# What's your worst lift ride story?



## billski (Sep 28, 2010)




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## WJenness (Sep 29, 2010)

Haven't watched the video...

But, a couple seasons ago... on a rather cold and blustery night at Wachusett, I decided to take 'one more run' off the Minuteman chair...

Loading went OK, myself, a ski racer (in his GS suit) and a teenage couple... we got to the second lift tower and stopped HARD...

I turned around to see the lifties scratching their heads and then the snowmobiles came screaming over to the bottom terminal, and then up the lift line...

Ten minutes later, the chair restarts, we move about 3 feet, and stop hard again...

More snowmobiles, more lifties trying to figure out what's goign on...

The girl of the teenage couple's cell phone starts ringing repeatedly as her father is looking for her and her boyfriend... I think he called about 6 times while we were stuck on the lift... probably thinking they were off getting into the kind of trouble teenage couples usually get into... He wasn't buying the 'we're stuck on the lift' story...

They eventually got the diesel aux drive going, and after about an hour and a half we reached the top terminal... I had to stretch before skiing down as my legs were frozen from the temp and asleep from dangling for that long...

I went in to guest services and because I was skiing on the pass, all the girl could do for me was give me a coupon for $5 off a rental / lesson / lift ticket purchase... Folks skiing on day-tickets were given pro-rated vouchers I believe... Not a complaint... happy with whatever they would give me... and happy I didn't have to evac from the lift... but definitely not the most fun way to take your 'last run' of the night.

-w


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## riverc0il (Sep 29, 2010)

That video would have absolutely owned if the lift started up again as soon as she jumped. It was missing a pay off at the end. Especially for a cheap laugh clip that long.

I can't think of too many horrific ride stories aside from lifts breaking down when it is really cold. I never have been evac'd. 

One awkward lift ride involved me getting paired up with a couples little kid so he didn't have to ride alone (I think dad was skiing with another kid and mom was in the lodge and it was a double chair). I didn't mind but I was not told that the kid could not unload by himself. We were on a double chair and as the chair approached the unload station, the kid was not getting himself ready. I had not considered that they would have sent me up with a kid that needed help unloading without asking me first. Any ways, I get off but the kid basically falls off the chair behind me almost bringing me down to. I realized too late that the kid has likely always been carried off the chair by an adult. The chair clears us both thankfully, the lift stops, and thankfully dad was on the chair ahead of me so took over. I was not very appreciative about that situation.


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## Glenn (Sep 29, 2010)

I had to be evac'd once up at Burke. It actually wasn't that bad...kinda cool really. Crazy squals rolled in and there was lightning in the area. They had to shut all the lifts down and evac everyone. Got a free day ticket out of that one. And skied in some pretty decent snow on the way down since the slopes were empty and we had been pretty close to the top.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 29, 2010)

Glenn said:


> I had to be evac'd once up at Burke. It actually wasn't that bad...kinda cool really. Crazy squals rolled in and there was lightning in the area. They had to shut all the lifts down and evac everyone. Got a free day ticket out of that one. And skied in some pretty decent snow on the way down since the slopes were empty and we had been pretty close to the top.


 
Really? When was this? 

I was evac'ed from the Willoughby Quad on Christmas Day 2006. Yeah, that was fun. The teenager up ahead of me freaking out--not so cool!

I've had a few interesting rides. In 2000 or 2001 I rode up with a woman at Sugarbush wearing fur and going on and on about how Sugarbush sucked and Stowe was so cool. At the end of her rant I looked at her and simply said, "well, go back to Stowe!" It was logical and made sense. She didn't get the humor or the logic...but it shut her up. 

There was a similar incident at Burke in 2003 when another woman in spandex pants and a fur coat, who I'd seen snowplowing down the mountain, made the same comments and I more diplomatically told her the same thing. 

And then there was the incident last year where a couple teenagers got on the Summit Quad at Sugarbush. They were on a date and the boy was so caught up with his girlfriend that he did not give any warning before dropping the safety bar down. The (stupid) handle came down right on my helmeted head. Man, that hurt. I was in some pain and you should have seen how red that guy turned with embarrassment! They were pretty quiet afterwards! Why Poma puts these handles on their chairs is beyond me....

But to be honest the par for me is a pleasant ride with good conversation with folks who love skiing and riding.  More often than not they are not familiar with the place and ask me for advice and tips which I am happy to provide.  Sometimes I get some good information as well.  This spring the Mrs. and I even got a ride up with John Egan at Sugarbush because his private lesson did not wait for him.  We got the benefit of the conversation with this guy and I will never forget my wife's comment, "hey wait, you were in Warren Miller movies!  You're a movie star!"


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## Mapnut (Sep 29, 2010)

The Number 3 T-bar at Sugarloaf, a sentimental favorite of mine.  It was December of (I think) 1970, my third year of skiing.  There were maybe three feet of snow on the ground, but as you may know, the No. 3 is steep and high and was designed for great snow depths.  I was riding up with my brother who was 8 inches taller than me at the time, and heavier.  As we went under one of the towers where the snow on the track was less than a foot deep, the piston extended to its limit and I was lifted up off the ground, and fell off.  I had to walk back down beside the lift line, where the snow was 3 feet deep.  I met my brother at the bottom and tried again.  Same thing.  This time as I plodded down in my previous footsteps, a snotty ski patroller riding up said, "If you can't stay on the lift, you better stick to the lower slopes." 

But my brother encouraged me to try again, and this time I made it!  Enjoyed a great run down the Tote Road. Pthllbthlbthlblblb to the ski patroller.


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## skiadikt (Sep 29, 2010)

clip's pretty weak. wasn't there an incident at west mtn a few yrs ago when some kids got on (sneaked) a lift after it closed and wound up spending the night on it.


