Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Sitting in the comfort of an eight-person Elk Camp Gondola, the passengers enjoy the view of the Snowmass ski area and surrounding Brush Creek Valley. Small talk about the day’s best runs and worst wipe-outs fill the cabin when the cable stops moving and the car comes to an abrupt stop.
No worries. Lifts, whether fast six-pack, slow double chairs or even gondolas, often come to a stop as some inexperienced or inattentive skier has problems loading or unloading.
Conversation continues unabated, but as the minutes roll by concern begins to spread and tension mounts. Some look down to the ground 20 to 40 feet below and wonder how long it will take before the gondola starts gliding up the cable again to the unloading station.
On April 7, an emergency drill and training exercise by the mountain’s ski patrol began after the ski area had officially closed for the day (the resort closed for the season April 12).
“Basically this was a drill for the worst case scenario, catastrophic failure of the gondola. We do it to stay sharp,” said Craig Chalmers, Director of the Snowmass Ski Patrol.
On board a dozen gondolas are ski pros, lifties, patrollers and other volunteers, who were willing to sit around for a long time and to be evacuated with the help of a fearless patroller.
“We have one of the best lift maintenance crews on the planet. The last time we had a real evacuation was 10 years ago, but we always need to be prepared,” said Chalmers. On Saturday, January 23, 1999, high winds resulted in the evacuation of nearly 50 skiers and boarders from the two-person Burlingame chairlift after an unoccupied chair blew into the bullwheel at the top of the ski lift.
In this case the Snowmass ski patrollers used a rope and belay system to evacuate the lift riders. Evacuation of the gondola cars is more complicated.
After climbing up to the top of the lift tower, the patroller uses a “MAARS” machine to ride to the nearest gondola car.
“The MAARS hangs on the cable and has wheels and a braking system. You basically fly down to the first available car, open the car door from the top of the car. The evacuees are put into an evacuation seat or diaper and belayed to the ground where a ground crew is waiting,” Chalmers said.
The ground crews write down the names and information of the evacuees, retrieve the ski gear and diaper. If possible, those rescued ski or ride to the bottom of the mountain where they have to sign in. In a real scenario, ski instructors would also be on hand to make sure that the skiers and riders can get down the hill, since they may be stranded over terrain beyond their abilities or terrain that is not a ski trail.
Probably the worst place to be stranded is over an area that the patrollers refer to a “Grand Canyon” under the Two Creeks lift. Here, snowmobiles are needed to bring those rescued down the mountain after they have been evacuated from the lift.
Tuesday’s evacuation exercise went better than expected.
“It was a lot faster than last year, it only took about two hours,” said Patrick Drake, Director of Mountain Safety. He and his crew organize the evacuation. “We make the decisions and help to get the equipment and patrollers in position.”
Throughout the ski season, patrollers train with MAARS, riding and partaking in the rope and belay evacuation. They only do one major gondola evacuation exercise, such as the one last week, during the season but a lot of small-scale training throughout the season after the lifts have closed for the day.
Being stranded in the air on an open ski lift or enclosed gondola can be a frightening and uncomfortable situation, especially if the weather is cold, wet and windy.
Although this is a rare situation at Snowmass, it is a comfort to know that a dedicated crew of men and women of the Snowmass Ski Patrol are ready and able to rescue anyone who has the misfortune of getting stuck in thin air.
Ann Larson’s e-mail address is alarsonco@earthlink.net
No worries. Lifts, whether fast six-pack, slow double chairs or even gondolas, often come to a stop as some inexperienced or inattentive skier has problems loading or unloading.
Conversation continues unabated, but as the minutes roll by concern begins to spread and tension mounts. Some look down to the ground 20 to 40 feet below and wonder how long it will take before the gondola starts gliding up the cable again to the unloading station.
On April 7, an emergency drill and training exercise by the mountain’s ski patrol began after the ski area had officially closed for the day (the resort closed for the season April 12).
“Basically this was a drill for the worst case scenario, catastrophic failure of the gondola. We do it to stay sharp,” said Craig Chalmers, Director of the Snowmass Ski Patrol.
On board a dozen gondolas are ski pros, lifties, patrollers and other volunteers, who were willing to sit around for a long time and to be evacuated with the help of a fearless patroller.
“We have one of the best lift maintenance crews on the planet. The last time we had a real evacuation was 10 years ago, but we always need to be prepared,” said Chalmers. On Saturday, January 23, 1999, high winds resulted in the evacuation of nearly 50 skiers and boarders from the two-person Burlingame chairlift after an unoccupied chair blew into the bullwheel at the top of the ski lift.
In this case the Snowmass ski patrollers used a rope and belay system to evacuate the lift riders. Evacuation of the gondola cars is more complicated.
After climbing up to the top of the lift tower, the patroller uses a “MAARS” machine to ride to the nearest gondola car.
“The MAARS hangs on the cable and has wheels and a braking system. You basically fly down to the first available car, open the car door from the top of the car. The evacuees are put into an evacuation seat or diaper and belayed to the ground where a ground crew is waiting,” Chalmers said.
The ground crews write down the names and information of the evacuees, retrieve the ski gear and diaper. If possible, those rescued ski or ride to the bottom of the mountain where they have to sign in. In a real scenario, ski instructors would also be on hand to make sure that the skiers and riders can get down the hill, since they may be stranded over terrain beyond their abilities or terrain that is not a ski trail.
Probably the worst place to be stranded is over an area that the patrollers refer to a “Grand Canyon” under the Two Creeks lift. Here, snowmobiles are needed to bring those rescued down the mountain after they have been evacuated from the lift.
Tuesday’s evacuation exercise went better than expected.
“It was a lot faster than last year, it only took about two hours,” said Patrick Drake, Director of Mountain Safety. He and his crew organize the evacuation. “We make the decisions and help to get the equipment and patrollers in position.”
Throughout the ski season, patrollers train with MAARS, riding and partaking in the rope and belay evacuation. They only do one major gondola evacuation exercise, such as the one last week, during the season but a lot of small-scale training throughout the season after the lifts have closed for the day.
Being stranded in the air on an open ski lift or enclosed gondola can be a frightening and uncomfortable situation, especially if the weather is cold, wet and windy.
Although this is a rare situation at Snowmass, it is a comfort to know that a dedicated crew of men and women of the Snowmass Ski Patrol are ready and able to rescue anyone who has the misfortune of getting stuck in thin air.
Ann Larson’s e-mail address is alarsonco@earthlink.net
