 Poster: A snowHead
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I might have just found it.
It's always amusing to take the latest high-investment gondola onto the hill and then somewhere in the dark recesses of a resort to find an ancient installation cranking smoothly but threateningly - usually looking like a pile of mecanno put together by a group of acid-head spanner-wielding chimpanzees.
Against my better judgement I joined the youngsters on exactly such a lift at Grimentz, up past the tiny snowpark. Some other lifts have amusing 90 degree turns, entertaining wooden ramps, and tiny release areas. All quite good fun, and I genuinely mean that. What I don't like is spine-separating drags; about which one can do zilch.
We enter the lift. No-one about. I haul down a button and nod to the pisteur who wisely is sheltering from the intense cold. I place the button between my legs and flick the little black 'make it go' thing. Nothing, ... although the top of the button is hurtling out along the cable. Still nothing. The long spring on the button is now a very long spring. Still nothing. I look nervously up at the cable since I now am aware that .... GAPOW! .... suddenly I am picked half a metre off the ground, my pelvis feels as though is is being separated from my femurs, and my spine absorbs as much energy as a direct meteorite strike. poo-poo that hurt. Good landing boy. And of course after being launched like a stone from a kids catapault, I grind to a halt 10 metres out from the lift ... usual pogo effect ... and so WHAM! All over again. Yikes that smarts.... and then after another 10 metres .... POW! Again. As I deal with this excruciating torture I anxiously look back at the other three members of the family, all highly competent thank goodness, and see the amusing sight of each of them in various states of being airborn, landing, or waiting for the next vicious kangaroo hop...
Needless to say, we watched the lift throughout the day and VERY FEW of the locals even went near it....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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 Always worse after a long gap, that sort of lift. I'd nominate the "Seigneurs" lift in Flumet as one of the worst. It features on French websites about lifts. For part of its journey there are signs indicating that "si vous tombez" you should hike through the woods to a steep and often unpisted black run. For the top, exceptionally steep, section, there is no escape. Fall there and if you manage to avoid sliding back down the track it's take your skis off and try to scramble through thick bush.
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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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@valais2, There used to be one like that in Les Gets, I can't remember its name as we had our own nickname for it. I don't know if it's still there. We had a rule - you had to hold the lift with your left hand, hold your hat in the air with your right hand, and shout "Yee haaah!" as your feet left the ground.
The Yee Hah lift. 
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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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Sounds just like Cairngorm 
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Sounds just like Cairngorm
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Val T / Le Menuires link drag Montaulever, the top was shut and the pisters had made a mistake and opened the valley link down. We got taken down there during a lesson, and couldn't get back, this lift was the only option. Regularly closed as many people did as you describe but got bounced off, that in turn bounced the cable off the wheels..... I managed to stay on during the initial phase, nicely pisted, all ok we might get home i thought. Suddenly, the pisting stopped, seeing this i hold on tight and wait as my slalom ski's hit and dig in knee deep powder. Lean back! up the steep bit and i'm in some boarder tracks happy days. One skis starts to go into the deep stuff again and slow down, holding on for dear life but alas no good! i'm off. The Mrs behind me also off slightly lower down, the instructor decides to ski us back to the closest piste and down to base to call for a lift back up to Val T. Avoid it like the plague, unless you get stuck down there then it may be your best bet in high wind / avalanche condition type days!
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The Djeu des Tetes / Conche 2000 drag lift pair to get up from Plan de Croix to La Chapelle d'Abondance in the PdS are contenders. First up you have the 1.3km drag of Djeu des Tetes to really get the cramp going in the thighs before swapping to the Conche 2000 which only 562m long does end with a 50% slope, with the dismount point right at the crest.
It's a route you only take once.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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There's a bumpy start on one in Flaine, but nowhere near as bad as@valais2's nemesis...
