11 replies to this topic

[SkiBachelor]

Hopefully everyone here knows how to ride a chairlift, but if not, here's an article that explains what to do.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/recr...4410857,00.html

This post has been edited by SkiBachelor: 25 January 2006 - 08:42 AM

[WBSKI]

Lol, someone was making a video along time ago too right?

[Jonni]

I'm suprised that he doesn't talk about safety gates and the importance of blasting right through them when you have a problem. The safety gate is your friend when the top operator isn't paying attention, and when it's not bypassed.

[Lift Kid]

If the safety gate is old on an old lift, it isn't as big a friend as the newer ones! In Minnesota there is an old Hall quad from 1978 that has a really old safety gate. The operator has to manualy reset it and the lift's stopping clearance is really far! (about 5 ft.)

[Lift Dinosaur]

Lift Kid, on Jan 25 2006, 06:50 PM, said:

If the safety gate is old on an old lift, it isn't as big a friend as the newer ones! In Minnesota there is an old Hall quad from 1978 that has a really old safety gate. The operator has to manualy reset it and the lift's stopping clearance is really far! (about 5 ft.)

The "stop gate switch" is a resetable switch that is in the "Normal Stop - Service Brake" stop circuit. It can either be manually reset or reset with a reset button on the control panel (depending on the type of switch). The stopping distance is controlled by the service brake (or regen drive if so equipped).

[poloxskier]

One of my favorite signs at a resort was found on the stop gates of many of the old riblets at breck. The sign said, "Push me, Stop lift."
This article is directed more at boarders which for me it was much harder to learn how to get on a lift on a board than skis.

This post has been edited by poloxskier: 25 January 2006 - 07:00 PM

[liftmech]

That article ought to be required reading for new snowriders of all types. I especially like where he reminds people that the lift does in fact take a few seconds to stop. I've been chewed out by more than a few people that the Flyer takes too long to stop- and I've got it barely above the serious chair-swing threshhold. Beside that, the article does a good job of describing what one needs to do on a lift. I know it's aimed primarily at boarders, but every new lift rider needs some preparation before boarding a lift for the first time.

[poloxskier]

I have found it interesting how people who have never ridden a lift or have no knowledge of skiing seem to think that lifts are simple and that there is no real thought required to ride one. As such it seems that no one learning to ski bothers to really learn about how to ride the lift before just jumping on.

[Lift Kid]

I know how that is!! However, I think it is more with older people learning to ski or snowboard that think they are so old that they can do anything. The younger kids seem to put more thought into it because they are really small and to them, lifts are huge and scary.

[liftmech]

I'd go the other way on that one. Older people are generally more thoughtful about the whole thing, at least in my experience. Where I have problems is with the groups of teens who, after falling spectacularly on the ramp, do nothing to get out of the way. They think it's all a laugh riot and have no idea that there are others trying to unload right where they are.

[aug]

Lift Kid, on Jan 25 2006, 05:50 PM, said:

If the safety gate is old on an old lift, it isn't as big a friend as the newer ones! In Minnesota there is an old Hall quad from 1978 that has a really old safety gate. The operator has to manualy reset it and the lift's stopping clearance is really far! (about 5 ft.)

That stopping dist. seems far to short for smooth stop . Most lifts stop in over 10 feet ,unless they are loaded, then the stopping dist . decreases as the load increases. on the other hand if you are down loading the lift the opposite is true.(this assumes that you do not have re gen brake)i would discribe a stopping dist as really far to be 20 feet plus.
here is the formula for determining the stopping dist. for a fixed grip lift
The brake shall be adjusted such that it will stop the aerial lift from full speed , with the design loading condition most unfavorable to stopping,(that would be unloaded for an uphill loading lift) in a distance not exceeding the larger of ten feet,or a distance in feet equal to Vsquared/8000 where V is the is lift speed in feet per minute.
Let's say the lift travels at 450 feet per minute. your maximum allowed stopping dist would be 25.3125 feet.The most important aspect to the stop is the smoothness of the stop. As not to impart bounce or swing to the haul rope or carriers.

[aug]

check out Augs blog entry"Old Lift Designs And Snowboarders" in this forum.