I heard someone on a commercial for a ski resort brag about an employee “loading” at the lift. From context I assume it means help them get on the lift, but you what the BSA says about assumptions. And the phrase itself sounds kinda funny.
So, skiers, is that it?
I’m not a skier, but I play one on the SDMB.
Peace,
mangeorge
It’s a bit of an odd phrasing, but yes, Lifties help load people on the lift.
I just realized that I’ve never even been tp a ski lift. I think I should go up and remedy that. Not to ski, just have a look. And maybe some hot chocolat, etc.
And thanks, Telemark.
It’s kind of a learned skill. It’s a lot easier now that so many of the lifts have chairs that uncouple from the cable and move much more slowly through the loading area. Back when they loaded at full speed, you had to have your feet straight and look back over your shoulder to catch the chair and cushion the impact a little bit.
If you just show up with no skis, I don’t know what the rules are. The view is sometimes worth the trip, but it might not be worth the cost of an all-day lift ticket if you’re only going up once. Of course you’ll have to come down the lift, too, and they might be reluctanct to interrupt their loyal customers to load you on to come back down. And there are some ski areas that run a mountaintop restaurant in the summer. If you just want the lift experience, that’s a more comfortable way to do it.
I’ve only been skiing in Europe, but from what i’ve seen they usually have special tickets for non-skiing people who just want to go up and down once.
In the Alps? I’d love to do that someday; Innsbruck looks nice.
I get the impressions that most ski areas in Europe have something of a town at the bottom, (whether the town or the skiing came first, I don’t know) so there’s a bit more social activity and casual pedestrians who might want to ride the lift for the view. Most of the places in the U.S. are very different; the ski area is some miles from the nearest town and there’s a base lodge with food and ski equipment and that’s about it. You’ve got to go out of your way to get there, so there’s usually only skiers and staff.
The European set up is definately the way you describe it and many of the slopes are also used for hiking in the summer. Some of the lifts will actually operate in the summer when there is no snow (while some lift also operate because there is snow during the whole year).
Funny, I would love to go to Colorado or Utah to experience this best powdah evah I seem to hear so much about. But my bank balance won’t allow this 
Utah, yes. Colorado has fine snow, but it’s not nearly as light as Utah powder.
Many places are now installing Chondolas, which are lifts that can use detachable chairs and/or gondola cabins. That way they can run gondolas in the summer and on very cold days, and chairs most of the winter. For people without skis on their feed, gondolas are much simpler and safer, and you can run them faster. Many ski areas are turning into year round resorts, and they use the lifts for hikers, sightseers, and mountain bikers.
Well, if you ever do get the chance, you might try Park City, Utah. That’s the only place I’ve ever been that seems to follow the European model. It’s a touristy town, restaurants and galleries and such, and home to the Sundance Film Festival, so there must be a theater or two. It’s all at the base of the slopes, and there’s even one lift that starts right in the center of town.
Heavenly at Lake Tahoe now has a gondola terminal right in the middle of the downtown area of South Lake Tahoe/Stateline. It has some great views of the lake on it’s way up. Non-skiiers can ride easily.
Once in Aspen during the summer, My sister and I ‘rented’ dogs from the local pound (an old friend of a friend ran the shelter) and took them up the gondola and hiked down the mountain. So much fun for all parties involved. The dogs got a great hike instead of their typical dog-run. The dogs wore ‘shirts’ to publicize the pound and they got a lot of interest around town (when we reached the bottom).
As for the OP, hmm, I can’t remember what the ‘loaders’ said about the dogs. I guess if I can’t remember an incident it wasn’t an issue.
Oh yeah, you should do it at least once…like this guy
Heh…I’ve had schloads of experience with ski lifts, gondolas, T-Bars and Pomas. All of these occurred at Mammoth Mountain in California.
Pulled my mom off of the ski-lift when we just got on at the bottom when one of my skis got caught on some icy snow at the bottom (my skis were pointed downward just after getting on). My mom tried to hang on to me but managed to slip off the chair herself and we plunged a staggering 48 inches to our embarrassment, head first. I was about 8 years old at the time.
T-Bar story: I was about 9 or 10 years old when I tried to go up on a T-Bar Lift. I was a good skier by this time, so I was going solo and I got paired up with a man. As you saw in the video, there is many ways to use the T-Bar, but at Mammoth (which was packed with people every day of the week), we had to ride in pairs by sitting on the horizontal part of the inverted “T”. Well, I found out over time that my balance was getting shaky half way up because my legs were burning from keeping my balance, plus the fact that the man was probably about 80 pounds heavier than me…so I lost my balance, and fell. If you noticed in the video, those T-bars spring back into place after you let go…and unfortunately, the man’s head kinda got in the way of that action…caught the point of it. Ow.
That’s not the end of it…no sir. My left knee was already experiencing issues wrt the kneecap and fibula popping out of joint…and that’s what exactly happened. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE T-BAR TRACK. I couldn’t get out of the way in time for the next couple that ran into me…and the next…and the next…(repeat 9 more times for a total of 12 pairs)…until the operators down below figured out what the hell was happening and shut off the lift until I could get someone to help me pop it back in. For the public’s safety and my ego, that was the last time I used it.
The Little Yeti should have walked up the mountain that day.
The kids these days with thier Gondolas and high speed quad chairlifts that slow down for easy loading. Back when I was a kid we had the rope tow. Not the sissy rope tow you have these days with handles and under enough tension to not drag in the snow. But a two inch wide rope. I remember many times as a little kid grabbing the rope and not being strong enough to hold the rope up and going up the hill with my hands pinned to the ground by the wieght of the rope. It was horrible you had to go up the hill hunched over.
Oh darn so this thread was not about the Biathlon.
See, I am pretty sure that the lift operator is there to make sure that the chair hits you in the back of the head if you miss it…
FTR, in nearly 3 and a half decades of skiing, I have never had a single problem with a chair lift or a t-bar.
Well, when I was a kid, they would tie about ten people to a mule by their feet and you would lay down and the mule would drag you up the hill for 20 minutes for your 15 second ski run back to the bottom of the hill.
And you couldn’t carry your skis and poles so at the top you had to cut down a tree and make your own skis right there and then tear pieces of your own clothing to use as bindings. ON EVERY RUN!
By the end of the day your back was a bloody mess and you were half naked which caused many a case of frostbite.
But damn it was worth every minute!
Thanks for a good chuckle.
Wonder what the kid thought, sitting there staring at his dad’s taint (not safe for work): http://www.pollsb.com/photos/o/
148832-caught_ski_pants.jpg