 Poster: A snowHead
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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| Peter S, gatecrasher, I think had the liftie stopped those already on it would have been engulfed, watch closely near the beginning and the last chair with people on it only just clears the edge of the avalanche. Plus the lift operator was perhaps running for her life as well. |
Boredsurfing, probably the latter, I not sure if she could have predicted a safer option, I probably would have shut it down without hindsight.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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gatecrasher, What surprised me was even when a whole chair is getting dragged under there was no automatic stop. I would have thought that there were systems built in, I know our main chair in Montalbert stops on its own in high winds or if a chair is swinging more than normal.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Grandes Combes chair in Avoriaz was closed yesterday due to a wet slide onto a pylon that must have happened late on Saturday. I doubt it'll be running for a few days.
Peter S, anyone on a surface lift would have been killed by that slide. If anything the video should show you how safe lifts are given that 70 people got off a lift despite one of the towers have been taken out.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Boredsurfing, looks dramatic but looking again the chair mostly bounced over the top, not sure what devices these things have apart from motor overload which I guess would be set at a certain % above full lift capacity so maybe if the lift wasn't that full it may explain why it kept going until the pylon came down.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Seems to be an awful lot of Avalanche threads this year, whats going on!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| MountainMaid wrote: |
| The scary thing is that the entire snowpack has gone at once, right from the ground (see the wall at the top where it started - can't think of the proper word for it but there is one...). I am no expert but I think there will be plenty more of these huge, slow wet slides. Please be careful, everyone! |
From what little I know, being careful is no help, as they just let themselves go, unpredictably. I'm not rushing to book an Easter week, I must say.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Flyingstantoni,
Had one of the pylons under compression rather than the second bottom pylon under tension, been pushed over, that might have been 70 people dropping to the ground, rather quickly  I think I may have preferred to take my chance skiing away from a drag lift.
gatecrasher, the stop system is triggered by derailment switches on all the pylon wheel assemblies. They probably also have a link to an anemometer measuring windspeed but beyond that other than some sort of abnormal load sensor on the motor, it won't be as sophisticated as detecting movement on individual chairs.
I think as lift operator her duty should have been to push the stop button before running away !
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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What's the advantage of stopping the lift? Stopping people getting on, sure. But leaving the lift running gets the maximum number of people off prior to the worst?
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You know it makes sense.
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meh, tbh I'm not really sure if there are benefits either way, it would be just a gut reaction of mine about leaving people on moving machinery when I have no idea of the possible outcome, in hindsight it may well get more people off by keeping it running but... if people had got injured through failure to stop the lift for what ever reason the lifty may well have had questions to answer, It's a sad world where most decisions have to be based on @rse covering so I'd be more tempted to shut the thing down!
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FAQ