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## deadheadskier (Sep 29, 2010)

Jewish ex-girlfriend's mom.  She wanted some one on one time with 'the goy'.  Every ride up the Old Big Spruce Double Chair at Stowe was a long one.  None longer than that ride.  awkward

we broke up a few weeks later :lol:


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## Warp Daddy (Sep 29, 2010)

Several yrs ago 2 buddies and i were skiing  very late in the season . For one of the guys, a real die hard, it was going to be his LAST RIDE of the season since he was going to Fla in the am . ON the way up he was savoring  just how much he was going to Dance down the Mountain and suck up the experience.

 Our  "other" partner on a quad was a very drunken guy . I mean THIS dude was really " ALL  Bozoed -up" and was telling how he was just bombing the steeps all day -- SCARY in his condition . The freaking guy REEKED of cheap booze and was slurring his words etc and damn near incoherent  .

We stayed cool and damn if the lift didn't break down and leave us hanging in the air for 30 minutes and we had to not only ski down BUT also get back to the main portion of the resort some distance from where we were on a connector in order to get back BEFORE the lifts closed . So we finally get off the lift and because it was so damn late my buddy never got to shoot down the trail we wanted to do , instead we and the drunk had to detour on the connector trail to make the last chair .

 That bozo was scary out of control , i mean zero judgement -----------and my buddy never got his PRIMO LAST RUN as he'd imagined and he was Pluperfectly Pissed


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## billski (Sep 29, 2010)

*Scary at Bolton*

Agreed, the video was pretty bad.

Several years ago, I was skiing with my 8 year old daughter and we got on the Timberline lift.  That lift has plastic seats. Very slippery seats for a skinny lightweight kid.  We had just gotten loaded and were about 12 feet off the ground when she slipped off the seat and under the safety bar.  I grabbed the back of her jacket, but she already was butt off the chair, dangling.  The lifty slammed the lift off and we began swinging.

Below us were several boulders underneath an unknown amount of powder.  I could not pull her up with one hand, and I too began to slide out.  I looked below at what seemed to be a clearing between rocks and told her I was going to drop her - now about an eight foot drop for her.  She landed on her back in deep powder.  

But I couldn't get back into the chair and was losing my grip.  I was scared to death I would land on her head skis first.  I tried to swing away and pull myself up but couldn't.  Finally my grip would hold no longer and I plummeted.  My skis landed within inches of her head.  A miracle.

She was laughing, thought it was the funniest, most fun thing.  I tried to play along by a half-hearted laugh, just to keep her calm, but I was still freaking from the thought that I could have seriously injured her.

In the end, we both walked away, got back on the lift and skied the rest of the day.

They still have those plastic seats, but she no longer rides that lift, understandably so.


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## bobbutts (Sep 29, 2010)

My worst lift ride by far was at on the Summit HSQ at Sierra at Tahoe
Shortly after loading the lift we heard the first clap of thunder.  By about 1/2 way up there was a serious t-storm underway with lots of close lightning and hail falling.  The lift stopped and we said debated jumping but decided against.  The guy I was with had already broken his back in a fall and said he would not do it again!  It was quite scary and we were very concerned about being struck.
Anyway finally the storm passed and the lift started again.  At the top patrol forced us to wait in the summit lodge for quite awhile until they were satisfied it was over.  The trip back down the mountain had unique conditions with a coating of fresh hail..


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## thetrailboss (Sep 29, 2010)

bobbutts said:


> My worst lift ride by far was at on the Summit HSQ at Sierra at Tahoe
> Shortly after loading the lift we heard the first clap of thunder. By about 1/2 way up there was a serious t-storm underway with lots of close lightning and hail falling. The lift stopped and we said debated jumping but decided against. The guy I was with had already broken his back in a fall and said he would not do it again! It was quite scary and we were very concerned about being struck.
> Anyway finally the storm passed and the lift started again. At the top patrol forced us to wait in the summit lodge for quite awhile until they were satisfied it was over. The trip back down the mountain had unique conditions with a coating of fresh hail..


 
  I think that takes the prize!  Why the hell is the protocol to stop a lift and not unload it in such a storm?


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## billski (Sep 29, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> I think that takes the prize!  Why the hell is the protocol to stop a lift and not unload it in such a storm?



That is not the first time I've heard of lifts stopping during a lightening storm.  I'd like to hear the rationale too.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

I love that bit from Larry David..


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## SkiDork (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> I love that bit from Larry David..



edible underwear?


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

SkiDork said:


> edible underwear?



haha...  I love how she jumps - he just looks down and then takes another bite..  haha...


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

billski said:


> That is not the first time I've heard of lifts stopping during a lightening storm.  I'd like to hear the rationale too.



Power outage?  It happens during lightning...


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## thetrailboss (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> Power outage? It happens during lightning...


 
That's why lifts have an auxiliary diesel system.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> That's why lifts have an auxiliary diesel system.



Of course... But a thunder storm will stop a lift.

Also - with a big storm comes wind so the lift may've shut down.  Not sure it's safe to start the diesel with chairs swinging around..


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## bobbutts (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> Power outage?  It happens during lightning...



I really don't know.. pretty sure they did not lose power.  Wondered about why it stopped at the time and never figured it out or possibly forgot.


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## SkiDork (Sep 29, 2010)

dmc said:


> haha...  I love how she jumps - he just looks down and then takes another bite..  haha...



bad lighting but here they are:


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## Black Phantom (Sep 29, 2010)

SkiDork said:


> bad lighting but here they are:



Is Larry sporting a Columbia jacket?


