I used to operate a chairlift at a theme park, it was old, late 1950’s old. There always were four operators. The most senior controlled the master switchboard, but there were at least 5-6 emergency stop buttons around both the top and bottom stations. I remember distinctly one morning as we let out first riders up (the only time there would really be any major weight bias due to passengers only going up) the first rider happened to be a boy with a disability. Now, we would try to be as accommodating as possible, and if they could manage to sit and carry their belongings, anyone could ride, kids with an adult of course. The standard procedure for anyone disabled or elderly was to “emergency stop” the lift, secure them, and then attach a flag to indicate to the unloading side to stop the lift upon arrival. Here’s where it got sketchy. As this video indicates, an uneven lift can create serious balance issues, and this lift would vary in speed, you could feel it when riding. Because he was the first rider of the day there was no counter weight on the down side and when they stopped him at the top, every single car behind was loaded. Upon the “all clear” to restart the lift slid back about 5 feet or so, not incredibly severe, but when you’re used to it budging at most a few inches, it gave everyone a little heart attack. Fortunately the motors caught traction, but man they were working hard.
Most ski lifts are designed to not have any weight on the downhill side though. For those that are designed for it, sometimes only every 3rd or 4th chair can be loaded. There are some older lifts where the downhill side actually skips towers over steeper sections. The one you worked on would have been designed to have loads on both sides given its intended use, but most ski lifts are not
The destruction is truly impressive, but even more than that was what was said at 3:32 "...Through the hard work of Winter Park lift mechanics, the lift was ready to run the next morning." How in the hell did they fix all that in less than a day?
@@cwarts5461 shut the f up boomer. People still know what work is, the youngest generation knows exactly what hard work is, the hardest working generation out there
I patrol at your area. About 1973 old Hyak had a rollback with a fully loaded lift (the old dinasauer on the left that has not run in 15 years). It rolled freely backwards about 300 to 500 feet. Several people were ejected. A few were badly injured, no one died. This is first person report. I was riding the lift on the back side . Lifts of that era had different rules and safety systems. Today multiple anti roll back systems prevent chairs from moving backwards .
Two guests were "terminally injured" in a roll back at my area. You're correct that it is unlikely. Some chairs wont roll back at all due to geography and brake systems, however this test, and the others not included in this clip are extremely relevant.... not to mention fun
I was mainly quoting one of the articles in my office. Chairs do roll back. Many chairs these days have excellent roll back systems. Many of the chairs at alpental have 3-4 separate break systems on very separate parts of the machine.
I had to watch this video for one of my ski area management classes in college. it was nuts the first time i saw it 3 years ago and it still freaks me out alittle bit.
two people were killed in a roll back years ago. Not every chair rolls back because of geography, braking systems, etc.However this test, and the others not shown in this clip, are very relevant.
Breaking stuff rules! They should do this with all kinds of stuff! - Like, they could use a pitching machine to shoot baseballs through skyscraper windows. -Or they could drive a forklift through Ryan Seacrest's house while cranking up "The Great White Buffalo" by Ted Nugent. -Or they could, like, drive an icebreaker ship except across land and over the United States and drive down the streets of Milwaukee!
This would never actually happen. At the start of the video, the narrator tells us that the bullwheel is disconnected from the motor and gearbox. They accidentally activated the brakes within the gearbox instead of those on the bullwheel, so there were no brakes applied on the lift. If the lift were actually operating, the bullwheel would never be disconnected from the gearbox and motor (the lift can't run if disconnected) and so the brakes would have caught it. Also, in an actual situation the bullwheel brakes would have been applied by the liftie as soon as the rollback started. In this test they deliberately let the rollback happen.
im actually a ski lift operator, and yes we saw a video similar to this. but there are MANY emergency brakes to prevent a thing like this from happening
I ran a lift at Gunstock ski . In New Hampshire. We had traing on this . Either a drive gear or cable break can cause the roll back. And if tbere are people on it . It will continue to gain speed. And f ling anyone off going around bullwheel. And yes there are at least 3 Emergency stops that will prevent it. Theres a video on facebook now people are being thrown off its horrible. Looks like some other country where no safety measures were taken.
