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I'm afraid of chairlifts.

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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,633
I'm just coming out and saying it. I am absolutely, completely, uncontrollably terrified of fucking chairlifts.

Worst part about it is that the BEST skiing is always accessed by the worst chairlifts.

I just suck it up and do it, but I've been known to be so scared I literally cried.

WTF is my brain doing to me? Anyone else out there?

Nov 1 2012 9:55PM
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James7
Posts: 233 - Karma: 30
the lookout double at stowe.... scariest lift ever especially on a windy day
Nov 3 2012 12:18PM
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84west
Posts: 646 - Karma: 1,254
I fucking hate this so much, especially with fat skis
Nov 3 2012 2:42PM
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skiEER
Posts: 4089 - Karma: 79
working as a lift mechanic it seems like lifts these days are pretty damn safe.  But its crazy hearing about all the sketchy shit that used to go on.
Nov 3 2012 9:30PM
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Juicy-J
Posts: 1901 - Karma: 1,765
i remember that day, I was skiing over a saddleback and all the lifts were closed due to wind
Nov 3 2012 9:33PM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
ahahahahahaha i feel ya bishop
Nov 3 2012 9:33PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13084 - Karma: 18,731
this is why chairs have been invented
Nov 4 2012 1:30AM
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Montana_Hoodrat
Posts: 1953 - Karma: 1,481
i must admit im afraid of the doubles that look like they were built in the 60s

At mt. Hood meadows, the "blue" chair is my worst nightmare. It doesnt have side bars, so you have to cling to the fucking pole in the middle.

RIDICULOUS

and when im on a normal lift, i put my arm over the backrest to seem cool, while really just holding onto it for safety.


Nov 4 2012 1:03AM
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Avifarer
Posts: 5926 - Karma: 598
Click for larger image

??
Nov 4 2012 2:57AM
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NPF
Posts: 5152 - Karma: 12,116
Peak Chair on whistler that last bit used to always get me. not su much anymore. its only when there is an emergency stop on the faster chairs that gets me now. especially if you don't have the bar down the worst when when it happened to me on peak chair at like a 1/4 way up just before that huge cliff. where it is also really high. scary as fuck
Nov 4 2012 3:39AM
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iLiKeShiFTieZ
Posts: 695 - Karma: 350

exactly this, then one of them puts their fucking hand on my back................. scares the shit out of me

Nov 4 2012 9:24AM
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rzarector
Posts: 590 - Karma: 70
I like being really high up in chairlifts, it makes it more exciting and sometimes I like to pretend I'm on an airplane!
Nov 4 2012 9:42AM
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Versace.
Posts: 287 - Karma: 418
Imagine this.

The P2P at whistler, being a chairlift, not a gondy. Holy sketchy balls.


I actually don't mind chairlifts and would probably still ride it, but I just think it must be terrifying for other people who are scared of normal chair lifts.
Nov 4 2012 2:23PM
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TheClap.
Posts: 21665 - Karma: 4,145
best post on NS i have read to date
Nov 4 2012 2:35PM
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Cebra
Posts: 505 - Karma: 35

I'm also afraid of chairlifts. On one two seater chairlift theres a river below right after the start. I had a big backpack on and didn't manage to get the bar down at first. So I rode nearly falling off the chairlift over that river and finally managed to get the bar down. I also hate when the chairlifts stop. So fucking scary

Nov 4 2012 3:33PM
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KLovelace
Posts: 2118 - Karma: 289
i'm surprised no one has mentioned the aguille du midi. I know its a cable car.. but it's really quite scary at the end.


i also hate downloading.

other lifts that frighten me are ski bowl upper bowl lift and meadows blue chair. I also rode a terrifying lift about 7 years ago at wildhaus in switzerland... but in hindsight I am not 100% sure that its actually all that frightening.. I was still more or less a noob at the time. and yeah.. just like most everyone who regularly skis/boards.. I have an unreasonable fear of rollbacks.
Nov 4 2012 3:43PM
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c.hale
Posts: 636 - Karma: 50
Usually I dont get freaked out by chairlifts at all, but I had one crazy experience at Tremblant a few years ago. I was in a packed Gondola car at the middle point between two really far poles and the lift went from full speed to a dead stop. The car dropped a huge distance (felt like at least 20-25 feet) and then sprung back up and just oscillated like that for a while. It felt like one of those carnival rides that launch you up and down. Except we were all standing and it was totally unexpected. A ton of people fell and gear went everywhere. All the ladies in the car were screaming and a few of them cried for the rest of the ride. Scary shit
Nov 4 2012 6:26PM
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FilmingBitch
Posts: 6463 - Karma: 212
Well, I was at A-Basin 8 years ago so maybe it's changed or my memory is failing me. I think that it was Pallavicini - it's a double with no bar? I remember that a lot of terrain was closed, but that there was really good skiing off the double - it was also extremely foggy, which may have contributed to chairlift aversion.
Nov 5 2012 10:19AM
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PartyHon
Posts: 2019 - Karma: 425
and it always stops when you are at the highest point. fuuuuuuu
Nov 5 2012 10:23AM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9215 - Karma: 5,398
two of my friends fel off a quad lift that was about 15 feet up and almost dragged me and my brother off with them. Looked really bad but they were ok.
Nov 5 2012 10:33AM
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Bateman
Posts: 8591 - Karma: 8,600
I pity our god sincerely


