 Poster: A snowHead
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Does anyone out there know why chairlift manufacturers insist on making the gap between the safety bar and the foot rest so small, that I can only fit my foot on to the rest if I take my skis off ( which defeats the object somewhat). The weight of the boots and skis make for a most uncomfortable ride for the old knees. Anyone any sensible suggestions.
Any Snowhead chairlift designers out there, please take note.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Frosty the Snowman, at least you can reach the footrests, on some of them I feel like a 6 yr old about to slip through the
safety bar!!!
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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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Two extreme views of the average used by the chair manufacturer? 
Maybe they should be adjustable?
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Frosty the Snowman, I know exactly what you mean. The Fontaine Froid chair in Val d'Isere is a really bad culprit.
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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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Chairs always make me think of Star Trek,"to bravely go" etc.At Les Arcs you have the sublime,and the ridiculous.
Marmottes chair;snails pace mount and dismount,fast in between.Nice comfy seat and footrests just right.
Mont Blanc chair;no footrests,flat shiny seat(bit dodgy when wet)and a 'warp' speed mount;unless they slow it.Riding with my 8yr old was great fun.She christened it "the crazy chair"!!Used it a fair bit as she enjoyed the run it accessed.Only got slowed about 50% of the time.
Not for the timid  We suffered numerous stops as others went base over apex.Fortunately we never did,but it was close a couple of times.
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Why is the footrest even necessary? I mean how much energy do one's arms use just hanging there as one walks?
(Yes, ssh, this is derivative of the late-night whisky chat of 'Why don't we put our hands up to rest?') Betcha you can't tell I never put mine down without being prompted by others.
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It's just your tough luck if you're not 'average' size. I have a similar problem in cars/planes/cinema etc. Haven't considered shin shortening surgery yet...
| comprex wrote: |
| Why is the footrest even necessary? I mean how much energy do one's arms use just hanging there as one walks? |
well, holding a ski and boot in each would use up a few calories.
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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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Why yes ,being on the tall side i have the same problem , also why don t the lift operaters clear the snow of the seats while they are coming around first thing in the morning ,why do the chairs hit you in the back of the leg , well even after all this it will not stop me skiing ,and i am of to valdisere sunday  its looking good .
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comprex,
It hurts my back when there's no footrest so I like them. and I'm short so sometimes my feet don't reach the ones that are there, like Helen Beaumont,!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The weight of ski and boot (and lower leg hopefully) pulling on the knee is bad news on the knee, especially if they are in poor condition to start with.
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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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I have always thought that the size weight and length of the footrest was to balance the safety bar, hence the differing levels of support on varoius lifts......but I could be wrong 
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A lot of the chairs in Canada just had a safety bar and no foot rest and a lot of the locals don't even pull the safety bar down, they give you a weird look when you do.
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You know it makes sense.
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Hehe, I know what you mean... was in Meribel last weekend, and only one lift had enough space for me to rest my feet! the cheek of it!
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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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I found it to be quite uncomfortable whilst in the Banff resorts where there are no footrests.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| The weight of ski and boot (and lower leg hopefully) pulling on the knee is bad news on the knee, especially if they are in poor condition to start with. |
That depends on what your knee injury is, personally it's often easier on my knees to not use the foot bar.
Having the choice is best obviously.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My lower legs go numb if they are just dangling for any length of time with ski's on. Fortunately I'm only 5'8 and fit nicely into most chairlifts 
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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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As a boarder, foot rests certainly make a difference because the attached foot is very much off centre. If there is no footrest i rest the heel edge on top of my free foot but if the edges are sharp that can trash your boots so is best avoided.
Can't say I've noticed different heights very much though - but I have noticed differences with the ease with which i can get the board through the gap and onto the rest (or, more importantly, off the rest) - everyone has a different problem!
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Whatever your views on footrests ...
... you've probably held them for longer than you think.
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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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Russell, I noticed that in Banff, but not in Whistler , except my kids did say they were on the same chair as an instructor who didn't pull the safety bar down.
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| comprex wrote: |
Why is the footrest even necessary? I mean how much energy do one's arms use just hanging there as one walks?
(Yes, ssh, this is derivative of the late-night whisky chat of 'Why don't we put our hands up to rest?') Betcha you can't tell I never put mine down without being prompted by others. |
I can still remember the first time I saw a footrest. I think I'd been skiing about 20 or 25 years at the time. These days, I use them if other on the lift want to, or if the lift tickles my acrophobia. Or if I want to clunk my chairmate on the head (eh, comprex?!).
Ya'll, don't let him pull your leg. Comprex rocks!
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I can remember some llifts in Breckenridge didn't even have safety bars - such a shock for litigation-mad North America, that was in 1990, surely not the case still...??
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JT, still the case. At Copper, too. Litigation has pretty much disappeared following some very long-overdue protective legislation in Colorado and other ski states.
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ssh,
You hear a lot of horror stories and jokes like sueing for hitting a tree that wasn't marked...!!
But if only they could get round around the back country issue, I think more Europeans would go to the US.
I am speaking from experience around 1990 when admittedly, I was a bit of a cr@p skier anyway. But the one thing that keeps
us in Europe is the fact that we can pretty well much go anywhere we like. What is the deal with 'out of bounds' these days?
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