Joseph Stassup shit breaks. Simple as that. Some of these lifts were built in the 50's. Think bout that next time u creap up the hill on one lol. I worked lift ops for years. Never one incedent at our mtn. We had a great service team that cleared ever lift every morn before the public could load. That meant, haul rope, chair connections, tower inspections, engine test, aux engine test, complete break, e break, EEEBrake double check.
I went mtb at the ski hill and it was really annoying to get the bike in the rack, and no lift operator was helping. I couldn’t get my bike on right and I stepped over the line trying to fix it and the lift automatically stopped and the woman working got all pissy she had to restart the lift, which took 30 seconds. Don’t know why I posted this but it reminds me why I think ski hills are so dumb
From the lift's owner's point of view: Did anyone think to pull the plug? Was anyone standing near it? There's got to be some kind of ultimate kill-switch manned. Who thinks of conducting tests like this? The guys were just asses, doing no prep work and watching like 20-ish chairs explode. Reminds me of the damn government. They put guys like that in charge of everything. Gotta love it
The chairlift in Georgia had several things to prevent this and it still happened. I don't think it will stop me from riding but I'm sure as hell gonna have an escape plan in the back of my mind from now on.
because there is weight on one side of the lift (passengers roll back), and the brakes do not work to prevent it going backwards. Engines (for forward) are off
Here’s the full video of the chairlift crash tests. ua-cam.com/video/u4WPSZojtyE/v-deo.html (All the way to the end) ua-cam.com/video/sb8gDtKw0L0/v-deo.html (Little better quality and soundtrack)
I used to operate a chairlift at a theme park, it was old, late 1950’s old. There always were four operators. The most senior controlled the master switchboard, but there were at least 5-6 emergency stop buttons around both the top and bottom stations. I remember distinctly one morning as we let out first riders up (the only time there would really be any major weight bias due to passengers only going up) the first rider happened to be a boy with a disability. Now, we would try to be as accommodating as possible, and if they could manage to sit and carry their belongings, anyone could ride, kids with an adult of course. The standard procedure for anyone disabled or elderly was to “emergency stop” the lift, secure them, and then attach a flag to indicate to the unloading side to stop the lift upon arrival.
Here’s where it got sketchy. As this video indicates, an uneven lift can create serious balance issues, and this lift would vary in speed, you could feel it when riding. Because he was the first rider of the day there was no counter weight on the down side and when they stopped him at the top, every single car behind was loaded. Upon the “all clear” to restart the lift slid back about 5 feet or so, not incredibly severe, but when you’re used to it budging at most a few inches, it gave everyone a little heart attack. Fortunately the motors caught traction, but man they were working hard.
Most ski lifts are designed to not have any weight on the downhill side though. For those that are designed for it, sometimes only every 3rd or 4th chair can be loaded. There are some older lifts where the downhill side actually skips towers over steeper sections.
The one you worked on would have been designed to have loads on both sides given its intended use, but most ski lifts are not
The destruction is truly impressive, but even more than that was what was said at 3:32 "...Through the hard work of Winter Park lift mechanics, the lift was ready to run the next morning." How in the hell did they fix all that in less than a day?
Back then people knew what work was
@@cwarts5461 shut the f up boomer. People still know what work is, the youngest generation knows exactly what hard work is, the hardest working generation out there
@@cwarts5461 and they didntt give a shit that it can break again
Just happened for real with hundreds of riders on lift at Sugarloaf Maine on King Pine High Capacity Quad.. 7 injured, no life threatening injuries!
just happened again www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/84ugtr/ski_lift_in_georgia_the_country_out_of_control/?st=jeu08bmf&sh=077b40c3
I patrol at your area. About 1973 old Hyak had a rollback with a fully loaded lift (the old dinasauer on the left that has not run in 15 years). It rolled freely backwards about 300 to 500 feet. Several people were ejected. A few were badly injured, no one died. This is first person report. I was riding the lift on the back side . Lifts of that era had different rules and safety systems. Today multiple anti roll back systems prevent chairs from moving backwards .
What?