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

bobbutts said:


> I really don't know.. pretty sure they did not lose power.  Wondered about why it stopped at the time and never figured it out or possibly forgot.



More then likely a wind gust triggered the stop..  Just a guess..


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## SkiDork (Sep 29, 2010)

Here he is with Cheryl.  Does look like Columbia


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## catskillman (Sep 29, 2010)

I could go on and on about the horrible exeriences on the lifts at Hunter.

The best/worst lift ride that did not happen was also at Hunter - West Side power failure - the 2 1/2 mile death march with 300 people on a road that was not plowed after a 7ft snowstorm.  What a nightmane.


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## dmc (Sep 29, 2010)

catskillman said:


> I could go on and on about the horrible exeriences on the lifts at Hunter.
> 
> The best/worst lift ride that did not happen was also at Hunter - West Side power failure - the 2 1/2 mile death march with 300 people on a road that was not plowed after a 7ft snowstorm.  What a nightmane.



Yeah - having snow removal equipment diverted for saving peoples lives that were trapped in their collapsed houses and not allowing busses to drive the icy, barely plowed road can really put a damper on a ski day...  :roll:

It wasn't just the West Side that lost power - it was half the town.  Those few days were very difficult for many people in town.  I needed a front end loader just to get my car out...


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## Glenn (Sep 29, 2010)

thetrailboss said:


> Really? When was this?



Early 90's....maybe 93/94? It was a really strange weather day. Sunny, but windy, and squals kept rolling in. It was a combo of snow and frozen pellets. Seeing the lightning and then instantly hearing the thunder was something I won't forget. 

You gain a level of respect for the patrolers/helpers who run the evac operation. I'm sure it's pretty stressful for them and people above them are are bit freaked. However, they remain calm, get you down safely and then move on to the next chair. 

When my buddy tossed down his poles, one landed the tree. The patroller was cool enough to climb the tree and get the poles. The patroller was still wearing his ski boots.


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## SIKSKIER (Sep 30, 2010)

I don't know if this is the worst lift story but it certainly had the worst view.My buddy decides to ride Cannons upper t-bar naked.He takes all his clothes off and skis down to the lift and loads.Stupid me hops on right behind him with his clothes and rides up looking at his ass the whole way.Why couldn't his girlfriend join in?Not one of my smarter moves but it sure was funny.


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## ceo (Oct 1, 2010)

(this is adapted from my reply to a similar thread on SnowJournal)

I have two worst lift rides, and they happened one right after the other, one incredibly windy day at Cannon. They were running the tram slower than usual because of the wind, and right after we crossed Tower 3, the tram car started juddering violently from side to side. Not a pleasant or reassuring sensation in the slightest, let me tell you. The track ropes between the tower and the summit terminal were whipping up and down in the wind, and we had to wait for it to slack off a bit before creeping up to the terminal. I think they actually did one more run before putting it on wind hold (as in, put the AERIAL TRAMWAY on wind hold).

Then, because I'm stupid, I decided to take a ride on the Cannonball summit quad, which for some reason was still running. Not being a complete idiot, I waited a moment for some people to join me... not for the company, for the _ballast_. As we came over the crest of the mountain, the chair started swinging pretty good, and the summit operator had to stop the lift before we reached each tower (we were the only loaded chair) and wait for the wind to calm down a little so we didn't whack the tower on the way by. We all waved gratefully at the operator as we unloaded, and the lift ground to a halt behind us and stayed that way for the rest of the day.

That's still not the windiest I've seen it at a ski area, though. One time at Sugarloaf, they had to put the #3 _T-bar_ on wind hold because it was impossible to stand up at the top of it.


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## thetrailboss (Oct 1, 2010)

SIKSKIER said:


> I don't know if this is the worst lift story but it certainly had the worst view.My buddy decides to ride Cannons upper t-bar naked.He takes all his clothes off and skis down to the lift and loads.Stupid me hops on right behind him with his clothes and rides up looking at his ass the whole way.Why couldn't his girlfriend join in?Not one of my smarter moves but it sure was funny.


 
OK, now THAT takes the prize!  :lol:


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## Bandit2941 (Oct 2, 2010)

billski said:


> That is not the first time I've heard of lifts stopping during a lightening storm.  I'd like to hear the rationale too.



I would guess it's for safety. You can only get electrocuted if you complete the path to ground. What this means is that if you're sitting in a chairlift and lightning strikes a tower, cable, chair, etc you won't be electrocuted since your body is not completing the path to ground. This is the same reason birds can sit on power lines, and why you don't get zapped if lightning strikes your car (has nothing to do with rubber tires).

If they stop the chairlift nobody is completing the path to ground, therefore nobody should get zapped. If they are unloading chairs and lightning strikes a tower at the moment people are standing up to unload (while touching the chair and the ground) those people could get shocked.


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## Geoff (Oct 2, 2010)

Maybe 6 years ago, I had a lift break down on me at 3pm at La Parva in Chile.   I was just beyond the first lift tower and a good 50 feet off the ground.   The resort had lost power.   I could look back and watch the comedy as they tried to get the diesel started.   The poorly trained lift operators obviously weren't up to the task.  The mechanics show up 30 minutes later on snowmobiles.   I knew things were bad when I looked back and could see manuals and schematics coming out.   They managed to make a few very impressive black smoke clouds trying to start the diesel.   The electricity came back on but they couldn't get the lift to run.   Finally, around 5:00, they got the diesel running and the lift crawled us up the hill.   At the top, there were a bunch of ski patrollers waiting to do trail sweep and I was the last person off the lift.   I was shouting "Valle Nevado" as I hit the ramp.   I was staying at the interconnected resort.   By car, it's a 2 hour drive.  They peeled off a ski patroller to get us back.   His bindings had frozen up and he walked out on every turn.   He got on the radio and got somebody else.   They skied us down to a surface lift, started it, and we rode up.   We then skied down to a double chair.   They started it and we rode up.   We then skied over to the Valle Nevado gate where we skied down to the hotel complex at the bottom in the dark.

