Butternut Lift Chair Height

skizilla

Went to butternut yesterday s Sunday on MLK weekend. Yes it was a nightmare. Worst part it took at least a half hour to get out of the parking lot. They had no traffic control . It was so bad so random lady took it upon herself to sit at one of the intersections and direct traffic. Who ever you are You are an angel. It was totally skied off too despite getting liker 8 inches in three days.

Not why i am posting though. Has anyone noticed lift chair height for loading and sitting down are getting really low. Butternut put in a new lift this year which is nice but being 6′3 with bad knees and leg braces the admittedly but still you have to kneel or bend down so much to sit it is laterally painful to me . The new kids lift is even lower but whatever it is a kids lift. Catapult also has this problem at a chair though it is older. so does sundown. Berkshire eastr used to have this problem but i think they replaced the lift
Anyone else have this problem?

Also the new lift forces you to climb slightly uphill to load which for a place with kids was a total shit show as well as the lift approach being relatively long.

ciscokid

Welcome to my world!

ski_it

I thought it was only a me problem and I’m not as tall. Pat’s has a few. Cranmore’s detachable ain’t my fav exiting. Getting off Black triple this week could be painful but that I blame on their “ramp” not height. I guess I need to do some squats…

obienick

Killington’s Snowshed and Ramshead are pretty bad offenders, especially if you load on the inside.

ciscokid

Over the years, I recollect chairs that were barely above my boot, maybe a foot off the ground.

Switching to the reverse mode as anybody ever had a chair too high that they couldn’t seem to get on. I know quite often parents have to lift their children once in a great while.

Beast Patroller

Back in the day Berkshire East had a double chair (lift #1) that depending on your height was tall to get on. The other issue was the lift ran fast so you really had to pay attention loading & unloading or you got tossed off. Currently their new detachable quad (T-bar Express) has a really low unload area (no ramp) and it’s tough for taller skiers to get off. Better have done your squats before hand. 🙂

LiftGuy

As a point of education, The ANSI Standard has requirements for ramp to chair seat heights. At the load station, there is a required sign stating the ‘Chair height __ +/- 2 inches’. This number is generally between 20′ and 22″ with the height geared to being able to seat an adaptive skier. This sign can often be lost in the mirad of required signs in the loading area and the public’s standard to ignore signs. At the unload station the required height is 22″ at the ‘Unload here’ board, which shall be the breakover point of the exit ramp which shouldn’t exceed 30% slope.
While each area’s load height may not match your body, at least you will be forewarned and hopefully be able to adjust.

skizilla

Is this 22 inches from bottom of the chair to ground. Is that the whole area of the loading area. Where these lift loads I will have to check next but I can just about guarantee the sitting height is no more than18 inches and on the kids lift at butternut a foot it is ridiculus.

The award for favorite loading chair for me goes to Otis. It is perfect height almost a little high definitely had to help my kid with it the first couple years.

LiftGuy

skizilla “chair height: Chair height (seat height) is the distance between the top surface, including padding, of the chair seat to the loading or unloading point surface. This distance shall take into account the longitudinal swing of the chair which lowers the chair height.”
Areas will alter the height, like 18 inches or the kids lift at Butternut, to assist in loading. But it should be posted, so you only feel the pain once… ;-)

ski_it

You are right the signs are lost. Rarely notice them if they are there. I hate slope %s - so 17 degrees? Great now I have to carry a measuring tape and level.
What does ANSI say about rope to head height?

LiftGuy

ski_it Measure once- top of your boot and the middle of the bend of your knee at the back. Anywhere in between should work. I understand the complaint here. I’ve loaded chairs that hung up on the top of my boot. It’s no fun and maybe you should mention it to someone in operations.

skizilla

LiftGuy Oh I have the younger lifties there acknowledge it is an issue. Don’t know what they can do about it in winter in summer they could adjust with digging