My worst was the Summit Platter in Lake Louise, not bouncy but long(ish): fools you into comfort with surrounding trees, but then exposes you to the full elements for the majority of the painfully slow drag, very windy, very cold. Although that could be my fault for going to Canada in January....
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| EarthWindandWater wrote: |
| There's a bumpy start on one in Flaine |
If we're thinking of the same one*, petit balacha - it's gone now. The first time I went on it I ended up flat of my back feeling like I had whiplash. But once you got the hang of it, it was ok. And it did have the advantage of scaring most of the beginners off what is one of the nicest easy slopes in Flaine, which made it all the nicer for those of us who braved the lift. Now they've replaced it with a much newer drag which unfortunately means the piste is much busier, but at least there's no risk of whiplash.
*Although there are several other drags marked as hard on the map (bois, stade and grand grenier) so it easily could be a different one, I'm sure one of my friends described being launched into the air part way up one when someone else got on lower down, which was enough to scare me off trying it. I really should be more adventurous!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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The bit that freaked me out about the Lake Louise summit platter was the ropes alongside the steep pitch to grab on to if you fell. And the signs indicating that the surrounding runs were black or double black. Really not a lift you'd want to fall off.
It certainly is cold and exposed but for every person complaining about it they'd be several more complaining the replacement chair was closed by the wind.
And it's worth it for the views alone!
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You know it makes sense.
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In Morgins there is a short little double drag called Teleski Du Culet.
Anyone who has done the PdS circuit in a counter-clockwise direction will have used this to get from the top of le Corbeau to the long schuss by the speed gun in Chalet-neuf.
To look at it is nothing, pretty short, straightish, a couple of changes of gradient, but really nothing to fear.
First off, the springs are tight and the cable is not as taught as it might be ( plenty of lateral play between pylons), so you get a good kick in the air to get going followed by the cable bouncing a bit, then another airborne adventure, then the gradient goes a bit steeper. You then exit the tree-d section where it crosses a piste, and get hit by the cross camber L->R On skis this presents no problem at all, on a board however you really need to force your uphill edge, even then you slide towards the edge of the track, the spring starts to stretch some more. Just as you avoid the edge the track narrows again as it goes back into the trees. The gradient flattens, the spring releases and pings you towards the pylon on the narrowest part of the track, you just miss the pylon, and now the cross camber goes the other way. Rinse and repeat for the next 3 minutes.
Knowing the challenges of this lift, it does not catch me out now, but other experienced boarders still come a cropper on this bad boy. Not to mention the child skiers as being under 50 KG they spend the first 20 metres in the air.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks @albob I was using embed
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Rcav: I was thinking of Bois, but they obviously bought a job lot of the same design!
@TommyJ: vee dot pretty, although I'll never forget the traverse to the blue on the backside either! Lucky we were with some of the free L/L guides, otherwise I'd have never put myself anywhere near the place =0)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Homme de Pierre drag in Risoul....explains why there's no one on those slopes. Steep and long and a walk of shame through some woods to get to the piste. IIRC, it's one of those drags with "if you fall off" signs....
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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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@Mjit, Djeu des Tetes / Conche 2000 give access to some of my favourite skiing, especially in a holiday week when the regular bits are busy. They're not really too bad. No need for cramp if you stand up straight.
Now the left had drag in Morgins when you go over from Chalet Neuf - that one has you checking in your trousers and counting the bits.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 6-01-17 13:32; edited 1 time in total
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@WindOfChange, That's the one! And its mate to the left
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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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Grevettaz in Les Contamines.
Steep as hell.
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Just about anything on Cairngorm circa 1975, but the White Lady was the worst.
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned those two 50-mile long poma lifts between La Ros and La Thuile. That's 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back, plus it was mighty cold. I'm also not keen on the ones that go slightly flat or downhill for a bit, meaning you overtake it, then you get lifted out of your boots as it catches up with you.
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there is a sign at the bottom of a t-bar in Stari Vrh, Slovenia which proudly proclaims it to be the worlds steepest drag lift.
