The Chairlift: Bringing Skiers Together in Ways Nothing Else Can | Salomon Freeski
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- čas přidán 30. 11. 2020
- Though often overlooked and under appreciated, the chairlift may be the single greatest invention in the history of modern skiing. This a celebration of the device that brings skiers together in a way that nothing else can.
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#TimeToPlay - Sport
Share with us your favorite resort and chairlift story down in the comments! 🙌
My favorite chair lift is the one I'm riding now. This changes after every run. A chair lift is all about hope, to look forward to nailing the next run, or finding the perfect powder stash on the way down. Slow or fast, with a group or single, double or quad or six-pack makes no difference, as long as there's hope.
In the 80's at Brighton Ski Resort I and a friend had tipped a snow bank over on top of a friend who was a lifty and working the lift loading zone. He radioed ahead and as we approached the the offload ramp they stopped the Majestic lift and ski patrol along with others came out with arms full of snowballs. They made one mistake, they stopped the lift before the safety net. We both looked at each other never said a word as we swung out of the center pole double chair in opposite directions at the same time and skied off while others were scolding us for jumping out. We had won again..yea we ended up getting hammered with snowballs later that day, but man this video just brought back a big roar of a laugh while remembering this. Thank you Salomon TV for The Chairlift!!!
Epic. 😂
Now that was an entertaining and meaningful short film about skiing in the most simplest of ways. Nice work Mike.
We agree. Totally agree.
Glad you enjoyed it, Jonathan. 🙏
who is mike
@@georgedervishi4291 Mike Douglas. C'mon dude, read the credits. He's the godfather of freeski.
@@ehyojono ok
This is one aspect of skiing that I will miss this year: riding the lift with a friend (from another household) or a random person. You can learn a lot about a person in a 10 minutes of conversation. This year, with the restrictions, I'm afraid this will be missing.
There's still the opposite end of a quad! Not the same though, especially since you can't see anyone's face under their mask
rode Grandview half a dozen times with randoms today. it was just like old times
You can ride a lift with whoever you want as long as they agree to ride with you 🤙
can't believe I am so late to this one, so good. Well done Mike Douglas!
Love a chairlift with personality. The ones that bump, the ones that are icy, the ones that rock, the ones that jerk, the ones with the dodgy bar.
Thank you for this reminder of our awesome lifts and lifties.
Well said! 👌
That film made me smile thinking of all the older,slower chairlifts I have ridden. Looking at the mountains, talking, laughing, great film! Well done Salomon!
I propose to my wife on a the best chairlift of south América, "Marte" in Las Leñas Argentina. Great short film us usual from Mike Douglas and Salomon
I love that chair! Good call.
One more time! Mike Douglas and his art brings us the joy of creativity, sound, music, scrip and the magic world of the snow......Mike, is a talented guy, showing all his love for the sport and the life style of the white covered mountains. But I really love the second when his voice says....we need to slow down. Yes, we must slow down. Humanity is going to the wrong direction to fast....so fast that we are running out of chance to fix our own mistakes! Amazing work Mike!
Such kind words. Thanks for the support, Fernando!
Thanks Fernando!
Sitting here with a cup of coffee in my hand, looking out of the window in south east Ireland, a dull wet miserable day, about ready to walk the dogs. By pure accident I pressed play. I sat back down, still my coffee in my hand. The day got suddenly brighter and I couldn’t stop smiling and chuckling away. I grew up in south west Germany and my home turf is the Feldberg region, Black Forest. Some say, the birthplace of skiing at around 1900 ... our “ chairs” are t-bar drag lifts, still to this day.
This video really made my day!
And your comment made mine! Cheers!
Love meeting the old timers on the lift and talking about the ski area. Their enthusiasm has no end... skiing at 80 years+ is a whole other level of stoke. Those guys and girls made up the sport as they went and left us with this incredible legacy.
Couldn't agree more, Steven!
Yep....we all owe a lot to those who came before us!
I LOVE. The ppl & conversation you have with ppl. I remember being so MAD at my mom... and a stranger let me spill my beans about why I was mad. And he told me.. does she make you dinner, is she home every night? “Your lucky, a lot of kids don’t have moms who make them dinner and stay home at night” (I was in high school)
Oh and it happened on my favorite lift... “GAD II @Snowbird” may my ashes be set free while riding up Gad II
My favorite chair was the old 3 person Schindlergrat chair in St. Anton, which got recently replaced by a gondola. I hate gondolas because you get locked up with bunch of sweaty people, temperature rises, you get sweaty, your goggles fog up, you have to unstrap I absolutely hate gondolas... What I love is to be on some rickety old chair by myself, just enjoying the mountains and listening to some good beats in my ear...
