didn't you use it? Although this isn't the case always.

The Canadian Z98 code (also used by Australia) requires restraining devices, and also requires a "lower restraining device" sign on tower 1 or 2, and a "raise restraining device" sign before the unload. Our Company policy requires ALL employees to use these devices. Three strikes and you are out. When a footrest is incorporated in the restraining bar almost everbody uses it. We have footrests on all but our three shortest chairs.

In Canada, do all lifts need bars, or just ones built after a certain year? Some older lifts don't have them.

...never use it unless someone else wants it down.

I chuckle at the 'bar' users that have to pull the darn thing down even before everyone has their butts in the chair --- whatch your head. And the foot rests, that Gates Heater Hose is usually well worn so it's 'your edges banging against the steel foot rest all the way'. Even if the bar is down my legs are usually hanging free.

Then the handle some lifts have ... if you're not paying attention and the bar comes down, that handle usually pinches your thigh - ouch.

Even on six packs, sitting in the middle, no bar - just throwing caution to the wind!

Yes on the Riva Bahn at the top, especially when the chair stops at the high point and you get the huge bounce - I love that!!! It's the only time I wish a lift would stop! The couple times that happened the bar was down and you could see the knuckles of the other riders shining through.

I remember the look in my dads eye the first time he rode a HSQ at Vail, after having not skied in years. Coming into the top terminal at 'MacH 1' with the bar down! Priceless! Couldn't get things up and ready fast enough - thought it was a crash bar for crash mode.

I share Bryan's opinion in that so-called 'safety bars' cause more problems than they solve. I prefer, even on a longer lift, to let my legs dangle and stretch out as TCS notes. Finally, from a maintenance perspective, they're just one more item that can fail.

tcs, on Jun 25 2006, 12:08 AM, said:

The State of Vermont seems to:

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from http://www.state.vt..../tramrule02.htm

And I've been advised that the same is the case in New York State. In both cases, I think it is up to the individual areas to enforce (in the interest of not raising the ire of the appropriate tram board). I do see a much higher bar use rate here than I recall in Maine, and it's obviously quite a bit higher than Alta's.

tcs, on Jun 25 2006, 12:08 AM, said:

I got out of the habit of using them because I spent a few years attempting to be a ski racer in Maine (and, as we all know, it's simply un-racer-like to use 'em), then started using them again when I started coaching and company policy dictate it. I've since moved to Vermont and made a habit of using them, which led to a bit of discomfort on my first few rides at Alta late in the season. On the other hand, I was grateful for the footrests on Little Cloud and the Mineral Basin Quad while skiing at Snowbird--my legs aren't used to lapping that much vert. I do find it interesting that signage out West seemed to favor the term "footrest" instead of "restraining bar". Either way, though, I would just as soon not test the restraining abilities of any such device--that's bound to be uncomfortable at best.

tcs, on Jun 25 2006, 12:08 AM, said:

Here's the official rule from Vermont's website: http://www.state.vt..../tramrule02.htm

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I gather from this statement that it is law, and I have seen operators stop the lift until riders lowered the bar. At all but one ski area in Vermont I have seen signs on tower 1 or 2 of the lift that it is state law that the safety or restraint bar must be lowered.

As Bogart said (in Casablanca) "I was mis-informed".

TCS

That is so weird. I have grown up in the West without bars, and I can't imagine them being required. If you always have had bars, you probably would not like not having one, but if you aren't used to them, it isn't a big deal.

Skier, on Jun 25 2006, 06:29 PM, said:

All chairs in Canada are required to have them.

Mike - why do you guys make your employees use the bar - a lead by example thing?