worst EVER tee-bar experience

A snowHead

OK after the chairlift thread it's time for this - the T bar. Some of your memories may be so bad that they induce PTSD. Mine are.

Apart from seeing the Grom (Age 7) deliberately experiment with NOT letting go of a T bar at the release zone, since the heap of snow at the end looked like a chance to jump (no he had not scoped the landing, no he did not tell me he was going to do it, yes it did give the pisteur a heart attack...etc) what is my worst EVER experience?

In 2022, in Rosswald, the tiny resort of T bars, it was so tracked out that my partner endlessly got into a wide stance and pushed one ski against mine, causing not only a massive style crisis but a pain in my left knee (scant ACL) which can only be adequarly described as indescribable.I resolved NEVER to travel two up on a T bar again. A resolution I have stuck to, despite the emotional angst which it has caused in the family.

But worst EVER? Yes...big double T, very icy surfaces, VERY steep, minding my own business when a loose ski, now going far too fast for the brake to work, comes spearing down the track, and I managed to avoid it at just the last minute, shouting a warning to those behind me. Horrible.

A snowHead

'Back in the olden days' when the t-bars were metal and wood, by brother got knocked out by one. A friend of mine got one in the mouth, lost a tooth and had stitches to her upper lip. Modern day t-bars are so so much better!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I don't often come up against T-bars but the worst ones are definitely the telescoping ones that have a steep bump part way up. You have to prepare to be almost picked up by the thing, then when you get up onto the top of the bump it briefly slackens and then pulls you horizontally - in this moment the T can drop down behind your knees if you're not paying attention. Even worse when you're sharing with a shorter comrade.

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@Canuck,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Going up a T bar on my own, the hooky thing caught in my ski pants (because I was cack-handed in letting it go, no doubt) and only released itself after starting its lift at the end and flinging me over onto my back, into the path of the skier behind. I can't remember quite what happened next, except that @skimottaret rescued me, but nobody died.

My funniest memory was a T bar in Austria (can't remember where) when I had a somewhat stilted conversation in German with my fellow rider. He asked me where I was from, and when I said "south of Glasgow, in Scotland" he reverted to English with a broad Scots accent and said "Why are we talking in Gerrman?" He spoke much better German than my rusty O level, not suprising as he lived there year round and spent the summers cycling.

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@Canuck, ah...the Good Old Days....

reminds me of last month in Grimentz. Terrible viz, few on the hill, a couple of very experienced skiers well ahead of me on a T. Suddenly a bit of a commotion between them and they abandon the T on a VERY steep section and ski across the face - brave, I think, then two seperate pieces of black plastic barrel past me. The T section has broken in half and only the metal pole remained. Swift action on their part to abandon ship and keep evrything together.

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@valais2, good grief!

After all it is free

Nothing to bad on a T bar though I remember an occasion when I was in a ski class with a rather burly Aussie rugby league player.

We managed to tangle a fair distance from the piste. I headed back towards the piste.He reckoned he could join up with someone on a half empty bar.
The first person passing was a woman from our ski class who sensibly swerved around him.

I looked back a minute later and a German was lying down in the snow shouting expletives at an Aussie in sole occupancy of the bar.

@Hurtle, …I assume you are still on speaking terms with your sister?….

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@T Bar,

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The old T that used to be on the glacier at Verbier' Mont Fort (long since taken away).

My 9 year old daughter on the T in front gets hooked up on her backpack strap and is dragged on her back waay off onto the distance....the turn around (and liftie's hut) was about 300m above the get-off point.

She is screaming and bouncing along, there is nothing I can do...and the liftie is evidently daydreaming and doesn't notice
Shocked

Net result: she was OK

@rungsp, terrifying….and not an isolated T bar event - the Clothing Hookup.

You know it makes sense.

@Canuck, They taste better then?
I prefer the T bar's to the Poma's .. yummy NehNeh

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

There was a T bar soewhere up towards the Pass Thurn end of Kitzbuel years ago that crossed a "Cat Track"

Some gobby Vienner came down the path out of control shouting at my wife to get out of his way...
She was on the T bar, crash!

He was unrepentent and stormed off before could grab his lift pass.

A snowHead

A snowHead

@Origen, can say I remember that, but glad no one died Smile

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Having been the liftie on the T Bar at Sheffield Ski Village the levels of incompetence are bewildering. It was basically 3 goes then you’re off to the beginner slope as the queues built behind you. The mid station exit often caused an issue as well. Riding that many time prepares you for most things, ditto the old button lift at Rossendale where I learned. No tales of issues from myself though.