My favorite chairlift ride was when I was about 10 (50 years ago) and I was skiing with my jerk of a brother. He was totally cocky and rushed to get on the chair, barely made it, but fell off right after loading into a trough of deep water and mud. Justice! LOL! Naturally since he was my older brother it was my fault somehow. LOL!
Justice indeed... 😂
This video made me think back to the days of Standish (Sunshine Village) and Eagle chair & Olympic chair (Lake Louise) back when they were doubles as well as the frontside triple and far side double (Fortress Mountain). So many good ski memories growing up as a kid in the late 80's/90's in Calgary.
Now I live in Vancouver and ski Whistler, I guess when Crystal was upgraded to a quad from a triple (via the old Harmony quad) that was really the last classic chair on the mountains besides the tbars. Franz is still there but isn't really something you ride.
The Hugh Smythe interview bits were awesome... thanks Mike Douglas and co for this one, a masterpiece.
Even though I’ve only been riding chairs for a decade, I can still appreciate the quirkiness and calm nature of older lifts from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Would like more of them to stick around. Great film.
Riding chairlifts since 1986...Grew up riding a single chair chair lift at the mighty Mt. Eyak ski hill in Cordova, Alaska. The one that's not at Mad River Glen :) The lift was one of the originals from Sun Valley. We were always yelling back back and forth up and down the lift trying to figure out our next run, heckling and cheering our other friends and just having conversations. The chairs would also whistle in the wind too. It added a sort of melodic and mystical feel as you rode the lift up to one of the best views of Prince William Sound and the Cordova area. May the fixed grip never die!
Best ski vid in a long time, it caught my attention in a way that 'action packed' ski vids just don't any more. This was real and engaging. Thanks Salomon and thanks Mike! More of this stuff please!
Thanks for the kind words, Karl. Stoked to hear that you enjoyed it. 🙏
Mike and the gang, you crushed it with this story. Feels like I know those people, or someone just like them.
Boom chair at Fernie. North American chair at Norquay. Granite chair at Red Mtn - a solid quiver.
Best ski video I've seen in a long time. During the lockdown in Ontario I realized one day just how much I missed this social aspect of skiing. The conversations with my boys, meeting like-minded people. Great video.
Favour pickup line... let's go skiing !!!!! Simple and real...
Ah, the chair lift, so many conversations with total strangers, great stories, great views and sometimes scary moments.
To me very often time on the chair is the time to reflect on my skiing, what am I gonna work on my next run, which line to pick in order to have more fun, which line to avoid when my legs are tired and watching others skiing. Just by watching we can learn a lot from others. To me time on the chair is never a wasted time.
The only thing that I don't like on the chair when riding to the top with idiots talking about their jobs and gossiping, losers !!!!!
The old summit double chair at whitewater will always be a special lift in my heart :)
This awesome film makes me more excited about skiing than any flashy Warren Miller film. You totally captured the heart of the sport. Thank you!!
Thanks Mike and Salomon! Mine is Chair 2 at Purgatory, that's the lift my Dad would take me and my Bro to get Hot Cocoa at the Powderhouse. An old double that takes wayyyy too long to go nowhere, expect to hot cocoa. We'd argue about who had to ride single 'cause Dad was so cool in his blue jeans and rear entry boots...miss those simpler times...
Hot cocoa is always worth it. 😉
Riding chairlifts since 1966 in Washington State (White Pass!) and so excited to have taken my 5-year old grandson on his first ski trip this weekend. Rode the six-person high speed lift at Breckenridge and the group had quite a conversation. Skiing is the BEST sport.
Definitely one of my favorite episodes. Smiled the whole way through! Cheers for this Mike Douglas and Salomon TV!
Such a feel-good film. Dam I want to be on a chairlift right now.
Classic short film on the true connection of the skiing community!! way to go Mike
Beautiful documentary! I spend 28 years on chairlifts and i hope to have another 90 on them! 🎿
Here's to 90 more! 🙌
I worked at a resort in Australia, they had an ancient single person chairlift with a chain and pin safety device that reminded me of a a child's bike lock, even including the colourful plastic coating. Every ride on that beautifully terrifying machine tested my weak stoic resolve; and from those humbling experiences I learned to internally be gratitude every time my skis touch down at the top of any chair. To express it external, I learned, is like being the person on a plane that still claps and cheers when the plane lands. Happy Holidays Salomon, thanks for the great content!
Thank you for sharing this story with us, Ryan. Happy holidays from the Salomon team. 😁
Mike, thanks for bringing a wonderful perspective on chairlifts. That movie brought a smile and quite a few memories. It also validates the home screen on my phone....a friend and I riding up the lift last year in an early December snow.
Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Solid home screen. Let your friend know that this film made you think of them. 😉
Sometime in the early 1980's I took a ski lesson at Waterville Valley, NH. My best friends (The Bewlay Brothers) were expert skiers. After my lesson, I joined them in a lift line. I don't think I had left the ski school beginner slope. I should add, I actually had skied when I was younger, using t-bars and rope tows. So, we're in line together and soon I find myself alone on a chair -- totally enjoying the ride, the view, and pumped that I got through my lesson without breaking a leg. I think my friends were in front of me. When we get to the top of the lift run, I start to panic because I tried to lift up the protective bar and it wouldn't budge. I'm using all my strength and really puzzled wondering wtf is going to happen to me if I can't get off? Will I crash? (not even thinking I would simply make the turn and head back down.). As my chair approaches the end of the lift run my heart is racing and all of a sudden the lift comes to a stop, a quick halt, almost instantly. I start thinking. What the hell happened? Some idiot must have fallen getting ON the lift at the bottom. So this is my lucky day! I can take advantage of this and ask the lift guy who I can see right in front of me..."Hey man, where's the latch? How come my bar won't release? I can't get it up." And he calmly responds, "try taking your skis off the bar." I do that and the lift starts up again. A light goes off that there wasn't any idiot at the bottom who had fallen getting on. It was me....a green skier who really appreciated the lift guy who was good at his job.
Thanks for sharing this story with us, Michael. We certainly say that you are not a green skier any longer. 😁
Haha! Love it!
I loved your story! I have my own beginner story concerning two little girls I was asked to shepherd onto and off of the chairlift by an instructor who had three other little charges. I made sure they got properly seated on the chair and brought the bar down and saw to it they had their skis properly on the foot bar and off we went. Presently one girl said "we're not supposed to tell strangers our names - but her name is Laura". Laura promptly gasped and said "Her name is Annie." I said "Never mind, just watch the good skiers." Then it happened that ahead of us a beginner adult skier, part of a class, fell down. Immediately the two girls started pointing and howling with laughter. Before I could say a word the instructor pointed up at me and shouted, while all the hill watched, that I was a horrible horrible man with terribly behaved children. Ah, so that's why the first instructor stuck me with 'those two' out of all her class...
As an ex- lifty, I can only say you are not the only one to do that.
Those old Riblets are the Geo Metro of chairlifts:
They ain’t fancy, but they live forever.
Grindelwald with the old First chairlift - the deafening noise in the lifthouses aside - was awesome with the best view!
Man, you guys are making some amazing videos!! Love this one
Super film, original et authentique! Bravo!!
Great film guys! I love a good chat with the old guys riding up the lift, there's always a great story or something to learn.
Pali at A-Basin embodies this movie perfectly
Thank you! I love chair lifts! Remember when I was a kid doing mogul runs and the old two-seater went straight up the mogul course. Epic! Still miss that chairlift. It's been replaced by a super fast, and much longer, four-seater that doesn't give you the same pleasure going up while watching other skiers do their best in the bumps...
The nicest people I have met at a ski resort has been a Crystal Mountain. I spent 5 awesome days there in the middle of the heavy snowfall in early 2021.
Loved this episode. So scaled down to the essentials. just perfect!
I loved this short film of the chairlift Mike!
Skiinng isn't more important than life. The chairlift is life.
Truth. 👌
I’ve been watching Salomon TV for the past few years. I live Midwest even though I love skiing but I can’t do that often. Almost all the sentimental pictures and lines that flash through my mind when I talk about skiing are coming from Salomon TV. You guys’ video are getting better every year. Thanks for the good memories!
Those Riblets were a great way to meet the girls...calling out “Single” in line. 😁
That was sooo great! I smiled from ear to ear the whole time. Beautifully captured. Going to save this one
lmao at the cliff jumps at 8:04. Skis shooting into the nether-sphere.
Fantastic storytelling Mike and Salomon TV! Hiding from the wind on the Blue chair at Mount Washington as you rise over the summit ridge. Riding the Easter in Kimberley on a powder day - the hoots and hollers of the lucky first few down the face, or getting dragged out by the Haulback in Fernie, legs screaming from your powder-filled rip thru Gorbie. K, want to go skiing now please.
this video made me happy
but then sad that i can't go skiing
A little shout-out to all the lifties out there all day to spin the chairs woulda been nice.
There was a little more in the plan but, you know, Covid happened.
and the always forgotten lift mechanics. first ones on the hill and last ones off.
@@m0sesdewitt Was going to say cat operators but I guess snowcat operators are last on the hill and 1st off
@@j_santry true true.
this was very good
So glad there are a few resorts here in Utah with these awesome old chair lifts!
Magnífico!!! Magnífico!! Gracias!
Now that's a nice little video! Smiled the whole way thru! Those old doubles that keep swinging and swaying... The automatic slowdown of your pace... The charm... so nice!
My cool chairlift story is that I met the love of my life on a chairlift! An old double at My Baldy California!
