anybody ever nearly fall off a ski lift or know anybody who has?

Albis

Platinum Member
May 29, 2004
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i've almost fallen off once but somehow leaned back hard enough to stop myself from tipping

i was so fricken scared
 

Skiguy411

Platinum Member
Dec 4, 2002
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Fall off the ski lift as in, while its on the way up, or when you are trying to get on/off?
 

blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
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i got tripped up getting off the ski lift once. dislocated my shoulder and almost re-sprained my ankle.

i've seen people ride the ski lift back down but i don't know if that's because they were too scared to get off or because they just were taking the ride back.

never seen anyone fall off in the middle somewhere.

you'd think with one little bar that you can actually raise while riding up the mountain that there would be stories of someone falling off.
 

TranceNation

Platinum Member
Jan 6, 2001
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Originally posted by: Skiguy411
Fall off the ski lift as in, while its on the way up, or when you are trying to get on/off?

while it's on the way up, in mid air where if you fall you will get seriously hurt or die
 

SportSC4

Golden Member
Aug 29, 2002
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A couple friends went snowboarding with a few girls.
One of the girls fell off.
I think it was 20-30 feet.
On rocks.

She ended up being in really bad shape to say the least.
 

BW86

Lifer
Jul 20, 2004
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Ski lifts are fun, especially when you stick your tongue to the pole ;)
 

TitanDiddly

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Dec 8, 2003
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I go to a music festival every year on a ski mountain, there are always kids who dangle by one arm, etc. I usually ride it around for a few hours and make friends. When it gets crowded, they make you get off though.
 

Skiguy411

Platinum Member
Dec 4, 2002
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How does one fall from a ski lift in mid air? I would think they would have enough sense to know that if I move off this chair, I could possibly fall to my death. Maybe I overestimate people....
 

VTrider

Golden Member
Nov 21, 1999
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I'm a ski instructor - I see people fall off the lift on a seasonal basis! :) Most of them are ages 3-5, they fall....they bounce..they get up and have a fun time! Don't worry, just don't fall on rocks you will be fine ;)
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
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Originally posted by: Skiguy411
How does one fall from a ski lift in mid air? I would think they would have enough sense to know that if I move off this chair, I could possibly fall to my death. Maybe I overestimate people....

yes...yes you do. People are really stupid. INCREDIBLY, MIND-NUMBINGLY stupid.
 

shenaniganz

Golden Member
Aug 20, 2003
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Originally posted by: VTrider
I'm a ski instructor - I see people fall off the lift on a seasonal basis! :) Most of them are ages 3-5, they fall....they bounce..they get up and have a fun time! Don't worry, just don't fall on rocks you will be fine ;)

Sometimes the distance to the ground can be 70' or more. I don't think I would be bouncing, getting up and having a good time after that.
 

marcello

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Aug 30, 2004
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I didn't fall off, but I did jump off. It's not too bad, as long as you don't do it over rocks or trees as people have said. It's really a lot easier to get on and off than it seems, it just takes a little practice.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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Originally posted by: blackdogdeek

you'd think with one little bar that you can actually raise while riding up the mountain that there would be stories of someone falling off.

I never even put the bar down. I think when you're that high up, you make a point of not doing anything stupid that would cause you to fall off. I've seen people who had a ski fall off, that would suck.
 

TranceNation

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Jan 6, 2001
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Originally posted by: Skiguy411
How does one fall from a ski lift in mid air? I would think they would have enough sense to know that if I move off this chair, I could possibly fall to my death. Maybe I overestimate people....

sudden stops, shaky ski lift, bad weather, person sitting next to them with inbalance movement, etc
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
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Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: blackdogdeek

you'd think with one little bar that you can actually raise while riding up the mountain that there would be stories of someone falling off.

I never even put the bar down. I think when you're that high up, you make a point of not doing anything stupid that would cause you to fall off. I've seen people who had a ski fall off, that would suck.

yea
the ones that have the bars you pull down is max 20-30 feet I believe around NJ.
The ones that go higher up are Gondolas ? where you get in and stand.
 

puffff

Platinum Member
Jun 25, 2004
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i knew a kid, he was about 5 or 6 years old at the time, who fell off a ski lift. i think he landed on some rocks. ended up with two broken legs, a broken arm, and broken ribs. he was pretty much in a body cast while he healed. poor kid.
 
Jun 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: puffff
i knew a kid, he was about 5 or 6 years old at the time, who fell off a ski lift. i think he landed on some rocks. ended up with two broken legs, a broken arm, and broken ribs. he was pretty much in a body cast while he healed. poor kid.


ive never seen anyone in a body cast before..bet it sucks to hell and back
 

VTrider

Golden Member
Nov 21, 1999
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Originally posted by: shenaniganz
Originally posted by: VTrider
I'm a ski instructor - I see people fall off the lift on a seasonal basis! :) Most of them are ages 3-5, they fall....they bounce..they get up and have a fun time! Don't worry, just don't fall on rocks you will be fine ;)

Sometimes the distance to the ground can be 70' or more. I don't think I would be bouncing, getting up and having a good time after that.

Probably not. Most of the people who fall of chairlifts do so right when they get on or right before they get off - usually not that high off the ground.

Last year however we did have a whole chair detach from the line and drop a good 20ft - with 2 people oboard! They were both fine (lucky). The skier on the chair in front of them snagged a rope by accident with their ski, the ensuing entanglement caused the chair to stall while the chair behind them crashed into it - that chair fell off. The two guys on the chair behind them witnessed the whole thing - all the while sitting there waiting for history to repeat itself with their chair, they chose to jump off (both fine also) - the lift stopped before that chair did the same thing.

Although these things don't happen too often, the Ski industry does a good job of keeping this kind of stuff out of the news. Now that we have totally frightened TranceNation, have fun on the slopes this year ;)