Two chairlift accidents in one week and another more serious one last year - all exposed to high winds at the time and some of them high-tech chairs that are capable (supposedly) of running in more extreme weather conditions.
 
Question is - should they risk operating in these kind of conditions to please the demands of visitors - or close earlier before such weather can do damage?
 
I was recently hold-up in a gondola high above the ski area due to gusty winds - it was pretty scary although we didn’t think much about the possibilities of an accident - how safe are we really?

IIRC it was boxing day in the alps and we were staying at Les Arcs. It was a day of very high winds and they stopped all the lifts (apart from the Vallandry area all day because of the wind. In general the lift companies are very careful and I know I have stood fuming at the bottom of a lift with my bicycle because they have stopped the lifts due to the risk of lightning strike.
 
I think they do a good job.

Same for me. I’m usually cursing them for closing the lifts!

Me to,i think it is just good practice,after all the companies running the lifts do have a duty of care for the skiers/boarders using them.
 
Mind you i have not sen any information regarding the physical make of the chairlifts in question, but i have noticed that modern chairlifts that have pull down covers do sem to be more prone to being affected by the wind than the old fashioned open ones….i suppose the pull down covers act much like a sail.Maybe better chair design is the way forward….but airing on the side of caution is often the most sensible course of action.

Yeah, as you say most are very cautious and it’s always a curse to turn up skis in hand and the lift board showing red. They are right to stop a lift if the winds get too high, but folk were sitting up there in 60-70mph gusts - should they have stopped it earlier?
 
I don’t think I’d want to ride the lift in those conditions anyway.
 
Interesting point about the ones with covers - they keep you warmer though!
 

I think they should close in high winds. But what is a high wind. I would view a cross wind in XS of 45mph as dangerous. The lifts may be Ok but getting off in a white out and high cross wind can cause problems. 2 years ago at Copper in Colorado we both got blown across the exit into a pylon. The lift was OK (bit scary) but the drop off horrendous. So. Even if the lifts are working think about getting off!

Ken

Agreed. It is just stupid to keep letting people on. What about the guy this week who had to burn his Euros to get attention when stranded on a lift! As for being stuck in the wrong valley, ask my wife. I was about to call out rescue services when she was stranded a mile away. It is difficult because you can’t ask everybody where they are going and to log in when they get back. maybe the answer is more phones and a notice board at key stations to leave messages. I think the biggest problem is keeping lifts running in white outs and high cross winds plus stupid people like myself who go up in such conditions.

Ken

I was in Grindelwald when the chairlift came off in high winds (as it was beeing emptied) and 3 people people with other injuries. So that was a real shock. I skied that day in First as I knew the weather warning and altough windy it was not as exposed.

Also was on chairlift in Cervina when winds picked up and the gusts were horredous (white out every minute or 2 and chair rocked alarmingly. They stopped the lift every 30 seconds as the next gust whirled around the moutain. It took an hour to get to top and ski down (stopping every 45 seconds as another blast hit us). Of course the resort closed for the rest of the day and I was happy to listen to the wind howling in a warm restaurant.

So it is annoying to have lifted closed (on 3 days could not get across to Zermatt) but understandable. I think that they could refund us if the lifts are closed though!!!

Sounds pretty scary to me and to be fair, safety has to come first. I just thought they were a bit over zealous at Tremblant. Coming from Cumbria it just seemed like your everyday wind.

Ken

I posted here in my previous incarnation (SPAM ISSUES in the Site Display Problems section explains what I’m talking about). Lets say on 18 February 2010 because it was between Ken’s two posts. Quite how I worded it I cannot remember. Something about there should be one wind speed at which chairs stop and a lower one at which people should be stopped from getting on, but the chair kept running (perhaps at reduced speed) until everyone already on has been got to the other end. If the higher speed is reached while anyone is still aboard that should immediately trigger a full-scale emergency services rescue operation.

And I also asked what should be done about people stranded in the wrong valley because lifts aren’t running to bring them back? [I don’t think suggested so at the time, but keeping pistes open and restarting lifts after hours if that is when the wind drops? Or laying on alternative transport such as snowmobile or snow-cat tows?]

Richard

It was to this that Ken Ball replied (as above):

“Agreed. It is just stupid to keep letting people on. What about the guy this week who had to burn his Euros to get attention when stranded on a lift! As for being stuck in the wrong valley, ask my wife. I was about to call out rescue services when she was stranded a mile away. It is difficult because you can’t ask everybody where they are going and to log in when they get back. maybe the answer is more phones and a notice board at key stations to leave messages. I think the biggest problem is keeping lifts running in white outs and high cross winds plus stupid people like myself who go up in such conditions.”