It wasn't cold.   I wasn't in danger.   ...but I wasn't looking forward to being stranded at the wrong resort.

I've been on several lifts that broke down where I sat there for a long time without being dressed properly for wind and dropping temperatures.   That made for some uncomfortable times.

In 2001, I was stuck on Gad II at Snowbird on an epic powder day.   We were with a guide/instructor so it was a pretty expensive hour+ on the lift.   At lunch break, the general manager came over to our table and gave us all comp lift ticket vouchers.   All I could think of was that Killington gives you a hot chocolate voucher when something like that happens.   There's something to be said for doing it right.


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## jaja111 (Oct 2, 2010)

Geoff said:


> ........... All I could think of was that Killington gives you a hot chocolate voucher when something like that happens.   There's something to be said for doing it right.



Twice for me. Once stuck on the canyon lift for 45 minutes and way back when for 1.5 hours on the Killington Double.... in 13 degrees.... with 15mph wind gusting to what felt like 35...... just below a rapidly moving cloud deck near the top...... with one base layer + a sweatshirt + shell pants and jacket that seemed like they were perforated up there. Hot chocolate. Not much better than being kicked when down. I don't even like hot chocolate.


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## crank (Oct 3, 2010)

I think I lead a charmed lift life. 

Park City in 1977 I worked at the Summit House and took an early morning gondola commute during a thunder snow.  Just after I got there the lift stopped, the mountain lost power, and whether it was wind or problems with the diesel, the gondi stopped for about an hour the cars swinging like crazy thunder and lighting everywhere.  I don't think the hill was open to the public yet but there were a lot of lifties and patrol, etc who had a rough ride.

Kirkwood 1983, my girlfriend and I were skiing down on a beautiful sunny day and noticed no one was on the slopes behind us.  We then noticed every lift on the hill was stopped.  Took about an hour to get power back up again while we had a leisurely lunch in the lodge.

Mid-80's at Kmart.  This one was fun for me and not so fun for the guy I was riding with.  It was the ramp.   double chair that went from the main lodge to the top with a mid station.  I was skiing alone and got in with a middle aged guy who was a shareholder or some such thing and made the mistake of asking me how I liked Killington.  I should have just been polite and said great mountain (which in some was it is) but I told him how I though it was over hyped, over crowded and had a bad and confusing trail system.  He was upsed enough by my comments that he forgot to lift his poles at the mid station and snapped 'em both in 2.  It was all I could do to keep from laughing.


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## Sparky (Oct 4, 2010)

This was not my worst chairlift ride, but it was for somebody. I was doing some night skiing and I hoped on a fixed quad a couple of chairs behind four girls of the early teenage verity. They were making the usual young teenage girl sounds, lots of loud giggling and screeching. Once we got to the top and there chair started around the bull wheel there was a not so subtle change it the tone of their screeching. When I looked up I saw one girl hanging by her hand swinging around the wheel and starting down. I yelled to the liftie to stop the chair which he eventually did, but not till the now screaming girl was half way to the first tower and 15 to 20 feet in the air. I was stuck on the chair and could do nothing, but watch events unfold. Some guy’s that were just out skiing gathered underneath her in anticipation of her falling and shortly after that ski patrol showed up and eventually she did fall into the group. Luckily no body was hurt for the fall. Ski patrol loaded her up on a slide and away they went. I have no idea of the extent of her injuries or how she got caught hanging by one hand.


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## billski (Oct 4, 2010)

Sparky said:


> This was not my worst chairlift ride, but it was for somebody. I was doing some night skiing and I hoped on a fixed quad a couple of chairs behind four girls of the early teenage verity. They were making the usual young teenage girl sounds, lots of loud giggling and screeching. Once we got to the top and there chair started around the bull wheel there was a not so subtle change it the tone of their screeching. When I looked up I saw one girl hanging by her hand swinging around the wheel and starting down. I yelled to the liftie to stop the chair which he eventually did, but not till the now screaming girl was half way to the first tower and 15 to 20 feet in the air. I was stuck on the chair and could do nothing, but watch events unfold. Some guy’s that were just out skiing gathered underneath her in anticipation of her falling and shortly after that ski patrol showed up and eventually she did fall into the group. Luckily no body was hurt for the fall. Ski patrol loaded her up on a slide and away they went. I have no idea of the extent of her injuries or how she got caught hanging by one hand.



So the kill switch /wand did not shut down the lift when her chair went around the bull wheel?  

When she fell into the group, did she have her skis on?  Ouch!


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## ceo (Oct 4, 2010)

crank said:


> he forgot to lift his poles at the mid station and snapped 'em both in 2.



That happened to a guy I was riding up Double Bummer West with at Sugarloaf (and we were having a perfectly cordial conversation). The midstation liftie jumped out of his shack shouting "Your poles! Your poles!", but it was too late and they both got bent to about 45 degrees on the unloading ramp. He tried to bend one back and it snapped in half.

Learned a lesson that day about dangling one's strapless poles from the safety bar, particularly with the pole to the inside. (And so did he, presumably.)


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## 2knees (Oct 4, 2010)

SIKSKIER said:


> I don't know if this is the worst lift story but it certainly had the worst view.My buddy decides to ride Cannons upper t-bar naked.



would that make it the upper t-bag bar?


