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Tytlynz64

Getting off the lift
Skier
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Joined
Mar 30, 2017
Posts
490
I've skied with someone your size and we left the bar up unless others on the lift wanted it down. When the bars come with a footrest people your size have to either bend their knees back so the boots rest under the footrest or have their thighs smashed under the lap bar. I prefer the bar down as my fear if heights increased with age. I'm still OK to just squelch that fear if the equipment really is overly cumbersome and painful to others..
Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the bar down. It was how the machine was designed. I simply note, as you have pointed out, that a heads up allows me to lean sideways to clear the bar before it cracks me in the back of the head. At Brighton last year, an overly eager mom nearly knocked me out as the bar missed the helmet and whacked me hard on th base of the neck. Her response when I said a little warning would be nice was that tall people should not ski if they are a danger to others. I was stunned or maybe concussed but I let it go.
 

PTskier

Been goin' downhill for years....
Pass Pulled
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Posts
583
Location
Washington, the state
I ask, "Ready for the bar?," then pull it down while aware of the others. And, "Ready?--up" with an initial upward jiggle when it's time to raise it. I often end up in the end seat where I need to get an arm above the bar as it lowers. If someone pulls it down before I have time to get myself arranged, I jam it back up, then bring it down as soon as everyone is ready.

Are safety bars required to be fitted on the chairs in B.C.? Either by regulation or by the insurers? I've seen some retrofits of old chairs. The old doubles with the single pole in the center have a hinged bar on each side that swings upward from its hinged end welded to the center pole.

I've skied in Austria and Switzerland. Bringing the bar down as soon as possible and up as late as possible is how. things. are. done. At Sölden, Austria, the upper lift stations had horizontal rows of lights that showed red until the chair was close enough to raise the bar, then the green lenses were visible and we raised it. In Zermatt one liftie stopped the lift when the people ahead of us didn't get their bar down quickly enough for him. One new chair there had an automatically actuated bar.
 

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,219
Location
Sierra & Wasatch
Yes please. "Bardown" & please wait 10 or 15 seconds to make sure everyone is settled in. I got whacked hard in the head on the Siberia 6pak at Squaw earlier this year. I think there are better ways to die than being knocked off the chair by the so called safety bar. Same thing at the top "barup" & please don't wait till the last second. I have friends who are Vail employees & they are required to wait till their feet are almost on the snow to put the bar up. Scares the crap out of me! What if something is caught or tangled in the bar, they leave no room for error.
I luv the footrest but a bar without, I can take it or leave it :huh:.
 

Bart Parnell

Getting on the lift
Pass Pulled
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Posts
100
Location
Valhalla
I ski near Canada and am now referred to as "One Ball" because some hockey hero slammed the bar stop into my nuts.
 

kayco53

Getting on the lift
Skier
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Posts
174
Location
BC Canada
Up here in BC most mountains require the bar to be put down.Guess its insurance reasons. Never used to be that way. I always ask before the bar comes down.
 

Mikey

Getting on the lift
Skier
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Posts
151
Today, with it being so busy, I narrowly missed getting clocked by someone who brought the down very fast and soon after we were seated.Thought it was pretty rude, but learned a lot here in this thread about why folks might do things I perceive as very rude. Here at Big Sky, during the week when it is not very busy, everyone warns/asks when the bar is coming down. I prefer the "Do you mind if the we put the bar down?" because I think quite a few people here don't like it down so it's just a nicer way of going about it. I personally only care because we like to rest our knees. That's not always the case though, sometimes I like to have my legs hanging down, or they aren't bothering me so just don't bother with the bar if others on the lift are happy with it up..it's not a safety issue with me. Definitely need to have a bit more SA and not put my head in a position to be hit.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,894
Location
NJ
I have had a bar come down by itself when another rider plopped on the chair and the vibration caused the bar to fall.
 

luliski

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
May 17, 2017
Posts
2,557
Location
California
I got used to putting the bar down when my daughter was little. Then when she was older there was an incident that hit close to home, and now I always put the bar down. I always warn people first and lower it slowly, but lately other people on the lift have been grabbing the bar as I'm trying to slowly lower it, and trying to force it down faster. So I find myself trying to hold the bar up longer so those who weren't ready have time to react. I don't like to lift the bar too early, but I ride with a lot of people who get panicky if it's down too long.
 

wyowindrunner

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Posts
430
A family owned area (Kelly Canyon) twenty minutes from the house has four doubles- no bars- the place is overrun with kids-school programs galore- and I don't think any one even gives bars a second thought. Olympian Jessika Jensen grew up on this hill- Slopestyle boarder. There are plenty of areas in the Rockies with no safety bars-mostly small places but some big ones too. The old porky lift at Snowbasin comes to mind. Think there is some "it's for your own good" justifications here. And if I was at a place where some speaker was barking orders instead of playing Santana,it would be my last day there.
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
Skier
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Posts
2,169
Location
Killington
I take control of the bar from the second by ass hits the seat. Love to hit the bar between runs but never on the chair.
 

BMC

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Posts
778
This could all mean different things to different people. a simple "Bar down" has been universally used. K.I.S.S.
Tough audience!! ;)

I'm from Oz and while I can't say I've paid attention to the standard call, I thought I was doing what most do (the minority who actually do call out/look out for others when lowering the bar).
 

HDSkiing

You’re Sliding On-Snow; Don’t Over-Think it!
Skier
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Posts
319
Location
The Rocky Mountains
For the areas that mandate the bar come down, what do they do about kids who are not able to reach the handle?

I tell the kids I coach that can’t reach it not to even try, it’s more dangerous for them to stretch and squirm then to sit quietly “seat to seat and back to back.” Also one of our older chairs has no bar, so it’s a moot point on that lift which serves more advanced terrain.

What many refer to as “safety bars” are actually known as “comfort bars,” a minor point but important for liability and practically speaking true, it’s more for psychological ”comfort” than physical security. Having said that I always bring it down as I like to rest my arms on it and occasionally my feet on the foot rests.

Most people seem to communicate pretty effectively and I’ve never thought of it as much of an issue, however I’m always a little amused by the rider who is in a hurry to bring the bar down before the chair has hardly left the loading area who also seems to want to raise it three towers from the offloading ramp.
 

pchewn

Skiing the powder
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
2,607
Location
Beaverton OR USA
ONE of the lifts at Mt Hood Meadows has extra plastic molded parts on it to form a barrier for kids --- I think it said "Kid Keeper" or something like that on it. Here's a picture of something similar. Why it's only on ONE of the lifts -- I don't know.

I do remember when they first built the Copper Mountain ski area in Colorado, they had an automatically-actuated fiberglass bubble that would lower down shortly after leaving the base, and open up shortly before getting to the top. On sunny days, most of us would re-open the bubble and ride "bare". I think I remember many of those mechanisms failing -- it had a roller that was supposed to go in a track to open/close it. The roller mechanisms would fail....

plan-du-moulin-st-sorlin-chair-2.jpg
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
Skier
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Posts
4,806
Location
Whitefish, MT
Generally my line is, "I'm going to be putting down the bar." Then I look each way to make sure everyone is hearing me and if necessary, tell the guy next to me to tell his buddy. What I HATE is when after I say this, someone else on the chair yanks the bar down immediately, as opposed to the gentle controlled lowering I had planned. Because then it looks like I did it. I've had parents nail their kids before I was able to push up against the bar to prevent it. Dude! It's your kid!
 

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