I like how they stand there for like 30 seconds watching it then they think of the idea of running lol
Bet this video is getting some views now
Yeah thank god!
Winter Park CO! This was our training video, the full one, when I worked at nearby Silver Creek and Berthoud Pass. The fire portion is impressive too.
Two guests were "terminally injured" in a roll back at my area. You're correct that it is unlikely. Some chairs wont roll back at all due to geography and brake systems, however this test, and the others not included in this clip are extremely relevant.... not to mention fun
After seeing that ski lift in that resort in Georgia chucking people 20 feet in the air, yeah, it's relevant.
I'm an instructor at Winterplace. A lifty buddy told me to check this vid....WOW.
We go there every other year. Do you still work there?
I was mainly quoting one of the articles in my office. Chairs do roll back. Many chairs these days have excellent roll back systems. Many of the chairs at alpental have 3-4 separate break systems on very separate parts of the machine.
this happened for real just about a year ago in Georgia (The country)
I saw it. I feel bad to the people who had this accident. People got injured.😢🥺
I have a video at the top terminal.
Yeah the operator lost his job because instead of stopping that lift in Georgia he ran from the shack once it started to happen
@@andrewmyers3530 he couldn't stop the lift
No way did they clean and repair that mess by the next morning lol
I had to watch this video for one of my ski area management classes in college. it was nuts the first time i saw it 3 years ago and it still freaks me out alittle bit.
Yep. Decades later, this is still THE example of when to jump.
This was the Eskimo 2 seater at winter park Colorado.
The old Eskimo lift. They also did numerous other tests before they removed the lift.
Eskimo?? Its now called explorer due to in appropriate reasons!
Cool I didn't know they made high speed doubles haha.
This just happened at Devils Head,WI. No one killed thank goodness. Maybe now they will update finally as there chairs are so old.
It's pretty nerve racking to watch this, knowing this would occur if the rollback system failed. Imagine that with people on the lift.
two people were killed in a roll back years ago. Not every chair rolls back because of geography, braking systems, etc.However this test, and the others not shown in this clip, are very relevant.
Killed???
If there's ever a power outtage on the lift, this is definitely a quick way to get off the lift...
The brake systems are hydraulic and can work even if I t cut of from power, also most lifts are still powered by gas so very unlikely.
Kind of a "Coulda had had V8" for those engineers.
Way to quickly destroy all the chairs I reckon.... Haha insane. Never underestimate counter weights....
Just happened for reall a few days ago again
Breaking stuff rules! They should do this with all kinds of stuff! - Like, they could use a pitching machine to shoot baseballs through skyscraper windows. -Or they could drive a forklift through Ryan Seacrest's house while cranking up "The Great White Buffalo" by Ted Nugent. -Or they could, like, drive an icebreaker ship except across land and over the United States and drive down the streets of Milwaukee!
@ 1:03 "Run, Earl, run!"
wait wait wait. hang on. "it was ready to run the next morning"? after seeing that? NOPE!
This would never actually happen. At the start of the video, the narrator tells us that the bullwheel is disconnected from the motor and gearbox. They accidentally activated the brakes within the gearbox instead of those on the bullwheel, so there were no brakes applied on the lift. If the lift were actually operating, the bullwheel would never be disconnected from the gearbox and motor (the lift can't run if disconnected) and so the brakes would have caught it. Also, in an actual situation the bullwheel brakes would have been applied by the liftie as soon as the rollback started. In this test they deliberately let the rollback happen.
RUN FOREST RUN!!!
There is no way after that the lift was up and running again the next morning!
im actually a ski lift operator, and yes we saw a video similar to this. but there are MANY emergency brakes to prevent a thing like this from happening
So why has it happened before and after this comment?
I ran a lift at Gunstock ski . In New Hampshire. We had traing on this . Either a drive gear or cable break can cause the roll back. And if tbere are people on it . It will continue to gain speed. And f ling anyone off going around bullwheel. And yes there are at least 3 Emergency stops that will prevent it. Theres a video on facebook now people are being thrown off its horrible. Looks like some other country where no safety measures were taken.
