9 replies to this topic

[Laura]

Hi,
I took my daughter skiing today for the first time in her life. She's 7. She had one lesson on the bunny hill and made rapid progress. About two hours later we were ready to do the green run off of the shortest chair lift.

We made it 5 chairs from the top (her first ever lift ride) and the chair in front of us FELL OFF crashing 3 people about 40 feet to the ground. They were taken away with spinal injuries to the local hospital.

My daughter was able to go back to the rope tow, brave thing, and continue skiing the rest of the day and actually say that she wants to continue skiing in the future. But that she will never go on a chair lift again.

Now I see your site showing that chair lift accidents are actually kinda common.

a) Can you recommend any hills in Ontario with alternative lifts that go high enough for a kid to learn how to ski?

b) Any advice for helping my daughter ever try a chairlift again? OR which lifts are the safest 'never-fail' ones?

I was able to get back onto another chair lift that day and work through what I saw. But again, after seeing some stuff online about accidents...I'm not so sure that was wise even for me!!

Thank you for responding.

Laura

[Jonni]

One question: was the lift that you and your daughter witness a detachable lift or a Fixed Grip, and what ski area was this at? If you don't know the difference a detachable lift has large spring with little wheels on it and is often times faster than the fixed grip lift, whereas a fixed grip chairlift has a small grip that is attached right to the cable and goes slower than the detachable. If the lift was a detachable where the chair fell off, I would suggest trying to take her on a fixed grip lift with large quad chairs. Many times children (at least in my experience working on the beginner chair at Mt. Sunapee) feel safer on a larger, heavier looking chair. If that chair looks "big and strong" it may look less intimidating as far as the likelyhood of it ever falling off.

I would also explain to her that the chair with the smaller grips on the cable are never allowed to come off of the cable at any time. Other suggestions that may work: trying to go up with a Ski Patroller or a Ski Instructor who is in uniform. If she has a favorite relative that can ski/board or would be willing to learn to ski go up with you and her, to show her the relative's courage in going up the chairlift. Also having her close her eyes for the majority of the ride sometimes helps as well. When you do this stuff, try to find the lowest, shortest chairlift you can find or take her on the newest lift you can find, and use the safety bar.

As far as the chair falling off in front of you, it is very safe to say that it is not a common occurrance. You are more likely to win the lottery or get hit by a car then be on a chair that falls off of the cable, let alone fall off of a chair. To help alleviate your own fear follow the one most important rule, DON'T LOOK DOWN! If you look out and around you at the scenery going by or at the other chairs or lift towers it will help you forget about the bad things that usually don't happen on a lift. Think about the run you are about to take and the perks that would be associated with that.

EDIT: Another idea that may help, is if you can find a ski area that with a beginner area that the beginner chair is close by to the surface lifts. That way she can see everyone else getting on and off of the lift from a distance, and see that horrible accidents like the one you and her had to witness don't happen in everyday operation.

Hope that helps

[SkiBachelor]

Aerial lifts are still the safest mode of transportation for the amount of people they move each year. Even though lift accidents are rare, they do occur and they can be minor or severe depending on the circumstances. Now I must say, there have been more lift accidents this year than normal. However, most of them have been caused by rider error rather than mechanical problems. The lift accident that you saw was definitely a mechanical problem unless the riders were bouncing the chair and it hit a guide rail on the wrong side causing the lift to detach from the haul rope.

[Bill]

I can vouch for what the other two have mentioned. I worked for two years as lift supervisor and the resort I worked at never once had an incident where a chair had fallen off the cable while I worked there. In fact the only person to fall from the chair was a little girl who misloaded and fell on the loading ramp (about 10 ft from loading). In my 22 years of skiing, I have never had to be evacuated from a lift and never had a lift breakdown while I was riding one.

Hopefully that is a little bit more re-assuring.

[edmontonguy]

The best way to find out about ski hills in Ontario, especially smaller local hills would be to visit your local ski shop, or ski specialty store. Most likely there will be many knowledgeable staff members able to help you. The move towards chairlifts at most hills can be seen as they offer increased capacity, and in the case of detachable chairs offer increased speed. Your best bet at finding a hill with alternate lifts accessing more terrain would be at a smaller local hill, as often these hills will have a combination of chairlfts and surface lifts, a result of the somewhat less agressive expansion of a smaller hill and also a result of less skier traffic. If you do manage to find a hill, make sure to talk with a ski school instructor, ski host, or ski pattrol member, they will be more than happy to help make the best of your experience skiing their hill.

[liftmech]

Laura, on Mar 4 2006, 06:16 PM, said:

Now I see your site showing that chair lift accidents are actually kinda common.

Any advice for helping my daughter ever try a chairlift again? OR which lifts are the safest 'never-fail' ones?

I was able to get back onto another chair lift that day and work through what I saw. But again, after seeing some stuff online about accidents...I'm not so sure that was wise even for me!!

Thank you for responding.

Laura

Incidents/accidents in our industry are quite rare; the problem is that when a lift does actually fail, it's often spectacular and the uninformed press then reports upon it in great detail.

Nothing in lift is certain except for death and taxes (and in your case, the fact that your PM won't last long unless he's named Trudeau). Therefore, I can't tell you that there are 'never-fail' lifts. What I can tell you is that my counterparts in the industry take a lot of pride in their lifts and what you witnessed was undoubtedly out of the ordinary.

Again, what you've been seeing online represents less than one percent of all operating lifts and operational hours. I know personally how how hard it is to change a child's mind once it's made up (I have four-year-old twins) so I would suggest that once you've taken your daughter up on surface lifts and she realises aerial lifts are necessary to ski at most places, she'll try riding one again.