Its insanely steep to the extent that at point you being virtually lifted vertically by the tbar. its through a piece of dense forest too, so any fallers need to either ski back down the tbar tow, which isn't appealing or crash through trees to a black run. oh and the pist basher can t get up it so its not exactly the smoothest run.
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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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I am clearly in the minority, but I quite like a long drag lift. Last song you hummed to yourself, drive?
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The ones I was going to list were the one in Les Gets (think between Chavannes and Perrieres area), and one out Morgins way. Both also end up with a ramp of snow just after the point where you get on, which also adds to the "getting launched".
The Morgins one might well be the one that tries to give you a frontal wedgie at disembarkation.
I suspect these are the drags mentioned in earlier posts.
Also the T-bar over on the Swiss side that goes downhill and off camber about half way up. That's more entertaining than worst though, especially when accompanying someone who's scared of T-bars.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Not steep but long and horribly exposed (the times I've used it) from Zermatt up towards Cervinia. Had sympathy with Sisyphus by the time it ended.
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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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The one at the top of La Grave, to take you from the top of the lift top the glacier. In fact, it isn't a lift, but a snowmobile with three lengths of knotted ropes hanging behind. You hang on to a knot while the snowmobile accelerates, and try not to be dragged into your neighbours on either side.
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the du colet in morgins gets another vote, affectionally known as the ballcrusher.
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You know it makes sense.
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| dobby wrote: |
| Homme de Pierre drag in Risoul....explains why there's no one on those slopes. Steep and long and a walk of shame through some woods to get to the piste. IIRC, it's one of those drags with "if you fall off" signs.... |
I'm pretty sure we did that "en famille" in 2014. Elder daughter fell off near the top. Mrs Snowplough neatly sidestepped her and called behind her to me "Can you go and get her?" Half an hour later, the four of us were happily re-united. It was only over lunch afterwards that I realised my nadgers had been forced up some where near my ears!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Pierra in SuperDévoluy.
tl;dr bad parent takes long, steep drag lift, realises he doesn't know where child is.
It's a diesel powered affair that serves the three black runs from the top of resort. It has a bit of that whiplash/leaving the ground thing going on that's been mentioned, as well as the er 'uncomfortable' steep pole-shouldn't-be-pulling-against-*that* sensation. And it takes a looooooong time.
What makes it stick in my mind though is the day I left the younger member of staff (he was 6, maybe 7) with the ESF for his lesson. On the way up the mountain, I saw his monatrice leading the snake of children. I stopped to watch them go past, but didn't see him... A little worried, I skied to the instructor and asked in my best French 'have you got Louis, the little English boy?' she looked confused for a moment, counted the kids and said - 'well, I left with 14, and I still have 14, so I haven't lost him [if the ESF bashing that we seem to enjoy on here were entirely true, we'd end now with 'and off she skied'...], hold on - I'll call my colleague.' Her colleague called back after a few nervous minutes - yep - he was with the other instructor. All was good, so I carried on - heading for the Pierra to get to the top as it hadn't been open until that day.
As I said, the drag takes a long time. My confidence that my boy was safe evaporated pretty quickly as I hit the steep bit and the perch did its best to ensure that I wouldn't be replacing him. N minutes later (10? 15? 20? longer? It seemed like a lifetime) I was at the top after an agonising (emotionally & physically) wait. By this point, I was picturing him sobbing and freezing down at the resort, about to wander off the mountain, wondering why his parents had abandoned him.
Worst drag lift (ride) *ever*.
I skied the vertical kilometre back to resort like I'd never skied before. The adrenaline was pumping; I don't think I've ever been so focused when skiing. Nothing like a bit of parental guilt to up your game.