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## billski (Oct 4, 2010)

ceo said:


> That happened to a guy I was riding up Double Bummer West with at Sugarloaf (and we were having a perfectly cordial conversation). The midstation liftie jumped out of his shack shouting "Your poles! Your poles!", but it was too late and they both got bent to about 45 degrees on the unloading ramp. He tried to bend one back and it snapped in half.
> 
> Learned a lesson that day about dangling one's strapless poles from the safety bar, particularly with the pole to the inside. (And so did he, presumably.)



I see broken poles a lot on feeder hills and places that attract a lot of beginners, or beer-fueled NASTAR racers!


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## Sparky (Oct 4, 2010)

billski said:


> So the kill switch /wand did not shut down the lift when her chair went around the bull wheel?
> 
> When she fell into the group, did she have her skis on?  Ouch!



Kill switch did not suit it down and yes she had her skis on.


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## x10003q (Oct 6, 2010)

I was at Killington on winter break from college. It was midweek with no crowds, cold and windy, and marginal icy conditions. Me and the girlfriend get seperated from our group so I suggest going to the bottom of the old gondola to join the Gondola Club. Much to my suprise she agrees. We ski all the way down to the base, wait for a gap in the small line, get a on a gondola behind an empty gondola when some tool with rentals barges onto our gondola. Before I can get him to take the next one the door shuts and that is that for the Gondola Club.

Now the fun begins.

In about 30 seconds he pulls out a Marlboro, says mind if I smoke. I say I mind. He ignores me and is about to fire it up when I pull it out of his mouth and hand it back to him saying once again I mind. Once again he puts it in his mouth and is ready to light when I yank it out of his mouth and send it out the window. At this point he swings an ungloved fist at me, and despite being only 2 feet away, somehow misses and hits the gondola. I return a wild shot and happen to find his nose which starts bleeding profusely. We are now about 1 minute into a 30 minute ride. At this point my girlfriend takes pity on the a-hole and hands him some tissues to stem the bleeding. After the bleeding stops I notice a big still bleeding cut on the back of his knuckle. He must of cut it when he hit the inside of the Gondola. Without saying a word I start to point to his hand but he flinches like I am going to hit him again. I finally say you are cut on your hand. He takes what is left from the tissues and puts it on the back of his hand. Not another word was spoken for next 27 minutes. It was the most uncomfortable 27 minutes in all of my lift riding days. I did not take my eye off him and he did not look at me. 

So a ride that started out with so much promise ended up in the completely opposite place.


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## WJenness (Oct 6, 2010)

x10003q said:


> I was at Killington on winter break from college. It was midweek with no crowds, cold and windy, and marginal icy conditions. Me and the girlfriend get seperated from our group so I suggest going to the bottom of the old gondola to join the Gondola Club. Much to my suprise she agrees. We ski all the way down to the base, wait for a gap in the small line, get a on a gondola behind an empty gondola when some tool with rentals barges onto our gondola. Before I can get him to take the next one the door shuts and that is that for the Gondola Club.
> 
> Now the fun begins.
> 
> ...



super lame...

sorry man.

-w


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## Riverskier (Oct 6, 2010)

x10003q said:


> I was at Killington on winter break from college. It was midweek with no crowds, cold and windy, and marginal icy conditions. Me and the girlfriend get seperated from our group so I suggest going to the bottom of the old gondola to join the Gondola Club. Much to my suprise she agrees. We ski all the way down to the base, wait for a gap in the small line, get a on a gondola behind an empty gondola when some tool with rentals barges onto our gondola. Before I can get him to take the next one the door shuts and that is that for the Gondola Club.
> 
> Now the fun begins.
> 
> ...



I think we have a winner.


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## billski (Oct 6, 2010)

x10003q said:


> In about 30 seconds he pulls out a Marlboro, says mind if I smoke. I say I mind.



Try that one in Austria.  The entire cab will throw you out the door!    

One more reason not to bother with the gondi.  Leave it for the leaf-peepers.8)


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## jaja111 (Oct 6, 2010)

billski said:


> Try that one in Austria.  The entire cab will throw you out the door!
> 
> One more reason not to bother with the gondi.  Leave it for the leaf-peepers.8)



Indeed... but I have had good situations arise on a Gondi once in awhile. Like when someone breaks out with something fantastic to light up.


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## dmc (Oct 7, 2010)

x10003q said:


> In about 30 seconds he pulls out a Marlboro, says mind if I smoke. I say I mind. He ignores me and is about to fire it up when I pull it out of his mouth and hand it back to him saying once again I mind. Once again he puts it in his mouth and is ready to light when I yank it out of his mouth and send it out the window. At this point he swings an ungloved fist at me, and despite being only 2 feet away, somehow misses and hits the gondola. I return a wild shot and happen to find his nose which starts bleeding profusely. We are now about 1 minute into a 30 minute ride. At this point my girlfriend takes pity on the a-hole and hands him some tissues to stem the bleeding. After the bleeding stops I notice a big still bleeding cut on the back of his knuckle. He must of cut it when he hit the inside of the Gondola. Without saying a word I start to point to his hand but he flinches like I am going to hit him again. I finally say you are cut on your hand. He takes what is left from the tissues and puts it on the back of his hand. Not another word was spoken for next 27 minutes. It was the most uncomfortable 27 minutes in all of my lift riding days. I did not take my eye off him and he did not look at me.
> 
> So a ride that started out with so much promise ended up in the completely opposite place.



There's no excuse for violence...   In my opinion - you should not have pulled the smoke out of his mouth..  It was destined for violence...


