Ski lift self rescue

Anyone out there (not patrol) packing your own self rescue kit to escape a chairlift? What’s in your bag?

Groov-E Ghost, 80m static line, 80m pull cord, Alpine Bod harness, Piranha, 2 Micro Traxions and carabiners and slings to reascend in a pinch. LNT.

What do you speculate you would need to rap off a chair?

In my ~two decades of 100days/year, l have never been evacuated.  Kit: a puffy, a flask, and a synthetic blanket.  

I think you'd get your pass pulled, unless you got 'signed-off' by Patrol for your kit and ability, which wouldn't happen.  And how bout the other folks on your chair?  They couldnt use your setup unless they were 'signed-off', too.

Insurance will say, 'Negative'.  And there goes your pass, probably for two years.  

Eighty meters! CF is skiing some legit lines.

I’ve only ever had whatever I’d use to rap a part of the line I was skiing. Generally not a thing in the side country in the US, but it’s just easier to leave the pack packed. That’s been a webbing harness and 40m of static with a para cord pull line.

Now I wonder if there are a lot of chairs CF could escape from that my 40 would be too short. Rope envy!

Either way, I can’t imagine a ski resort taking your pass for it. Which sensationalist news source wouldn’t love the story about, “skier saves their family from broken lift, you won’t believe what happened next!” PR >> legal.

What kit do you carry to put yourself back together after you get dragged along the ground when the lift restarts halfway through your rappel?

Sep M wrote:

Either way, I can’t imagine a ski resort taking your pass for it. Which sensationalist news source wouldn’t love the story about, “skier saves their family from broken lift, you won’t believe what happened next!” PR >> legal.

A lot of resorts don’t even allow their employees who are trained in it to evacuate themselves.

I’m relatively certain that a resort would have a very big problem with people self evacuating and taking a pass is probably a light punishment.

I’ve seen law enforcement called for people jumping from lifts and could imagine self evacuating getting a similar response from the ski patrollers who are sure to witness it while they are evacuating the other chairs. 

NateC wrote:

A lot of resorts don’t even allow their employees who are trained in it to evacuate themselves.

I’m relatively certain that a resort would have a very big problem with people self evacuating and taking a pass is probably a light punishment.

I’ve seen law enforcement called for people jumping from lifts and could imagine self evacuating getting a similar response from the ski patrollers who are sure to witness it while they are evacuating the other chairs. 

Not if you ghost on through and LNT~ ;) 

CF Burnstein wrote:

Not if you ghost on through and LNT~ ;) 

What resort have you done this at? Maybe it works at different places but there's no way you'd set up and get off the chair without being noticed where I work. And it's not like we are just assholes hoping to catch people doing it. It just wouldn't work with how our process is when a chair has a mechanical stop. There would be patrollers under the line counting guests on the chairs so quickly that you would have eyes on you immediately. 

The best ski-lift self rescue device is the cost of a lift ticket.

NateC wrote:

There would be patrollers under the line counting guests on the chairs so quickly that you would have eyes on you immediately. 

For sure, I forgot to add that caveat. Never self rescue or jump from a chairlift and always comply with all ski patrol instructions. If you do otherwise; legally speaking, we all told you not to.

Kip Kasper wrote:

What kit do you carry to put yourself back together after you get dragged along the ground when the lift restarts halfway through your rappel?

No kit needed. That's the beauty of the ghost. LNT. 

NateC wrote:

What resort have you done this at? Maybe it works at different places but there's no way you'd set up and get off the chair without being noticed where I work. And it's not like we are just assholes hoping to catch people doing it. It just wouldn't work with how our process is when a chair has a mechanical stop. There would be patrollers under the line counting guests on the chairs so quickly that you would have eyes on you immediately. 

I would be a fool to say.

Rappelling is way too tame and boring. A BASE rig is probably the way to go. If you're wearing it at all times you can deploy it at a moment's notice. No need to wait during the lift stoppage for little Johnnie losing a ski while loading the chair. Bonus points for pulling the pilot chute after you huck a massive cliff. /s

Kidding aside, this is an all-around bad idea. Just sit on the chair and wait. Just because you know how to rappel doesn't mean you should. 

Sep M wrote:

Eighty meters! CF is skiing some legit lines.

I’ve only ever had whatever I’d use to rap a part of the line I was skiing. Generally not a thing in the side country in the US, but it’s just easier to leave the pack packed. That’s been a webbing harness and 40m of static with a para cord pull line.

Now I wonder if there are a lot of chairs CF could escape from that my 40 would be too short. Rope envy!

Either way, I can’t imagine a ski resort taking your pass for it. Which sensationalist news source wouldn’t love the story about, “skier saves their family from broken lift, you won’t believe what happened next!” PR >> legal.

Actually, I can think of more than a few places that would pull your pass, and in Colorado you'd probably be arrested. Just sayin'.

Dave Hurst wrote:

Actually, I can think of more than a few places that would pull your pass, and in Colorado you'd probably be arrested. Just sayin'.

We ran into an analogous situation just a few weekends ago. Sitting out a hail/thunder storm under a tarp in the mountains while in a “fires are illegal” zone.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to figure out if shit has gotten real or not. If legal concerns are still a factor in your decision making, it’s a good way to know that shit hasn’t gotten real yet.

Sep M wrote:

If legal concerns are still a factor in your decision making, it’s a good way to know that shit hasn’t gotten real yet.

I could print this quote and frame it.