Turns out the boy was indeed with the other instructor - he'd given himself a promotion - he had had the best time skiing with kids a bit bigger/better than him.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| TommyJ wrote: |
| The bit that freaked me out about the Lake Louise summit platter was the ropes alongside the steep pitch to grab on to if you fell. And the signs indicating that the surrounding runs were black or double black. Really not a lift you'd want to fall off. |
We ventured up that on our recent trip. I didn't research the lift at all, blindly following the kids who'd done it in a lesson the day before. It was a scary white-knuckle ride and when I got to the top the kids said something along the lines of: "We didn't think you'd get up that one, Dad!" Luckily, there was an epic run down through trees and easy powder, so I forgave them for taking me up there!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Dr John, all excellent stuff...
...and if it's cold and minor epic-like then nothing can beat Arolla on a strong wind day.
We arrive at the Kurhaus Hotel and I have promised the group a great days' powder skiing. We had left at 6am from Mollens and in the early-morning fug I had omitted to check the meteo for the other side of the valley. Avalanche level 4. Huge wind. But the lifts were open....
...and so the torture began.
There is not a single chair or gondola in this sweet, commune-run resort.
It's 40 mins (FORTY MINUTES!!!) drag to the top of the hill - one change from lift A to B. The wind chill would have scared an inuit.
Apart from the feeling of intense guilt at hauling everyone over to the village, it was miserable - hard-pack and blue ice underfoot on all the drags (just lovely on wide waist skis); deep powder all over the hill to taunt us, and two of us got frostnip on cheeks and noses by the upper section. I had four-centimetre icicles on my beard, and have the photos to prove it. A little bit of Alaska in the Val D'Herens.
Kind of sticks in the mind....
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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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For me it's easy. The T-bar in hochgurgl (can't remember the lift name). Not only because it's long and steep and I hate T-bars but because the only times I've used it is with junior junior Ansta1 on the other side. A fair bit of height difference between me and a 9yr old girl doesn't make for a pleasant journey.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The one just outside the accommodation in Tignes. It might have been called Chardonnet, it was quite some time ago but the memory sticks.
The remont ran it at full speed at busy times, now I am 6 ft 3 in and think brick out house but would be airborne for 10 to 15 ft when the extension bit hit the stop. The tiny young lady in our group made 50 ft jumps with ease.
In an effort reduce the initial shock one member of the group decided to try putting the pole between his legs with the button on the ground. The idea being that he would grip the pole firmly but allowing the pole to slip slowly between his hands as he accelerated. This worked when the lift ran slowly but at max speed his grip failed and the button slammed into his nadgers. He made the usual 15 ft arc in the air but toppled sideways on landing and assumed the fetal position moaning piteously.
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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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Can't remember the name, (maybe Bear Mountain) in Killington. Very smooth. No nadger damage, no short flights. Very fast. No hurty legs. Very steep. The problem comes at dismount. You have a space of approximately 3mm where you need to dismount. Too soon and you are reversing rapidly down the terrain you just came up. Too late and it flings you round the bull wheel like a fairground ride, where you will lose it and fall back to the bottom.
I saw one guy get off too soon. He fell and took out the 4 people behind him on the lift, sliding gently backwards and trying to stop. I tried to give him a helping hand (I was on the next button) but only succeeded in turning him around so he could take everyone else out face first.
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| DJL wrote: |
@Mjit, Djeu des Tetes / Conche 2000 give access to some of my favourite skiing, especially in a holiday week when the regular bits are busy. They're not really too bad. No need for cramp if you stand up straight.
Now the left had drag in Morgins when you go over from Chalet Neuf - that one has you checking in your trousers and counting the bits. |
Absolutely spot on. Nothing intimidating about the Djeu des Tetes / Conche 2000. In fact I found them very enjoyable.
Pleased to hear others have mentioned the drag in Morgins - it's brutal. When I went on it, I assumed there was something seriously broken with it, but it would appear that the huge launch it gives you at the start is the norm. In fact i'm amazed they allow it to be open.
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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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There is a short one at top of St Gervais , think it is called Freddie. Not long or step but the initial jerk nearly pulls your arm off
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