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Many moons ago on an early ski holiday in St Johann im Pongau, now Alpendorf, there was a shortish but fairly steep parallel double T bar which was upgraded a number of years ago to a modern chair lift - Sonntagskogelbahn. This was a bit of a challenge for the less experienced and there was much falling off though little damage done. One day standing waiting for the lift there was a noise above. Looked up to see a skier (sans skis by this point) hurtling down the middle of one of the tracks, everyone else was trying to leap out of the way. The lifty grabbed a net (presumably kept for this very purpose) and positioned themselves ready to catch the falling body, which they managed to do. Cue minor kerfuffle as we were all directed to the unaffected lift and the lift staff dealt with the clearly traumatised person who had slid from the top. Must say at the time we didnt take a lot of notice, just assumed it was part of skiing, and went on with ski lessons!

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I’m probably going back 40+yrs. My mate and I were riding the, now extinct and quite steep in places, White Lady t-bar. The bar section was made of wood and it just snapped on us. We started sliding backwards towards the couple that were riding up behind us and, by then, looking quite worried. We had to hurl ourselves to the sides. Being on the piste side, I managed to throw myself onto the spiky wooden snow fence whilst my mate hit a nice big bank of snow.

As an aside. I remember being really confused when riding my first t-bar on the continent. Back home we had it drilled into us to NEVER let go of the bar as it could swing wildly around the top wheel and do real damage to someone (see Canuck above). We were schooled that the outside skier would ski off at the top. The wheel side skier would hold the bar til them came to a rest, then keep holding it as it started its return to base. The rope would recoil onto the spool as is came back to you and you simply released it back into its holster as is passed over head. On my first time on the continent I remember panicking when I saw this huge bank of snow quite some distance from the end. Came close to skiing into it for fear of letting go.

By far my favourite t-bar experience was on the Coire Cas when a beautiful lady skied topless down past a pubescent me riding up. Cue a very deliberate and elaborate falling off of the drag from me to follow her down in the hope of catching another glimpse.

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@dode,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Worst experience was my first, when my husband dragged me onto a fast chair and then down a steep red in a white out when I’d spent the morning circling the nursery slopes… my nerves were shot as I snowploughed to the bottom which then involved an unmanned T bar and a short blue back to mid station. At my first attempt to get on the t bar I slipped and fell on an icy patch and I couldn’t get up again. For some reason there was a wooden chair and I remember grabbing at this chair desperately trying to get up and have another go and get off the mountain. I just couldn’t get up as my legs were jelly by that point. It took an age and every time I tried, I slipped again. By this point the Swiss skiers behind me were politely side stepping me scrambled on the floor and hopping on and riding the T bar up.
I still avoid T bars now (other than the bunny slope) if I possibly can Laughing

After all it is free

T bar, L2A glacier, start of October, it was a snowheads bash, 2006 or 2007.
2 of us had a lesson with Easiski.

The glacier had poor snow cover and the end of the lift had a very steep short section just before the dismount area.

I reckon that me and the other snow head, with all our gear in, tipped the scales at around 275kg.

Easiski was on the bar behind us. Just as the 2 of us got to the top of the steepest but of the off ramp,.the cable of our tbar snapped.

Utter carnage, and Easiski couldn't stop laughing for about an hour

@Frosty the Snowman, Laughing

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@Frosty the Snowman, I am pleased you have popped up with your disaster. Easiski and I were both on that T-bar behind you and had to hold each other up as we were laughing so much at the time. It was complete carnage as you say, but while it wouldn't go down as my worst T-Bar experience, it might be my funniest.

My worst was probably on one of the T-bars at L2A when I was 'humped' by the snowboarder trying to get onto the lift halfway up.

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I’m finding it stressful reading this an thinking back to me and my 9ish year old daughter on a T in St Anton that has now been replaced by a chair. It was the only way back up, or walk back up a piste to a Black, even further up to a Red, or right back up to the top to a Blue.

We tried 3 times, it was narrow with thick very soft snow to the side and it was steepish, then it got steeper. There was no bail out or adjacent piste to go back down. we and other failed, we 3 times. Getting back down after my duaghter came off each time was not easy. The liftie was appaling, not interested in helping in any way and frosty because we were causing his lift hassle!