Good luck and thanks for the 'regular skier' perspective on our lifts.

[sseguin613]

Where did this accident happen ? What kind of lift was it? Double or Triple or Quad?

liftmech, on Mar 5 2006, 01:38 PM, said:

Incidents/accidents in our industry are quite rare; the problem is that when a lift does actually fail, it's often spectacular and the uninformed press then reports upon it in great detail.

Nothing in lift is certain except for death and taxes (and in your case, the fact that your PM won't last long unless he's named Trudeau). Therefore, I can't tell you that there are 'never-fail' lifts. What I can tell you is that my counterparts in the industry take a lot of pride in their lifts and what you witnessed was undoubtedly out of the ordinary.

Again, what you've been seeing online represents less than one percent of all operating lifts and operational hours. I know personally how how hard it is to change a child's mind once it's made up (I have four-year-old twins) so I would suggest that once you've taken your daughter up on surface lifts and she realises aerial lifts are necessary to ski at most places, she'll try riding one again.

Good luck and thanks for the 'regular skier' perspective on our lifts.

[chasl]

While I don't necessarily agree with liftmech seeing a chair fall off of a ski lift would upset me and I have been working in this industry since 1970.

I feel that without knowing how this equipment works even in the simplest terms this child may never get back onto a chairlift. As time goes on it will be harder.

I partially agree with edmontonguy contact a good local ski shop and ask them about the local areas, specifically maintenance, whether we like it or not the local shops know all about our maintenance habits. ( I feel this is good)

Once you have found an area you like ( this is where I disagree with edmontonguy) a patrolman or skischool instructor (here I may T someone off) will not know enough about this equipment to explain to your daughter how a lift and grips work in ultra simple terms. I would recomend that you go to the local area and talk to someone in authority, explain the problem ask them to have the Maintenance manager (if he will) explain about chairlifts in very simple terms. These kids today are very smart and can really suprise you. Your daughter, while riding surface lifts will see chairlifts operating and then also understand how they work. I believe in time she will realize that riding a chairlift may not be to bad. But she will never forget what she saw any more than you.

As I mentioned at the start I have been working in this industrysince 1970 I have been riding chairs and or surface lifts since 1960 and I have not seen and never hope to see a chair fall off a lift.
I have and we all have heard about this situation happening. I will tell you that of every incident I have heard about, happened from poor maintenance or improper operating procedures and I can count these incidents on one hand.

[andyh1962]

Laura, on Mar 4 2006, 08:16 PM, said:

Hi,
I took my daughter skiing today for the first time in her life. She's 7. She had one lesson on the bunny hill a

a) Can you recommend any hills in Ontario with alternative lifts that go high enough for a kid to learn how to ski?

Thank you for responding.

Laura

I work as a Ski Patrol in Ontario and am familar with the ski lifts at most of the resorts in southern ontario and most of the resorts farther north. (I have done a lot of travelling as a skier.) If you can please respond by telling us where you live or what resorts you live near, or the region where you want to ski, I can tell what other ski resorts are nearby to help you with your selection.

Andy

This post has been edited by andyh1962: 08 March 2006 - 09:10 AM

[andyh1962]

Laura, on Mar 4 2006, 08:16 PM, said:

Hi,
I took my daughter skiing today for the first time in her life. She's 7. She had one lesson on the bunny hill and made rapid progress. About two hours later we were ready to do the green run off of the shortest chair lift.

We made it 5 chairs from the top (her first ever lift ride) and the chair in front of us FELL OFF crashing 3 people about 40 feet to the ground. They were taken away with spinal injuries to the local hospital.

My daughter was able to go back to the rope tow, brave thing, and continue skiing the rest of the day and actually say that she wants to continue skiing in the future. But that she will never go on a chair lift again.

Now I see your site showing that chair lift accidents are actually kinda common.

a) Can you recommend any hills in Ontario with alternative lifts that go high enough for a kid to learn how to ski?

b) Any advice for helping my daughter ever try a chairlift again? OR which lifts are the safest 'never-fail' ones?

I was able to get back onto another chair lift that day and work through what I saw. But again, after seeing some stuff online about accidents...I'm not so sure that was wise even for me!!

Thank you for responding.

Laura

Hi

In my previous reply I told you that I am familiar with most of the ski areas in Ontario. I have now been able to track down which ski resort the accident happened at. From this I will assume that you are looking for ski resorts on the east side of Toronto. Here are 3 that will meet all of your needs:

Dagmar www.skidagmar.com 2 Magic Carpets (a moving conveyor belt, your child will be standing up and will never leave the ground, easier than t-bars)

Oshawa Ski Club www.oshawaskiclub.com 7 t-bars , handle tow, 2 chair lifts

Sir Sam's www.sirsams.com 1 Skye Carpet beginner lift , 1 Quad chair + others


The other ski clubs out in your area are either all chair lifts ( Devil's Elbow) , or not what you are looking for . Skyloft Ski Club is also in your area but it is private, for members only on weekends.

Please when you do take your daughter skiing again, talk to the ski instructors on the hill, arrange for a lesson or introduce her to the ski patrol so your daughter knows that there are people she can trust on the hill. Skiers make over 57 million visits to hundreds of ski resorts in North America every year. Like airplanes, if you look hard enough it is possible to believe that the equipment is not safe. The facts are that the equipment (airplanes and ski lifts ) require maintenance on a regular basis, and for the most part most resorts do what is needed to keep lifts safe. I can tell you that the Ontario Government has an agency ( the TSSA - Technical Standards and Safety Authority ) which will closely inspect the chair lift where your accident happened, as well as all ski lifts like it in the province of Ontario to make sure the type of incident you witnessed does not happen again.