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## Cannonball (Oct 7, 2010)

x10003q said:


> I was at Killington on winter break from college. It was midweek with no crowds, cold and windy, and marginal icy conditions. Me and the girlfriend get seperated from our group so I suggest going to the bottom of the old gondola to join the Gondola Club. Much to my suprise she agrees. We ski all the way down to the base, wait for a gap in the small line, get a on a gondola behind an empty gondola when some tool with rentals barges onto our gondola. Before I can get him to take the next one the door shuts and that is that for the Gondola Club.
> 
> Now the fun begins.
> 
> ...



Only at Killington.

If I didn't have enough reasons to avoid the place here are two more.


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## dmc (Oct 7, 2010)

Cannonball said:


> Only at Killington.
> 
> If I didn't have enough reasons to avoid the place here are two more.



One of the moderators on KZone actually filmed(helmet cam) and altercation he had with a guy after the dude cut his wife off...  Chased him down to the chair..   

it was a pathetic...  Even for a guy that lives at Hunter Mtn...


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## 2knees (Oct 7, 2010)

dmc said:


> One of the moderators on KZone actually filmed(helmet cam) and altercation he had with a guy after the dude cut his wife off...  Chased him down to the chair..
> 
> it was a pathetic...  Even for a guy that lives at Hunter Mtn...




holy crap i forgot about that.  man, that was totally bizarro.


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## dmc (Oct 7, 2010)

2knees said:


> holy crap i forgot about that.  man, that was totally bizarro.




yeah... it was pretty horrible..  

Lots of chest thumping and feather spreading...


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## Geoff (Oct 8, 2010)

dmc said:


> yeah... it was pretty horrible..
> 
> Lots of chest thumping and feather spreading...



I was standing in the Skye Peak Quad line in the late 1980's.   Some guy walks into the liftline with one ski and swings it like a baseball bat at some guy.   Nailed him in the head and put him on the ground.   The guy with the ski walks away and nobody stops him.


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## x10003q (Oct 8, 2010)

dmc said:


> There's no excuse for violence...   In my opinion - you should not have pulled the smoke out of his mouth..  It was destined for violence...



You are correct. 
By the way it was 1981.


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## Sparky (Oct 8, 2010)

dmc said:


> There's no excuse for violence...   In my opinion - you should not have pulled the smoke out of his mouth..  It was destined for violence...





Removing the cigarette was not an act of violence. It was only an effort to protect himself and his girlfriend for someone else’s callous disregard for their health. Regardless of whether some suffers from an addition or not they don’t have the right to assault innocent people with censer causing substances. I would have done the same thing as x10003q did and I would do it today.


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## dmc (Oct 8, 2010)

Sparky said:


> Removing the cigarette was not an act of violence. It was only an effort to protect himself and his girlfriend for someone else’s callous disregard for their health. Regardless of whether some suffers from an addition or not they don’t have the right to assault innocent people with censer causing substances. I would have done the same thing as x10003q did and I would do it today.



Well - what you may consider an attack is different from others...  I'm not saying it's right - but I personally pick my battles and only when I'm physically assaulted would i defend myself.  I doubt a 15 minute gondola ride will give you cancer but you may end up with a broken nose and a ruined ski day.     If that's how you wish to solve problems then so be it.   Your choice..


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## neil (Oct 8, 2010)

I don't understand why the guy even asked if he didn't want to hear "I mind".


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## dmc (Oct 8, 2010)

neil said:


> I don't understand why the guy even asked if he didn't want to hear "I mind".



In 1981 - he probably didn't expect someone to say no... Everybody smoked everywhere back then..   When i started at AT&T in 1984 - every desk came with an ashtray...  You could smoke in conference rooms..

not sayin it's right..  It's just the way it was..


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## Nick (Sep 27, 2011)

I was gonna post a thread asking if anyone ever had to (or voluntarily) jumped from a lift and the search turned up this. 

I have two stories. In 1999 I was on a lift and it stopped at Mt. Snow, and they had to lower everyone down with those over-the-haul rope belay systems. We had to sit on the lift for a good 1 - 2 hrs. It was friggen cold. 

The only other story I have is a friend of mine, when she was in elementary school (about 5th grade) she jumped from a lift when it stopped,obviously not realizing the height, and broke her leg. I don't know the details behind it other than everyone signing her cast in school.... 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk


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## 2sons (Sep 28, 2011)

When I was 8 at Camelback I didn't unload on time, panicked and jumped off after the chair swung around the terminal. It was only a 8 foot drop, but I broke the tips of my skis (wood!).
I didn't think anything of it until the next morning I had an excruciating pain in my side-
appendicitis. My ski season was over for the year. Bummer:-(


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## Smasandian (Sep 28, 2011)

The only issue I had was in Tremblant where my wife got yelled at for her snowboard landing on a guys skis. His skis obviously cost a lot and her snowboard did not.


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## billski (Sep 28, 2011)

Smasandian said:


> The only issue I had was in Tremblant where my wife got yelled at for her snowboard landing on a guys skis. His skis obviously cost a lot and her snowboard did not.



Wait till the dude goes to Europe.  He'll have a heart attack within 10 minutes.:lol:


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## massbmx (Sep 29, 2011)

This thread is an interesting read.  I only have one good story and it happened last year at Wachusett. Me and my brother were riding the main quad when all of a sudden the entire mountain goes dark and the chair stops.  Ended up sitting for almost an hour in 20 degree windy weather (at night in the dark) where 10th crosses the auto road, which happens to be one of the windiest points on that lift ride, rocking back and forth pretty good.

Finally we start moving very slowly (must of been backup power) and see a light coming up the mountain behind us (mountain is still totally dark) that we assumed was a snowmobile because it was moving pretty quick compared to the lift.  As it gets closer and finally passes us we realized it was a person walking and at this rate the rest of the lift ride was going to be a long one.

