Week 12: How To

Properly Exiting A Chair Lift:

For any snowboard/ski enthusiasts like myself, you will know the pain of trying to exit the chair lift smoothly at the top of the hill when there are beginners around. For any beginners, do not worry, I am not here to hate on you for doing a bad job of leaving the chair behind to hit the top of the hill. What I am here to do is to give you tips on how to exit the chair lift properly without making a fool of yourself, or causing an accident with the people behind you. Ones first time performing this task can be a bit unnerving...if any of you are new at the sport or thinking of trying hopefully you will benefit from these tips:

1-Be ready! Obviously you chose to get on the lift knowing the eventuality would arise when you would have to get off. Be ready for when this time comes. It isn't fun to be caught mid-conversation and suddenly have to rush off and fall, or do another lap around the lift cycle. Being mentally aware of your upcoming exit might seem to be common sense, but I have personally seen too many unexpected and rushed exit attempts to know the opposite.

Myself (on the right) with my helmet undone,
taking a selfie with my cousin. Perfect
example of what NOT to be doing while learning
how to exit a chair lift.

2-Skis on, board on! For heavens sake please make sure your skis, board, poles, helmet, and whatever other gear you're carrying is either on or secured to you. This is something you want to check over during the ride up the mountain. When you actually get off that sucker you are in fact skiing/snowboarding for those few seconds as the chairs momentum pushes you off onto the mountain. Therefor, you would need you skis to be on, and at least one foot secured in a binding to your snowboard. Everything should be ready for action or at least secured to you so that is doesn't get stuck on anything while you're exiting, or worse, left behind to fall down the hill.

3-Skis up, boards up! The landing zone on which you exit the ski lift is a platform. On this platform there is (usually) ice and snow. When the lift pushes you onto it keep your skis/boards up to prevent them from digging into ice/snow or the platform itself. A hook while getting off leads to a rather awkward and uncomfortable face plant onto the platform which you must struggle to recover from in order to not be run over by the people behind you.

4-Glide! As I mentioned before, you will be snowboarding/skiing once you stand up from the chair. Be ready for this! You will need to quickly find and keep your balance, just like when you are speeding down the hill. Make sure you glide for as long as possible so that you move OUT OF THE WAY of the people who are disembarking behind you.

5-Keep your distance! Holding hands, grabbing one another for balance, and being too close are all things you want to avoid. Different people have different size and weight, meaning they carry different momentum. Often times holding. grabbing, or bumping the person next to you will cause you and/or them to fall due to the differences in your respective speeds. Not to mention that you both will be a bit wobbly trying to find a balance. Keep your distance to avoid a domino effect when one of you bumps the other.

6-Move out of the way! Did I mention that you should probably, more than likely, move out of the way of the people behind you as quickly as possible? If I had a dollar for every time I have crested the hill to see people sitting at the bottom of the ski lift exit runway (leisurely putting on and securing their gear) and then have had to panic maneuver to avoid a collision with them, I would be a rich man.

After a smooth chair lift disembarking!

7-Admit you're learning! If you are like me, you will want as many runs down the mountain as possible and will jump in the line as a single rider to cut some time down bottom. Don't be afraid to let the strangers in the chair with you know that you are still learning, and they should take caution at the top. If they are anything like me they will be more than understanding and perhaps offer you some advice.

While first seemingly menacing and hard, exiting the ski lift can quickly become a fun and enjoyable activity when done correctly. Do not be discouraged if you take falls, practice makes perfect! Hopefully you've found this post helpful and insightful on disembarking a chair lift. There are pictures you might find helpful here. If you have any further questions, or happen to find me extremely good at advice and would like tips on other things to do with snowboarding, let me know in the comments!

Happy Shredding!