 Poster: A snowHead
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My daughter (age 13) is off with her school to Treblant this year. Something on another posts and a video of a chair lift swinging madly from side to side in the Eleanor gusts just got me thinking.
We have only ever skied in Europe where you always use the safety bar on the chair lifts but I have heard that in the US it is not usual to use the safety bar; is this the same in Canada/Treblant? Are they even on the chairs? If they are on the chairs, would there be grumbling if she asked to pull it down?
This is the first trip to Canada skiing for the school in recent years; previous trips have been to Italy so this might not be something they are aware of (even though I would hope they would have done the H&S assessment trip?). We have yet to have any briefing meetings, so would be helpful to go equipped with some knowledge.
TIA
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I went years ago when my kids were 5 and 8. Can't remember specifically about the safety bars, but no one died.
However, it was the coldest place I've ever skied; you need to worry about that as well. 
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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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We've been to Alberta a few times. It wasn't that uncommon to see people not using the provided safety bars (and I don't recall seeing any lifts without), but we never had any issue using them, even when sharing with North Americans. Interestingly, not all of the lifts had footrests on the safety bars, so your feet still dangle in the air.
Given the general level of 'pleasant-ness' in Canada, I doubt there would be an issue - might be worth getting the teachers to stress that they should be used?
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I don't know about Treblant specificly, but there are lifts in north america with no safety bars.
Based on my experiences in canada:
-If your daughter is skiing with an instructor the instructor will either be on the lift with them, or in the case of them not being all able to fit on a single chair will put them on with some other skiiers following something along the lines of "can she join you? Make sure the bars down please".
-Generally people put the bar down if there is a kid without any supervision anyway.
-Although not everyone chooses to use them nobody has ever objected to the bar going down.
-Its the done thing to let people know your putting the bar down - a simple " heads up" or "bar down" is enough to make sure everyone's ready and nobody is going to get smacked in the head.
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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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@CaurnieBred, we went to tremblant for many years with kids aged 4-13 and every time they went on a chair the bar was down , as poster above says an instructor will check if your ok to accompany the kids if there is too many for one chair in his group and the adults were really helpful getting the little ones on and off the chairs ,
from my experience the non use of bars is limited to some local groms and have only really seen it in whistler , the lift system in tremblant is great and all chairs have bars and covers if irc
mt tremblant is the perfect hill for a school trip as all runs lead back to the car free village and the piste marking and signage are a 100% better than most european resorts , she'll love it there 
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I dislike getting on European lifts that have no footrests, my legs ache within a .minute of getting on.
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Our son spent his gap year in Tremblant and passed his instructor course also. We had a week with him and even in March was cold. One day when he was there it was reputedly the coldest place on earth. 40 or so below and in grave danger of frostbite. He loved it, though, and made some great friends.
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| tangowaggon wrote: |
| I dislike getting on European lifts that have no footrests, my legs ache within a .minute of getting on. |
Probably all that off piste skiing on carvers
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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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Ditto Tremblant being the coldest place on earth. Also skied there when minus 40. After every run had to spend an hour warming back up. In terms of safety bars I'm sure the lifties will ask to make sure the bar is put down, however a little polite request on behalf of your child will also help.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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there are only going to be a tiny limited number of lifts left in NA that do not have safety bars. I for one prefer not to use them, unless its windy or really super steep terrain the chair is going up. Having said that, if there are kids on the chairs, I usually put it down for them. Make sure your daughter is aware that there some ppl like me that may not automatically lower them, and to ask it to be lowered.
Tremblant is super modern, so I cannot imagine that there are any that do not have safety bars, hopefully with bubbles as it gets cold up there.
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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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@Redwine, out of interest why do you prefer not to use them?
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@holidayloverxx, honestly no good excuse other than i associate my early days of skiing with older chairs at alta that did not have them and never caused me a problem. Remember those, you had the pole in the middle and had to load by facing inwards. Im also one of those ppl that likes to put the poles under my leg when I ride up, which a bar with foot rests makes a bit more challenging. I dont find the foot rests as a needed rest for my legs either, not sure why.
