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Skiers and riders, do you use the safety bar on the chairlift?
Some skiers and riders are "weird" about it, says Ski magazine.
Ski magazine says skiers and riders can be “weird” about chairlift safety bars. As in, they don’t want to use them.
In a piece published earlier this year, Ski argued that safety bar use should be mandatory. Currently, it is voluntary at most U.S. ski areas, according to a study that tracked safety bar use.
The study examined 16,286 passengers on 6,343 chairs across four regions of the country — the Northeast, Midwest, Rocky Mountain Region, and Pacific Southwest.
Overall, restraint bar use was at 41.6%, according to the study, with 9.4% use in the Midwest; 17.9% use in the Pacific Southwest; 39.2% use in the Rocky Mountain Region; and 80.4% use in the Northeast. Vermont is the only state that requires safety bar use, noted Ski magazine.
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The publication noted that, for some, “asking to lower the bar seems to carry with it an unfortunate stigma where the asker can be side-eyed by fellow riders.”
Folks are more inclined to use the safety bar if children are on the lift and if riders are all skiers versus all snowboarders, according to the study.
“While it’s true that riding a chairlift remains extraordinarily safe—one fatality for every 570 million rides—why not do the one simple thing that makes it nearly impossible to fall?” wrote Ski magazine.
Do you use the safety bar? Why or why not? Have you ever ridden with someone who did not want to use the safety bar while you did? If so, how did you handle it?
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Do you use the safety bar on chairlifts?
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