And just like the fella in the video, I clearly remember my first chairlift ride 40 years ago...
Thanks for the wonderful short movie. I'm going to watch it again, right now!
Glad you enjoyed it, Mark!
Good to see Mike Power on the video! Skiing is Life, Pray for Snow!... I hope I got the quote right Mike.
Z-bo from that one episode of dream trip. Thats really cool how he's in this.
my favorite chair is gone.. the south ridge at killington. used to make a crazy left turn. if you were not aware it would knock you around
This gave me a smile from ear to ear! Great one Mike!
Thank you for making this amazing film. It made me smile...and miss back to those chairlifts at PNW :)
That just made my heart so warm and fuzzy
What a great video! I always ski solo and love meeting people on the lift...
Glad you enjoyed it!
thanks for this awesome Material
It got me from the very first moment. Many memories from the beginning of my skiing ran through my mind.
Big shout out to the guys who did this.
It made my day :D
COVID really giving us all the feels this year with this film 🥺😭
Spitting some truths. 😕
Loved this one!
So well done!! got me all misty eyed!
I’m crying?? I love this very much.
Hey Susie, we are happy to hear you enjoyed it! Sorry for the tears shed. 🥲
Sweet one Mikeee D !!!
Just wanted to point out the contrast in marketing approach between Salomon and most other shoe/gear companies. Respect
Really brought out the feels with this one!
Love this
Amazing short film. I would have watched 4 hours straight if Mike made it longer. Captures everything great about skiing. Incredible job!
Thanks for this episode, its really importante the sociale we can do in the chairlift. You never know who you gonna meet and its awesome
A fantastic episode and I hope that the chairlift way of life bounces back after we nail this pandemic!
This episode is dope! Well done guys
My earliest chairlift memory is with my Grandfather in the mid 90s riding Chair 5 at Telluride and he had to use his poles as a bar because it was an old double with yellow seats.
Love it!
Very beautiful, Thank You very much: Since the 70s I lived to take the first chair, since March of last year, I live to take the last one.
😍 This just made my day. Now can you do an episodes about epic drag lifts?
Love it! More please
I have to say, it is really spot on !
If that doesn’t make you feel good. I don’t think anything will. Great video
Truth. 😉
35 years skiing in the alps and I never came across that chair design...starting to feel I have been missing out on the uphill fun 🤘🏻
Brilliant!
Amazing video, love the content guys. Keep the good times comin.
I last skied in 1979, now I'm going back. The chair lifts have changed a lot in 40 years. Now they can set 6 but with covid carry only one.
Fantastic THANK YOU! I aspire to make content this heartfelt and inspiring!! See ya on the chair
Awesome documentary!
Brilliant!! Chairlifts just got souls and heartbeats 😍 I too have had an abundance of memorable experiences on chairlifts and some pretty miserable ones too on a windy, cold day with no sun 🥶😂
#SagaBingeWatchingSalomonTV
Wow, what a great video. Thank you Thank you for making this great video.
Hey Salomon! Great video!! I just loved it!!!
Great video. If you start underappreciating the chairlift all you need to do is go do a backcountry hike up Tuckerman's or any other backcountry mountain and you will appreciate both the chair lift and the lift pass VERY QUICKLY!
For me it's the Duboka 2 chairlift. Long time ago on it with my brother, end of the day, the lift operators didn't check well and turned it off. We were on the only spot where you could actually jump down and not hurt yourself. Waited for 15 min or so, and finally had to jump off. No mobiles at that time. We still sometimes wonder how bad would it be if it stopped where it was 20m high.
Fab, funny and helping with the fact I may not be skiing this year, which I’ll miss like crazy.
Fingers crossed you get to make it out to the slopes. 😀
Great!
Looking forward to being back on the chairlift meeting new people post covid :)
As a lifelong surfer that only started snowboarding in my mid-late 40s, I'd say the chairlift is the easiest "paddle out" I've ever had!
It's equivalent to the time surfers spend chatting in the lineup while waiting for the next set of waves to roll in.
You might want to check out Nevada's chairlift snacks :) By the way loved this episode. This is what we love.. Really beautifully done. Reminded us also of our edit "First Time" - check that one out when you get the chance. So good. This is so good.
Watched it twice. That one line about coming to the mountain to slow down.. We agree with you on this!
Stoked to hear that you enjoyed it, Alba. 🙏
My husband and I met as lift operators on C4-Big Chief at Stevens Pass in 1977. Got married in 82 in the T-Bar lodge
A true love story. 😍
This is amazing! Thanks fo sharing.
I proposed to my wife just below the 7th Heaven lift at Stevens Pass. Cloud 9 run. We've got three kids, and they all love ski lifts!
Lovely. 😍
Amazing! Thanks for sharing.