We walked back up with my wife also to the Black, and went down that in a very tight snake. We treated ourselves to schnapps at the bottom.

There was no indication whatsoever that this was a difficult T, particularly in those conditions

@Hells Bells, the skiing that year was awful, but my we had some.laughs.

You know it makes sense.

@Frosty the Snowman, we did. I think Easiski and I nearly fell off the Tbar because we were laughing so much.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Hells Bells, I remember both glanced at each other and mouthed FCUK, before the car crash commenced.

A snowHead

My son's worse experience is when he got onto a t-bar on his own at Whakapapa not long after starting to ski, I was on the bar behind as he wanted to go by himself. He caught an edge as he was not concentrating as kids do, but rather than fall off completely he managed to hang on for dear life and was being dragged up the slope. Not knowing what to do he hung on. I was shouting to him to let go (hopefully before bits started to fall off like skis, poles etc.) from the bar behind , which he finally did when he either heard or got too tired to hold on anymore. He slide down a bit but then halted luckily in one piece, I hopped off and we skied down. I dont think he's fallen off one since.

My worse experience with a tea-bar was at the end of the season in Val D'Isere, the experience left me feeling like my head was going to explode, naseous and hardly being able to move the next day. Dick's really knew how to throw an end of season party!

A snowHead

I’ll up the ante because t bars are a bit of a luxury in my part of the world but I’ve smacked myself in the face with a nutcracker flying off a rope tow a few times, taken the nutcracker into the Crown Jewels most days, broken a couple of fingers going through the pulleys, bruised my hip so bad I couldn’t walk for a week getting dragged into a pylon and numerous other injuries on an almost weekly basis hanging off the instrument of torture known as a kiwi rope tow. Invented by satanic skiers to keep snowboarders away from the good stuff. I’m just glad I’m almost bald because having long hair and getting scalped would be no fun.

I can’t take the harness I use for the tows to the climbing wall because it’s got too many blood stains on it Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Not a T bar but our first permanent rope tow at Yad moss delivered some entertaining moments. It climbed a convex slope and as a child I remember the rope was up around my shoulders going up the slope then down around my knees going over the lip.

https://birthscampaign.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/3208320feb1.jpg

In the early days (1980) we used a wooden ‘clip’ with a notch in it to hold onto the rope. The clip was connected to a car seatbelt around the waist.

https://yadmoss.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/7a.jpg

The rope slowly twisted so if you fell you usually ended up getting dragged through the peaty snow until either the clip broke or someone stopped the motor.

The motor was only half way up the tow in a hut on the downhill line (see photo above). At the summit there was a safety gate that in theory tripped a solonoid and dropped the clutch in the engine hut in the event that you couldn’t get your clip off. it didn’t always work though. Fortunately no one ever got squeezed through the return wheel!

The Replacement auto stacking Poma in 1988 was a revelation in comfort…..and safety !

https://yadmoss.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/P1050256-768x576.jpg

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Week 1 on skis and the ski school training blue was accessed via a T-bar. All good until the time I get to the T-bar all ready to go up on my own again...only to be held so I could accompany a 5 year-old. Even now it's a situation I'd avoid but while still in the Bambi-on-skis phase having to do a T-bar with the bar in the back of my knees so the child wasn't being pulled up by the back of their neck was NOT what I needed!

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@Mjit, The Poma's are French, so there is always a whiff of Garlic.
T-Bars are more of an afternoon thing .. sort of Earl Greyish.

Apparantly Poma's also come from Colorado Shocked

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@dode, I remember going up that White Lady lift on that T bar just after Christmas 1975.
There was only the top 400 mteres open as there had not been enough snow fall to cover the rocks.

I stupidly thought that Aviemore was a Ski Resort, rather than a place for hard men campers who say things like, "You can always trust a man who tucks his vest into his knickers!"

The lift was continously stopping as @endoman says due to incompitent people trying to sit on it etc.

I didnt bother joining the lift queue which snaked back to nearly the bottom of the hill, so I "hitch hiked" onto the T-Bars as they stood waiting to move on another 10metres.

Bit of a waste of time really and knackered my brand new 1st pair of skis. Sad

After all it is free

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@Mjit, he he….

Somewhat hilariously, the POMA company was founded by

Pomagalski.

POMA-gal-ski. Although he was a man.

Not at all nerdy….history of the POMA company (which is fascinating BTW).

https://www.poma.net/en/poma-group/pomas-story/

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worst EVER tee-bar experience

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