After about another 45 minutes we got to the top, told everything was closed and to go home. It wasn't all bad though because going back down in the (mostly) dark was kind of cool.


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## Sparky (Sep 29, 2011)

This wasn’t my worst lift ride, but it was for someone. I was doing some night skiing at my local mountain, riding up on a fixed grip quad. There weren’t a lot of people on the lift, but two or three chairs a head of me was a chair full of early teenage girls. They were all talking and making the sound that girls that age make when I noticed that the pitch went up a couple of levels. When I looked up I saw three of the girls had gotten off but the forth was being dragged around the bull wheel by her hand. Apparently she had gotten her hand/glove/coat sleeve caught between the bar and the pivot point for the bail. I don’t know why she didn’t trip the safety bar but she was dragged around and was starting back down. I’m still headed up in my chair and by now I’m yelling my head off to get the lifty’s attention. When he finally stops the lift this girl is hanging by her arm at least 12 to 15 feet in the air, and is of course screaming her head off. I’m stuck on the chair so I can’t do anything by watch. Other skiers did stop and position themselves under her; I assume to break her fall if whatever was holding her suspended let go. The ski patrol got there quite quick and joined the skiers underneath her. With some encouragement she managed to get herself loose and drop to the guys waiting underneath her without any further harm. I don’t know what her injuries were but she was calm and alert as the ski patrol took her away


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## k123 (Sep 29, 2011)

Thats a pretty scary story.  Every time when approaching the top I move my arms and hands to make sure they aren't caught on the lift for this reason


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## Huck_It_Baby (Sep 29, 2011)

Every time I get on K-1 I end up hanging there for 10-30 minutes. Seriously. Maybe bad luck but it drives me crazy.

Not so much of a story but seems like a good place to vent.


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## The Sneak (Sep 29, 2011)

I know someone who left his backpack on the bonaventure quad at Jay...watched helplessly as the chair went around the bullwheel heading downhill. phone, wallet, car keys etc inside.

Nearby fools mocked me for saying we need to beat the chair down. with 2 stops we still beat it down by a couple of minutes.

My worst lift ride story = the center pole double @ June Mtn California. 
No bar and pretty high off the ground. Not good for my fear of heights. Quite panicky, in fact. Why are lifts so high off the ground out west?


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## 2sons (Sep 29, 2011)

Sparky said:


> This wasn’t my worst lift ride, but it was for someone. I was doing some night skiing at my local mountain, riding up on a fixed grip quad. There weren’t a lot of people on the lift, but two or three chairs a head of me was a chair full of early teenage girls. They were all talking and making the sound that girls that age make when I noticed that the pitch went up a couple of levels. When I looked up I saw three of the girls had gotten off but the forth was being dragged around the bull wheel by her hand. Apparently she had gotten her hand/glove/coat sleeve caught between the bar and the pivot point for the bail. I don’t know why she didn’t trip the safety bar but she was dragged around and was starting back down. I’m still headed up in my chair and by now I’m yelling my head off to get the lifty’s attention. When he finally stops the lift this girl is hanging by her arm at least 12 to 15 feet in the air, and is of course screaming her head off. I’m stuck on the chair so I can’t do anything by watch. Other skiers did stop and position themselves under her; I assume to break her fall if whatever was holding her suspended let go. The ski patrol got there quite quick and joined the skiers underneath her. With some encouragement she managed to get herself loose and drop to the guys waiting underneath her without any further harm. I don’t know what her injuries were but she was calm and alert as the ski patrol took her away



Wow I thought my broken ski tips/ ruptured appendix was pretty crazy. At least I got to ski down.


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## darent (Oct 2, 2011)

was riding a lift in cortina with a fellow ski club member who was wearing a backpack. the back pack had straps dangling all over and  one snagged on the chair. I exited the chair at the top and watched as he dangled from the chair around the bull wheel. he didn't get hurt,  but it took I while to get him down.I was new to skiing and he was the experienced skier showing me the ropes!


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## Nick (Oct 2, 2011)

darent said:


> was riding a lift in cortina with a fellow ski club member who was wearing a backpack. the back pack had straps dangling all over and  one snagged on the chair. I exited the chair at the top and watched as he dangled from the chair around the bull wheel. he didn't get hurt,  but it took I while to get him down.I was new to skiing and he was the experienced skier showing me the ropes!



I saw the exact same thing happened to a a guy who was hitting on my wife seconds earlier on the bear peak quad at Killington


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## Smellytele (Oct 2, 2011)

Nick said:


> I saw the exact same thing happened to a a guy who was hitting on my wife seconds earlier on the bear peak quad at Killington



Instant karma


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## Nick (Oct 2, 2011)

Smellytele said:


> Instant karma



Yep. It was about the best thing I have ever seen :lol:


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## vdk03 (Oct 2, 2011)

Nick said:


> I saw the exact same thing happened to a a guy who was hitting on my wife seconds earlier on the bear peak quad at Killington



Thats awsome, did she make a comment to him as you guys skied by?


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## andrec10 (Oct 2, 2011)

Smellytele said:


> Instant karma



+1


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## SIKSKIER (Oct 3, 2011)

The Sneak said:


> I know someone who left his backpack on the bonaventure quad at Jay...watched helplessly as the chair went around the bullwheel heading downhill. phone, wallet, car keys etc inside.



Would have been a lot easier to notify the liftie at the top and have him call down to take it off.Actually,a lot safer too as I'm sure they would like to know a chair is arriving with gear in it.


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## darent (Oct 3, 2011)

Nick said:


> I saw the exact same thing happened to a a guy who was hitting on my wife seconds earlier on the bear peak quad at Killington



must have laughed your ass off on that karma!!!


