Magic Carpets - The Most Dangerous Lift on the Mountain?

TheGreatAbyss

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
I'm starting to get my 4 year old on skis and have been riding the Magic Carpet for perhaps the first time in my life. Did either Sterling Forest or Vernon Valley have them in the late 80s? I feel like there were rope tows and very short chairlifts to access the learning areas?

I don't know the regulations around them, and they probably vary by state, but I'm surprised by both how dangerous, and how little oversight these things have.

At Catamount there was no lift attendant on the bottom. If someone went down hopefully the top operator would see, and a nearby ski school instructor would come help out. Furthermore it was a pretty narrow magic carpet with a several foot drop on either side.

At Shawnee there was a bottom attendant, but it was a much longer surface lift. The place was packed on Saturday and they were really jamming people on there, with only several feet between each rider. The top attendant was responsible for both watching the riders on the lift, and also clearing the exit of people who fell. Furthermore being right at the exit and with the density of riders he couldn't see what was happening down the line.

The whole situation was incredibly dangerous. My kid is loaded maybe four or five feet behind a beginner adult who goes down about halfway up the lift. I call out to the top of the lift to stop it but the kid running it either can't see that someone went down, is dealing with someone at the top, or is just plain distracted. The guy who fell managed to do a ju-jitsu move to avoid taking my kid out, but as I approached him it was clear that he wasn't going to avoid taking me out. I hopped to the side, but someone finally stopped the lift, solidly 30 - 45 seconds after the guy went down.

We rode the chairlift for our last 2 runs because even with a 40 inch tall little kid, it was safer then that nonsense.

Curious if these things are commonly this dangerous, or I've just had two bad experiences?
 
All the carpets at Stratton always have a person at the bottom loading and a person at the top unloading the carpets. The carpets are used heavily by the ski school so there are always instructors helping out with the whole operation.
 
The conveyors without any roof coverage are the worse. Even a tiny bit on snow on them, add a bit of upslope, and many skiers will start to slide backwards! The lifties solution is usually to tell you to take one ski off and use it as a crutch. My solution is to nearly always take both skis off and stand at a slight angle so your downhill boot as a good grip. Mind you this method also has an obstacle... the snow on the belt WILL pack under your boot. Remember to knock the snow off or stomping into bindings will be difficult! Another hazard you will find are the instructor groups and parent instructors who want kids to step off the belt half or 3/4's of the way up. Some can do it, some can not. And the single or both boot off crowd will of course learn the joy trying to get into bindings on even a slight grade. Bottom boot first, then dig it into the snow is your only hope. If not that bottom skis will always tease you and keep sliding away as you try to step into the binding. Oh, I almost forgot the fun uphill climb to get to the belt. Slip, sliding away backwards into the skiers behind you. And then at the top of the carpet ride you will have to weave thru the half dozen or so boarders blocking the exit as they sit in the snow trying to get into their bindings. Then again you should see me trying to time a J-bar sit.
 
I am sure the OP was somewhat serious. But for most of us it is more comedy than drama. I imagine it is a liftie's nightmare to be assigned 4 hours on a carpet lift. Huge battles with parents that want to walk up the often carpeted side of the entire lift as a confidence builder for the chlld... and then walk down as well. I also have seen parents pull off a 'cocoon'. Young child on skis settles between (or even on) the skis of the parent and rides up together. Once saw an instructor pull off the reversal! Yep, rode part way up the carpet facing down the hill! In my area the RF reader gate is all too often right at the very start of the belt. Buried deep in jackets cards will not read.... etc. Or clever parent stands to the side and swipes the RF card for the child. Hey, wait a minute are you trying to swipe the same card for two kids??? A pet peeve of mine as a grandparent... does the magic carpet always have to be the furthest lift from the warm lodge and bathrooms!
 
On a more serious note, while they are usually what they appear to be- super safe- it is possible to get hurt . Falling down or sitting can lead to clothes being caught in the belt and wrenching on the kid’s body pretty good. This may be more likely on tubing hills if people let their hands and feet drag. The operators can get very grievously injured or killed if a limb gets caught in the belt. It’s exceedingly rare but the chance being killed by a magic carpet is not zero.
 
I imagine it is a liftie's nightmare to be assigned 4 hours on a carpet lift.
No! Although I suppose it depends on the individual's motivation. I was a liftie for a short period of time. It would drive me nuts to be in a mid station unloading all day. I can't listen to myself for that long. o_O
 
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