Joseph Stassup shit breaks. Simple as that. Some of these lifts were built in the 50's. Think bout that next time u creap up the hill on one lol. I worked lift ops for years. Never one incedent at our mtn. We had a great service team that cleared ever lift every morn before the public could load. That meant, haul rope, chair connections, tower inspections, engine test, aux engine test, complete break, e break, EEEBrake double check.
John O'Brien if you're talking about the one that just happened, it was a mountain in Georgia
The lift Joseph talked about, was build in 2009. ... just saying. Nothing has changed.
McFridge, you will be played by Will Farell in an upcoming movie about ski racers.
final destination
I'm kind of scared of ski lifts now. O.O
That was 15 years ago!!
lift operators kick ass
You spin me right round baby right round~
im a lift operator at greek peak in new york damn that would suk
When I worked at winter park they made everyone watch this video when they got hired
They got it working again in one day? They should work for nascar
Actually!
I went mtb at the ski hill and it was really annoying to get the bike in the rack, and no lift operator was helping. I couldn’t get my bike on right and I stepped over the line trying to fix it and the lift automatically stopped and the woman working got all pissy she had to restart the lift, which took 30 seconds. Don’t know why I posted this but it reminds me why I think ski hills are so dumb
imagine a detached grip lift... stacking up at the bottom terminal.. I think I need a raise....
Congrats 🎉 you predicted 14 years i belive.
In january this year it happened with a detachable
Imagine you dont fall and have a heck of a ride
That would be fun IF YOU'RE OU DIDNT BRAKE YOUR SPINE.
hell ya
Yeet: the movie
Is that looking glass or what lift is that?
From the lift's owner's point of view: Did
anyone think to pull the plug? Was anyone
standing near it? There's got to be some kind
of ultimate kill-switch manned. Who thinks of
conducting tests like this? The guys were just
asses, doing no prep work and watching like 20-ish chairs explode. Reminds me of the damn government. They put guys like that in charge of everything. Gotta love it
a rollback happens when the bullwheel brake malfunctions, sort of like an elevator free fall. If the brakes don’t work, your done.
Your the owner of explorer?
What a nightmare.
Ski lifts are terrifying.
Ehh these days they have over 6 brake plates so ur fine!
the guy that thought this test up awta be slaped and told of corse shit gonna roll down hill then strap hom on for his own test run
Seems acceptable...
Watching this on a very old 1978 ctec chairlift not sacred at all.
I think it was from 6/18/1990.
@@bucketblast62 the lift is fron 1968 i think
Damn! that shit is crazy!
this shit happened today at devils head in WI, buncha people hurt.
You are what? That thing ran the next morning?
Thumbs up if Orage bring you here !
@beaner215 yea dude. shit was nuts
Hello Georgia!
im scaredto go on chairlift now
A L most chairlifts have something to prevent this. It's a good investment.
The chairlift in Georgia had several things to prevent this and it still happened.
I don't think it will stop me from riding but I'm sure as hell gonna have an escape plan in the back of my mind from now on.
it is very Crazy,it must be a test!!!
It is
this shit just happen in georgia WTF
My girlfriend told me about this, because I work in Lift Ops. Fucking freaky.
Why does something like this happen?
because there is weight on one side of the lift (passengers roll back), and the brakes do not work to prevent it going backwards. Engines (for forward) are off
You’d be donions
Hang we're fixing to die!!!
Oops!
what, why are they doing this?
It was anyways gonna be replaced.
When i saw this first, i was also depressed but fascinated at the same tine
Where is it?
Winter Park CO
Грузовой тест?Неудался.
Hey! I am a producer at abc- hoping to use this for all partners and platforms- may we use? we will of course credit you! all best
elara
Yes you may! But you must go on a date with me first you cute little thing and I will give you permission to use all the material you want :)
Elara Mosquera just fishing for that free video...Good luck
how about you pay up, disney corp makes billions
fucking creep
Here’s the full video of the chairlift crash tests.
ua-cam.com/video/u4WPSZojtyE/v-deo.html (All the way to the end)
ua-cam.com/video/sb8gDtKw0L0/v-deo.html (Little better quality and soundtrack)