Nov 5 2012 10:40AM
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I_ski_HARD
Posts: 3 - Karma: 12
smoke a big fat jeffery. you be ight.
Nov 9 2012 4:16PM
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rednecknation
Posts: 548 - Karma: 63
Chairlifts are chill as fuck, one time i fell asleep on one lol, but everyone is scared of something so whatever man its cool.

Also kind of suspicious of troll here.
Nov 9 2012 7:11PM
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Nati513
Posts: 679 - Karma: 25
haha you know your safe if the metal wire snaps and you stop right on the rollers ha. Thats how i always think about it
Nov 9 2012 8:25PM
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ohboy
Posts: 1177 - Karma: 2,528
When I was like 8 my dad and I got stuck on this chair for like 20 minutes...oh did I mention it was snowing so the chair was slippery?

One of the scariest moments of my life...
Nov 9 2012 8:43PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,633
Horrible.

I will need an immense amount of emotional consolation.

Nov 9 2012 9:04PM
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~4EST_B_Skis~
Posts: 566 - Karma: -46
good thing you don't go to june then. Its hard to see but it basically goes straight up http://distilleryimage1.instagram.com/f4e8e3f2744911e181bd12313817987b_6.jpg too bad they closed it....):
Nov 9 2012 9:10PM
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localonvolkls
Posts: 448 - Karma: 90
Yea chair 1 at june was pretty sketch, especially downloading. WHo are you? I'm sure I have seen you or know you.
Nov 10 2012 12:38AM
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~4EST_B_Skis~
Posts: 566 - Karma: -46
Probably, Im forest the kid who has the wu-tang logo on my helmet
Nov 10 2012 12:55AM
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Skurfer
Posts: 44 - Karma: 7
The worst part is when the power to the lift goes down. Chair drops like 15-25 ft. Scares the shit outta me.
Nov 10 2012 1:54AM
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shea.
Posts: 1606 - Karma: 193
Two of my scariest chairlift experiences:

1. Rollback: yea, we've all seen that video. and it does happen. The chair i was on at my home mtn in NZ rolled back about 20ft. but let me tell you, 20ft is enough to make you shit yourself. I was about to raise the bar and jump just before the E brake kicked in. 50 min later, i reached the top as the chair was put on slow till the top then shut down for the day.

2. Wind. My girlfriend and I were about the 10th last chair to be loaded before the lift went on wind hold. All of a sudden it picked up violently. we were on the chair as it was parallel with the ground. Needless to say we kissed each other, said I love you and see you in the afterlife. Scariest experience of my life.
Nov 10 2012 2:50AM
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Craigskis
Posts: 6650 - Karma: 1,645
The Whistler peak chair can be illegitimately scary. Near the top it looks like your going to slam into a wall. It get's damn wind up there too.

Here's a story about the worst ski lift accident in history. http://www.coloradoskihistory.com/chairlift/yan2.html

^It happened in Whistler Dec 23, 1995

When I used to get smoked out on the hill I would trip out on the chair, and grab the back of the chair for security. I've never been a fan of riding the chair with the bar up.
Nov 10 2012 3:42AM
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d00d
Posts: 2687 - Karma: 7,086
Right when this happened I mean EXACTLY at the same time a kid from my school who is a snowboarder was on a box and fell off and broke both wrists no fucking lie
Nov 10 2012 6:36AM
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~4EST_B_Skis~
Posts: 566 - Karma: -46
no

























































way
Nov 10 2012 10:14PM
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meowshred
Posts: 388 - Karma: 28
i have never been freaked out by a chairlift but a year ago I downloaded for the first time and the whole time i thought i was going to fall forward, definitely put the bar down and held on tighter than necessary. point is downloading sucks.
Nov 10 2012 10:39PM
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e.will
Posts: 1981 - Karma: 967
for me, it's the lack of control you have in the situation. Ladders don't bother me, rappelling doesn't bother me, harness work doesn't bother me (i'm an exterior painter). In each of those situations, I'm in control of my own livelihood.

