79 replies to this topic

[Peter]

That lift does not operate in the summer. I took that picture actually, and I was a little confused myself. It seems as though it would just hang off when unbuckled and potentially catch on something.

[Dr Frankenstein]

As a ski instructor, I not only have kids with me sometimes, but I'm also wearing a suit with the logo of the mountain on it. I have to give some example to our customers.

And I'm a lazy guy, so I like having footrests under my feet after a pretty hard run.

[brad82]

I always use it - because in europe, you never know when ski school may strike


* For those of you that didnt get that joke, ski school always fall off, and the lift sways, not the most comfortable thing when your 10ft+ in the air

[brad82]

Lift Kid, on Jul 27 2007, 06:38 PM, said:

That would be annoying. What if you weren't ready for it to come down??!!

Also, do you think it would work like a gondola door mechanism?

Yeah it does, theres a video on youtube

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=Y8jAZ4gDruM

[Ontariodude]

I've never not used one. In Ontario, you can get kicked off the hill if you don't so it's become second nature.

Will

[Walt Askier]

From a safety perspective, they're mostly a placebo. Almost all lift related accidents occur at loading or unloading time, not in the middle of the ride, so the bar has limited utility in preventing accidents. My experience is that they cause more accidents than they prevent: I've never seen anyone fall off a lift in the middle, but I've seen numerous accidents at load/unload time that were caused by the bar.

Of course, my experience is not dispositive; the way to settle the question is to gather data about lift-related accidents and correlate it to presence or absence of the bar. (and of course control for differing skier experience due to the terrain served by the lift) My hunch is that bar-less lifts have fewer accidents becuase there's one less thing to go wrong during loading/unloading.

Where I ski there aren't any restraint bars, and it's not a problem as far as I can tell.

[Mtnopsparky]

I can't believe that the macho ego overtakes the common sense of our skiing public. Come on folks, It's a safety restaint. If you were to see what happens when an operator hits an e-stop, or some idiot jumps off a chair to prove how unsafe he/she is, and jepordizes the safety of all the rest of the passengers when the haul rope starts bouncing, you might have second thoughts about how much a nusiance the restraining bar is. The mountian that I work for will fire you as an employee if you dont use the restraining bar, 1 for doing an unsafe act and 2 for not setting an example to our guests. Would you climb a tower and straddle the sheave train w/out a harness?

[Kicking Horse]

The Safety bar is more of a hazard then to keep people in the damn chairs. On Avg I have 6 stops and 10 to 15 slows due to the bar still being down at unload time. The "safety" bar does not keep a person in the chair, So why do we call it a safety bar when it's not?

[2milehi]

Kicking Horse, on Feb 2 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

The Safety bar is more of a hazard then to keep people in the damn chairs. On Avg I have 6 stops and 10 to 15 slows due to the bar still being down at unload time. The "safety" bar does not keep a person in the chair, So why do we call it a safety bar when it's not?

Because it is called a "comfort bar".

[phrakis]

Snoqualmie guy, on Jul 6 2007, 05:24 PM, said:

I never use one unless my legs are tired, or if I'm alone on a quad. I put my board on both leg rests and enjoy the ride

hey snoqualmie - I have a new product that helps support the weight of a snowboard when you are on a chairlift. If you are willing to give it a try, send me a message and I'll send you a free sample. Details are at www.phrakis.com

[aug]

2milehi, on Feb 3 2009, 07:29 AM, said:

Because it is called a "comfort bar".

whiskey bar?

This post has been edited by aug: 03 February 2009 - 06:49 PM

[iwmmug]

Mtnopsparky, on Feb 2 2009, 04:47 PM, said:

I can't believe that the macho ego overtakes the common sense of our skiing public. Come on folks, It's a safety restaint. If you were to see what happens when an operator hits an e-stop, or some idiot jumps off a chair to prove how unsafe he/she is, and jepordizes the safety of all the rest of the passengers when the haul rope starts bouncing, you might have second thoughts about how much a nusiance the restraining bar is. The mountian that I work for will fire you as an employee if you dont use the restraining bar, 1 for doing an unsafe act and 2 for not setting an example to our guests. Would you climb a tower and straddle the sheave train w/out a harness?

They will fire you for not using the comfort bar. Will they prosecute guests for not using it either. Why not just outlaw skiing altogether, everbody stay home on the couch with their seatbelt buckled and not think dangerous thoughts (Thank You Thomas Paine!) As far as climbing towers and straddleing sheave trains, some lift mechanics have been doing it for decades. If your lift line is displacing enough to eject a passengers during an e-stop then its time to adjust decel rate and brakes and not be relying on the comfort bar.

[Walt Askier]

Mtnopsparky, on Feb 2 2009, 06:47 PM, said:

I can't believe that the macho ego overtakes the common sense of our skiing public.

It's not a matter of "macho ego". There's a real question as to whether the "safety" bars prevent more accidents than they cause. My take is that they are a net negative since they're rarely helpful and often present an impediment to loading/unloading. Now, I don't have any data to back that up, and I may be wrong, but for now it's an open question as to whether they increase or decrease safety.

Mtnopsparky, on Feb 2 2009, 06:47 PM, said:

The mountian that I work for will fire you as an employee if you dont use the restraining bar,

It's the law in many places to use the bar. If it was state law to wear underwear on your head your employer would require you to do that too. That has no bearing on whether it's a good law or a useful safety feature.

Where I ski there is no such law and there also aren't any restraint bars. Somehow, people manage to not fall off the lifts. Imagine that.

[skierdude9450]

You know we could settle this scientifically. We have lifties/mechs from all around the country, so we could run a controlled test. Say we have an employee at Alta (where there are no safety bars present), an employee from Breckenridge (where safety bars are present, but not used by everyone), and an employee from Killington (where safety bars are present and their use is mandatory) record the number of accidents in a day, and the number that were related to a safety bar. Just a thought.

[Kicking Horse]

How about record the # of slows / stops / accidents Related to "Comfort Bar" slows or stops. ;)

[skierdude9450]

Sure.

[Kicking Horse]

So Over the Next 4 days i will Record how many slows / stops I have due to the "comfort bar". And will post my results Monday Night. Lift in question will be the Village Express. Sees a lot of noobs. On a sidenote there is a Mid station and depending on who is working there I can have them log it there too.

[liftmech]

aug, on Feb 3 2009, 07:48 PM, said:

whiskey bar?

Southern Comfort?

Let's not let this get out of hand, folks. Some like the bars, some don't, and there's as yet no definitive evidence either way.

[Andoman]

skierdude9450, on Feb 4 2009, 07:21 PM, said:

You know we could settle this scientifically. We have lifties/mechs from all around the country, so we could run a controlled test. Say we have an employee at Alta (where there are no safety bars present), an employee from Breckenridge (where safety bars are present, but not used by everyone), and an employee from Killington (where safety bars are present and their use is mandatory) record the number of accidents in a day, and the number that were related to a safety bar. Just a thought.

Or you could all wait until a busy saturday pop the e-brake and count how many people are left of the lift.

[Kicking Horse]

Andoman, on Feb 6 2009, 12:06 PM, said:

Or you could all wait until a busy saturday pop the e-brake and count how many people are left of the lift.

Done that. Cant seem to lose any... ;)


Friday 2/6/09 Count
4 slows and 3 stops due to bars at the top.