Ski Lift Chair Benches & Swings > Dark Blue [Add $250.00] Safety Blue [Add $250.00] Signal Blue [Add $250.00] Galvanized Finish is Standard Share your knowledge of this product. Be the first to write a review »Tennessee postcard Gatlinburg Looking Toward the Lodge at Ski Resort chair liftEdit ArticleHow to Get on and off a Ski Lift Two Methods:Getting OnGetting OffCommunity Q&A Getting on a ski lift as a beginner can be a frightening thing with a giant chair zooming by scooping people up. But with a little practice, skills and these easy steps you will be able to get on and off a ski lift like a pro. Although this article doesn’t teach you how to actually ski, it does help you get to the slopes. Pick a suitable mountain for your ski level, and a suitable lift on that mountain. Put your skis on. Get in line for the lift; the higher up the mountain the lift goes, the faster the chair lift may move. Glide your way to the lifting area and keep your poles close to you.
Stop on the marked line. If you'll be sitting on the left, put both poles in your right hand, and look over your left shoulder. Bend your knees slightly because the chair (lift) will hit them, but this is normal. As the chair approaches, you may want to reach for it with your free hand. Sit down when the lift touches the backs of your knees. Pull the metal bar down over you as a seat belt and you are on your way to the trail. Sit back in your chair and do not rock the chair. Watch the big towers for signs because they may give you information when you are close to the top. Lift the metal bar off of you when the unloading area sign on the towers says to. Double check to make sure you have all your belongings and nothing is caught on the chair. Make sure your scarf is not loose. Slide forward in the chair and point the tips of your skis upward. When you reach the unload area and your skis are touching the ground completely , lean forward slightly over your skis and stand up once you have balance on both skis, the lift will give you a little push.
Glide your way off the unloading area quickly. Choose the right trail because sometimes there are many to choose from, with different skill levels (colors). On the way up sometimes the lift stops for people to get on or off and may rock a little bit but don’t worry - it will start moving again soon.You could also try to find high-speed lifts which slow down a lot at loading/unloading areas making it easier to get on and off. Try to get out of the way of people getting off of the lifts behind you, especially if you fall. It's hard for skiers, especially snowboarders, and especially beginners to avoid someone directly in their path close to the chairlift, as the other people on their chair will be next to them. Go slowly when approaching the loading area. If there is bad weather, some of the lifts and trails will be closed, so pay close attention to the signs. If you have trouble getting off you can wave to the attendant in the booth and they may stop the lift for you.
Don’t use your poles getting on or off much because they may get stuck. Remove the pole wrist straps from around your wrist. Try to find a beginner lift with features to make it easier to get on the lift, such as a conveyor belt like floor which will bring you to the loading area without any effort on your part. If you can’t move quickly when getting on you can ask the attendant to slow down or even stop the lift. Make sure it is the right lift you need to get where you would like to go. Often there are many lifts. If a trail is getting new snow put on it or the trail is icy, the trails are sometimes closed. Every once in a while your pole will slip out of your hand. You usually have to ski down and get it yourself or go back to the lodge and talk to the manger. If you don't want to go down, someone may bring it back up for you if you ask them and wait at the top for them to come back Do not wear scarves that are outside of your clothing, these can get caught on the lift machinery or the chair at the top, this can be very dangerous.
Don't hop off too early. There should be a line indicating where to get off. If there is horseplay occurring on your chair, you could fall off. Sit all the way back on the chair; it’s a long way down. If you are horsing around and you do fall - just wait for help. The chairs seem to come around a lot faster when you are standing there, than they look when you are standing in line. Make sure there are no loose articles: for example hats, gloves, goggles or scarves. If you can only ski green trails, do not get on a lift that only goes to black trails.A modern 4-seater chair lift with a pull down bubble to protect you from the wind and snow In most ski resorts chair lifts are the most common way for skiers to ascend the mountain to the top of the pistes. A chair lift is basically lots of seats hanging from a cable, which is held in the air by pylons. The cable revolves around a circuit taking the chairs up and back down the mountain. When you sit on a chair lift you keep your skis on your feet, as you are taken up the mountain.