With chairlifts, i'm not. The guy who hits the e-stop does. At Stowe before they replaced the old quad, they used to hit the E-Stop. You would literally bounce above the tower in fron't of you. FUCK THAT SHIT.
Nov 10 2012 10:41PM
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steez_louise
Posts: 112 - Karma: 118
This shit is so sketchy. But then again, most things in China are sketchy. Huashan Mountain Tram: 2 towers on the whole fucking tram.
Click for larger image
Nov 11 2012 2:31PM
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EastCoast315
Posts: 3136 - Karma: 137
>Worst part about it is that the BEST skiing is always accessed by the worst chairlifts.

This guy doesn't know about the backcountry, eh?
Nov 11 2012 8:03PM
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3mania
Posts: 2613 - Karma: 10,361
OK, I was kinda holding on to this story, cuz I didn't want to freak anyone out, but who cares really. 2005 Cerro. Catedral, Bariloche Argentina, in July sometime, a detachable quad at the mid mountain,the maze is packed. The lift rises quickly from the loading area up a steep face about 500 meters up the line,maybe a 100 meter vertical rise. With all the chairs full, one of the grips slips the cable and slides back at a high rate of speed due to acutely steep rise angle. It hits the chair behind with great force, which begins a chain reaction. Six chairs with 4 people per chair are involved. Over 20 people are badly injured, including 6 critically. It took hours to get everyone out. The most common injury were broken legs,with the uphill chair smashing and crushing bones of all those who couldn't move, because of the safety bar,locking them in place. It was determined later that poor maintenance was the cause of the accident. The lift was later remodeled as a fixed grip quad. THAT IS WHY I NEVER USE THE SAFETY BAR!
Nov 11 2012 9:23PM
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last_tango
Posts: 2635 - Karma: 2,665
That lift was a YAN Lift engineering lift. I will not ride any YAN lift that isn't retrofitted by poma. The owner of YAN at one point on the down slope when shit was hitting the fan took as much money as he could and ran off to mexico to hide from all the lawsuits.
Nov 11 2012 10:06PM
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3mania
Posts: 2613 - Karma: 10,361
Yan stands for YOU'RE.AIRBOURNE NOW !!!
Nov 11 2012 10:19PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
You shouldn't admit this. People are going to fuck with you super hard.
Nov 11 2012 11:26PM
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JWeinstock
Posts: 3439 - Karma: 1,352
.
Nov 12 2012 7:06AM
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ReeferMonga
Posts: 387 - Karma: 385
Boom badda connect son!
Nov 12 2012 7:22AM
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Nieds
Posts: 832 - Karma: 1,926
The first time I went to a real mountain ski resort I was a bit freaked out because i'm used to the chairlift at the local hill that's really slow and isn't high from the ground at all. But i'm over it now.
Nov 13 2012 1:06PM
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Jessie406
Posts: 170 - Karma: 328
just make sure you always put your bar down :) and that your riding it with a friend! if you have someone to keep you company it will make the time go by fast on the chairlift. That is a tough situation tho, sorry to hear that. Maybe try and get some pills to help calm you down.. like Valerian tablets. Available at your health food stores. They are calming and they are for nerves. All natural. This should help without making you feel buzzed and caffiene wired.
Nov 13 2012 1:11PM
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doitbig
Posts: 4818 - Karma: 315
put the bar down bishop ;-)
Nov 13 2012 1:28PM
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3mania
Posts: 2613 - Karma: 10,361
Did you people not read my earlier post? NEVER put the bar down, you might have to jump off that fucker. Just put your arm behind the chair.
Nov 13 2012 2:26PM
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gnar_whal
Posts: 1286 - Karma: 3,787
lol
Oct 13 2015 5:08PM
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BenWhit
Posts: 4654 - Karma: 3,256
excellent thread revive.

I skied at Powder in March and they had those no-bar single chairs. Absolutely horrifying.
Oct 13 2015 5:47PM
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Jaybrtn
Posts: 375 - Karma: 643
When I was 12 years old, I went snowboarding with my friend at the time up at Mt. Baker. I was a pretty competent boarder, but my friend was not. As we get on this two seater lift that just shoots straight up the mountain, my friend slides off the lift and is hanging on by his finger tips. I kept trying to help him get up, but he gave up after a few seconds. It was at that point he let go and proceeded to wrap his arms around my legs, dragging me off the chairlift and down 15 to the snow, which was thankfully some powder. I bitched him out, and afterwards he said he grabbed my legs because he didn't want to go down by himself.

What a dick.
Oct 13 2015 6:22PM
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