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## ManySkills (Oct 28, 2011)

*kid exited too early at Okemo*

Couple of years ago at Okemo my young, beginner-level son and I were riding a lift together at Okemo.  For some reason he got anxious and exited the lift too early, falling some 5 to 8 feet onto the piled up snow below the lift exit.   I gasped and instantly went into Mommy mode, getting off the chair onto the exit ramp but turning around and holding onto the incoming  chairs while trying to see what befell my child.  

My son was scared but not injured, but I guess I ignored my own safety and barely avoided being clocked a couple times by the oncoming chairs (they were all devoid of passengers, as it was very late in the spring season).  The lift attendant finally recognized that the kid was fine but the Mommy was about to become a statistic, and tried to find a way to nicely ask her to get the hell off the exit ramp   :smile:

That night I realized I had lost my camera (with a weeks worth of family ski pictures on it) during the tumbling around.  Also, to this day my son will not ride that lift :grin:


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## billski (Oct 28, 2011)

ManySkills said:


> Also, to this day my son will not ride that lift :grin:



...Because Mom embarrassed him


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## AllTunedUp (Nov 4, 2011)

I was on the Spillway chair last season when it derailed.  Luckily we were the last chair loaded before the derailment, so we were only thirty feet out of the gate.  Unluckily we were the last ones evac'ed so we sat for a solid 90 minutes ten feet off the ground.  5 free tickets made it all better, plus we weren't hurt.  It was amazing that no one was seriously injured further up.. I also skied some of the deepest snow ever in the trees thanks to the 22 inches that fell the night before.  All in all not a bad day.

Other worst-- K1 gondola with a family that was fighting loudly before we even got in.  I asked the liftie if I could take the next one so that I didn't have to ride with the unhappy group and was denied.  It was the most uncomfortable ride to date.  They were still yelling at each other when I skied away from them at the top.


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## Abubob (Nov 4, 2011)

AllTunedUp said:


> I asked the liftie if I could take the next one so that I didn't have to ride with the unhappy group and was denied.



I wouldn't have asked. I just wouldn't have gotten on. Liftie was being a jerk.:uzi:


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## AllTunedUp (Nov 4, 2011)

Abubob said:


> I wouldn't have asked. I just wouldn't have gotten on. Liftie was being a jerk.:uzi:



I tried that and was told that if I didn't load I would have to leave the lift line..  it was way too busy to start an argument, especially when my complaint was about arguing.  Now I try to avoid situations like that as much as possible by avoiding people like that..  And now I have the habit of counting heads as the line moves.


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## Nick (Nov 4, 2011)

AllTunedUp said:


> I tried that and was told that if I didn't load I would have to leave the lift line..  it was way too busy to start an argument, especially when my complaint was about arguing.  Now I try to avoid situations like that as much as possible by avoiding people like that..  And now I have the habit of counting heads as the line moves.



Welcome to the forums!


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## Abubob (Nov 5, 2011)

AllTunedUp said:


> it was way too busy to start an argument, especially when my complaint was about arguing.



:lol:


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## mediamogul (Nov 5, 2011)

My first day ever on snow i was 11 years old on a ski trip with my school to Catamount. I fell off the lift before it reached the top station and got caught in the net. They had to stop the lift and fish me out for 10 mins. My friends all stood there laughing the whole time. It was completely my fault, I think we were trying to see who could touch snow first and I won.


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## 2sons (Nov 5, 2011)

Was it on the magic carpet there?


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## millerm277 (Nov 5, 2011)

Killington, Superstar Lift. Almost at the top, the lift comes to a shuddering halt. Ten minutes pass, I look back down the line and see they've closed off the corral and there's a bunch of snowmobiles there.

After 30 minutes, I looked down, determined I was less than my height off the ground, dumped my poles, lowered myself as far as I could from the chair, jumped the last 1ft, landed and gathered my stuff, and then took off as fast as I could toward the Ovation cutover and the woods that way, as I heard yelling after I jumped, and didn't feel like sticking around to get what would likely have been an angry lecture.

Lift never reopened that day.


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## steamboat1 (Nov 6, 2011)

millerm277 said:


> Killington, Superstar Lift. Almost at the top, the lift comes to a shuddering halt. Ten minutes pass, I look back down the line and see they've closed off the corral and there's a bunch of snowmobiles there.
> 
> After 30 minutes, I looked down, determined I was less than my height off the ground, dumped my poles, lowered myself as far as I could from the chair, jumped the last 1ft, landed and gathered my stuff, and then took off as fast as I could toward the Ovation cutover and the woods that way, as I heard yelling after I jumped, and didn't feel like sticking around to get what would likely have been an angry lecture.
> 
> Lift never reopened that day.



You should have stayed on. They would've given you a coupon for a complimentary hot chocolate. Good anytime during the season...:smile:


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## Nick (Dec 14, 2011)

Bump for the winter crowd


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## vdk03 (Dec 14, 2011)

millerm277 said:


> Killington, Superstar Lift. Almost at the top, the lift comes to a shuddering halt. Ten minutes pass, I look back down the line and see they've closed off the corral and there's a bunch of snowmobiles there.
> 
> After 30 minutes, I looked down, determined I was less than my height off the ground, dumped my poles, lowered myself as far as I could from the chair, jumped the last 1ft, landed and gathered my stuff, and then took off as fast as I could toward the Ovation cutover and the woods that way, as I heard yelling after I jumped, and didn't feel like sticking around to get what would likely have been an angry lecture.
> 
> Lift never reopened that day.



From that height I would have done the same thing. As long as you never look back when you hear something like that you can always plead ignorance.


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