Skier Jumps From Chair After 5 Board Lift Meant For 4 @ Vail

"When you're lining up for the ski lift on a busy day, there's one rule you need to follow: make groups that fill the chair. Sometimes the ski resort will have lifties directing groups, while other times it's up to the skiers and snowboarders to do the math and make groups. The biggest chairlifts you'll see usually carry up to 8 people on one chair, so it shouldn't be that hard to count that many people, yet some struggle with the math."

"The people caught in this clip at Vail had a bit of their own difficulty counting, with 5 people somehow boarding the 4-person Sourdough Express. As a result, the 5th person was forced to jump from the chair, landing on a cushion below. If a chair is meant for 4 people, board 4 people. Don't try to squeeze in a 5th. It's not clear how they wound up with 5 people on that chair, but they probably won't be doing it again any time soon."

On busy ski days groups must fill each chair to match the ride's capacity. Ski resorts sometimes use lifties to direct loading, but skiers and snowboarders often must form correct-sized groups themselves. Large chairlifts can carry up to eight people, but smaller express lifts like the four-person Sourdough Express require accurate counting. A clip at Vail captured five people boarding a four-person chair, forcing the fifth rider to jump onto a cushion below. Overloading chairs endangers riders and disrupts operations. Boarding only the number of people the chair is designed to hold prevents accidents and maintains safe lift flow.

Read at Unofficial Networks