Of course I have been wearing a helmet for a decade, so I guess we pick our poison. There are some chairs (the peak chair at whister comes to mind) where the drop is like 10 stories that i drop the bar immediately. But I find that most everyone wants to to drop the bar, and i dont fight it. so its usually only when I ride myself that i dont drop it.
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You know it makes sense.
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Darwinism.
Give guns to the dummies who don’t fall off lifts.
Sorted.
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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 everyone. She is going at Easter so hoping for it not to be that cold by then!
She is rather chuffed that she is going somewhere that neither of her parents have been to; me, not so much.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@CaurnieBred, we went in april twice and had great sunny days and even some fresh snow , and defo no need for face masks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We had 10 days in Tremblant with the kids a while back and although it was the coldest place I've ever skied in, the ski school were well set up to look after the kids welfare. When it got particularly cold, they would bring them into a large heated marquee for a while to get them thawed out (I thought about joining them a couple of times). We were there in February - don't know what Easter will be like but we got extensive use out of the ski masks we bought before the trip.
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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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It is very normal across North America not to pull the bar down. But, when everyone learns to ski they pull it down, as resort employees (ski instructors included) are required to pull it down while working, so I've never heard anyone grumble when it is pulled down. Only the oldest lifts in the remotest ski areas don't have safety bars, but almost all advanced skiers almost never pull it down, as they are used not to, and feel completely fine without it. The only time I personally pull it down is when my feet are freezing off and it helps a bit to put them on footrests, but I see no problem with beginners and intermediates pulling it down when I am on the lift with them, and that is the opinion of the majority of skiers. Just, if you are skiing without an instructor and on a lift not mostly with beginners, try to ask or just mention it before you pull it down as it can surprise some skiers.
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| Redwine wrote: |
| @holidayloverxx, honestly no good excuse other than i associate my early days of skiing with older chairs at alta that did not have them |
Alta hasnt actually had drop bars for very long and there are still 2 lifts without them
Just spent 3 weeks in utah and i only saw a bar dropped a couple of times
Once i was caught out as it was pulled down really quick with no word ..... eventually after i commented i realised the couple were french
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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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Skied in Tremblant in 2016 and dont remember any chairs without bars. It is a great resort with attemtive staff and lots of families skiing together, they will have a blast, i know we did went early April, we had rain, sun, wind an snow and -17 plus windchill. Brutal cold due to the wind.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sun 7-01-18 20:37; edited 1 time in total
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@ulmerhutte, Safety bars didn't help at all in that situation. Safety Bars prevent one of the rarest methods of falling off a chairlift, flying forward, and replace it with a more dangerous one, sliding down (the one that happens the most) off it. When a chair is moving side to side like that safety bars won't make a difference. As an American, I've never understood Europeans obsessions with safety bars, they don't really help and are more of a safety theater thing than an actual helpful part of a chair.
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@KeetnaWilson, Hmmm, maybe, but I would sure feel better having a bar in front of me with the chair pitching around wildly.
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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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Every new detached 6 pack chair I've seen on Europe has an automatic safety bar. The footrests are centered so you can't submarine and slide off.
I didn't use bars as a kid in the US until I got a pair of those poles with molded grips. Then I hung them on the bar...
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@ulmerhutte - that was like the video I saw, hence my post! At least this one was a covered chair and, given Austria, maybe even heated seats.
I have spoken to my daughter about it and she is appalled over the no-bar situation, so fingers crossed she will always make sure it is down. I'm following Tremblant on Facebook and in their video on ~4 Jan you can see that the lady speaking does not have the bar down.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Pasigal wrote: |
Every new detached 6 pack chair I've seen on Europe has an automatic safety bar. The footrests are centered so you can't submarine and slide off.
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I frikkin hate the "nutcruncher" centred bars with the kidstoppers (so called because of the prophylactic effect).
I think it vanishly unlikley that Tremblant as a premier Canadian resort doesn't have modern detachable quads and sixers with safety bars as standard. I'm fairly ambivalent about the bars myslef - will usually pull it down if I'm on my own but if companions make no effort to use it won't usually ask unless it is pretty windy.
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