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?
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?