There are several slightly different types of chair lift. Older chair lifts have each chair permanently attached to the cable, making the chairs move at the same speed in all phases of a chair lift journey, whereas newer chair lifts often detach the chair from the cable at the top and bottom so that the chair can be slowed down to make getting on and off easier, as well as enable the chair to travel faster as it goes up the slope. Some older chair lifts use a conveyor belt as you get on the lift, enabling the lift to travel a bit faster. Chair lifts also vary in the number of seats they have, with most chair lifts normally having between 2 and 8 seats. The last major difference there can be is the type of safety bar they have. Most safety bars are pulled down from above, but on some 2 seater chair lifts they swing around from the side. Normally safety bars also have ski rests attached to them, so that you don't have to leave your legs hanging, although in rare cases they don't. Some newer chair lifts also have new added comfort features like heated seats, and clear plastic bubbles that can be pulled down to protect you from the wind and snow.
This article is based on the most common type of chair lift, with a safety bar that you pull down from above. As you approach a chair lift there is normally some kind of queuing system, enter the queue if there is one and patiently move with the queue towards the chair lift. As you are queuing take the pole straps off of your wrists. You will come to a set of gates, the gates open and close automatically, to let people through at the right time to get on the chair lift. When a gate opens only one person should go through each gate slot. As soon as the gates open, shuffle yourself through the gate and continue going forward until you get to the line that shows where your ski tips should be. Don't take too long to do this, as the gate will only stay open so long, and you only have so much time to get into position before the chair lift will arrive. Once you are on the line waiting for the chair to arrive, hold both your poles in one hand, and look over your shoulder to see the chair arriving.
If it is an old lift, you might also want to put one hand out to stop the seat from hitting you in the legs too hard. As soon as the chair reaches you, sit down on it, lift your skis up gently, and let your skis slide off of the end of the platform. As soon as you are clear of the platform, pull the safety bar down, making sure that everyone on the lift is clear of it first, and rest your skis on the ski rest. While you are on a chair lift simply sit back and enjoy the views while holding your poles in one hand, and resting your skis on the ski rest. If you are on a modern chair lift with a bubble and it is windy or snowing you can pull the bubble down over your head to keep warmer. As you approach the top station you will need to prepare to get off of the chair lift. As you get to within 20 seconds or so of the station, take your skis off of the rest, and let them hang underneath you. Then just as you are coming into the station lift the safety bar up, making sure that everyone else on the chair lift is ready and have taken their skis off of the rest too.
In the last few years a lot of chair lifts have had a sign installed to show you where you should lift up the safety bar. Once the safety bar is up you will be entering the top station. If you are on a newer chair lift, the chair will generally slow down here so you have plenty of time to get off, however if you are on an older chair lift, it probably won't slow down as you come into the station, so you will have to be a little bit quicker. As the chair lift arrives at the station make sure you keep your ski tips up, so that they cannot catch on the platform, which would generally pull you off of the chair lift. Chair lifts normally have 2 stages to the top area, a flat area of snow, for you to put your skis down on and get your balance, and a gently inclined area, for you to slide down and get away from the chair lift. As you as you reach the flat area, put both skis on the ground and ready yourself to stand up, still holding both poles in one hand. As you reach the sloped area, stand up and gently push yourself away from the chair lift with your free hand.
Then slide away from the chair lift, still with both poles in one hand. Once you have slid away from the chair lift initially make sure you continue to move away from the lift, as more people will be coming and there needs to be space for them to slide away from the lift too. Once you are far enough away from the lift, you can then put you pole straps back on your wrists, and ready yourself to ski off. If you fall over as you get off of a chair lift, if possible try to either get up quickly and continue forwards getting out of the way, or try to shuffle sideways out of the way of the next people who will come off of the chair lift. Chair lift operators are normally very good and will quickly stop a lift if someone has fallen over in the way, so that people don't ski into them. But they cannot always spot everything, and if they do stop the lift, you are delaying everyone else from getting up the mountain. As simple as getting on and off of a chair lift should be there are many mistakes that people make, even people who have been skiing for years.