lift line strategy ?

[John K]

So when it gets crowded with no lift-op running the line and people riding up on the tail of your board, does anyone have a strategy for i. preserving your top sheet and ii. making it through line in the least amount of time.

I have heard that it is better to stay far to the side rather than coming through the middle.... any thoughts?

JK

ps... clearly riding midweek is the ultimate answer

[astrokel]

I put some Dakine stomp Studs on the back of the board. They make these star shaped ones that look and are plenty sharp so people should try to avoid them in line... Haven't been in a really crowded situation yet so don't know if they'll work in a serious crunch.

See that thread talking about European lift lines for advice about how to get through the line faster (picking up your kid and swing him/her to make more room :D , etc.).

[Neil Gendzwill]

Singles line is where it's at.

[skipuppy]

Singles line or getting towards the front and joining a group that needs a single. Also while in line if you can, instead of laying the board flat on the ground you can stand with it on the toe edge. that way people won't be able to get their gear on it.. plus it looks intimidating having a flat edge pointing up like that.

[Guest Randy S.]

If there's a big funnel at the end of the corral, coming in from the side is definitely faster. Of course the real solution is to come back to Alpine Meadows, we have much shorter lines than Squawllywood.

[Stainless]

Join a ski patrol and go straight to the front of the line... :D

[bobdea]

patrol jacket.

some places don't let patrolers do that unless something is going on, Sunday River is one such place.

[bobdea]

1000 posts

I am now a official postwhore

[veector]

I just watch my back, when someone come close i turn arround and look at them with a fierce face. Or i keep my board on edge, or if they get on it i just shake it a bit to let them know what they are doing.

I cant stand it when people bump my board and cut up my topsheet

[Guest jager]

As they approach from behind, slap your tail a few times. Then do it randomly. They'll give you room. LOL!

[ike]

bring a gun

but seriously i like that star idea. But furthermore, u know those belts with spikes on them, just glue a couple of those spikes on ur top along the edges...oh yah sharpen them to:p

that'll teach them

[carvedog]

As they approach from behind, slap your tail a few times. Then do it randomly. They'll give you room. LOL!

I do that too. Not too hard don't want to lose any camber. I also employ the Martian Mind Meld and the Jedai mind trick to tweak their head a little more so they don't come close.

At 6 feet and 230 in a helmet with a space age looking Burner underneath I don't have much trouble except for the ski team kids and an occasional snowboard grom.

When they get close or God forbid actually touch the instrument that gives me so much I turn around and ask them politely to "Please get off my Fu**ing snowboard as the edges are lethal and if she gets pissed off there is no telling what might happen." or something to that effect.

[lonerider]

I do that too. Not too hard don't want to lose any camber.

I also slap the tail of my board... helps shake the snow off. There is no way it's going to affect your camber though... especially if you are 230 lbs... one turn is going flex the board much harder than an hour of stomping.

[Fleaman]

Being a big guy too, I like to look at the guy or whoever and then look down at the board with a mean look, they usually step back.

[insert] smilie with a strong arm or something[\inset]

If you are riding a rock board you could aways slide it back and forth under his ski or tilt it on edge after sliding it back to his bindings. :D

[Bubba]

I've found that a six pack of German beer along with a big plate of saurkraut and baked beans the night before usually keeps them backed up pretty well.

[Guest]

I'm with Jager. I put my board on edge and slap it down repeatedly if someone's really pissing me off. If they ask me why I'm doing it, I tell them it's because they keep running over my f*cking board.

Lift line etiquette, or lack thereof, is one of my biggest pet peeves. Like when people jump in front of you in the singles line to join a friend. ARGH! The rest of us have been waiting in line for 15 minutes because it's early season, and you have to be a moron and jump in line? I don't think so. Or when people don't alternate in an obviously alternating situation. I will gladly push by someone who jumps in front of me and my friends and stand with my board sideways so my friends can get through.

Fortunately I usually only have to deal with this early season, as Aspen doesn't get too many people.

[kipstar]

I am not a big guy. Nor am a remotely scared of big guys, who for the most part are pretty soft. Especially when they are sleeping. They are total sitters for a 1-2-3-2-8 combo of a 1-2-+-+ or the old Roy Jones Jnr 3-3-3-3-3. Just because guys are big doesn't mean they can defend themselves. When they are sleeping. So take my advice. If you want to take on a big guy. Do it while they are sleeping.

So.. here is the strategy, when you come across some big guy who is standing all over your gears. On the mountain, they are probably not sleeping anymore.

You clearly demonstrate that you are going to really f&*k up their s&*t by turning round and looking at the ground and saying '-i-i-i-i-i-f-f-f-f um um um you d-d-d--don't m-m-m-ind would-d-d-d you p-p-p-p-p-lease g-get-t o-ff the t-t-t-tail of m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-my b-b-board. p-p-please.'

I have not had a chance to try this, because for the most part, the ones doing all the standing are pipe kids, anyone from the Bay Area who works in IT and is really rich or women. And then if it is some hottie penthouse pet who looks like she stepped straight out of the pages of some porno stick mag, you can turn around and 'oh ho lady, you just got advanced to the captain's table. Move up this chair with me, and you don't need to be trampling my stuff innit'.

Or another alternative? Ride old crappy gear.

Or another alternative? Ride places like Alpine and Rose midweek; no queue at all a lot of the time.... it seems to be the crowded slow moving lifts where people hustle and start standing on gear. I am not so keen of the angry approach, as, when thinking back to that great political activist Rodney King and his wise words, "can't we all just get along?"

Go to NZed on a crowded day with a 30 minute wait on the lift EVERY run; then you get to see some severe standing all over gear, as the lift queues are often generously construct on a slope not flat bit o' the hill.

Fastest way to the front?

- single queue

[Dan]

I've done this occasionally for summer riding at Mt. Hood, where between the park rats and the damn junior high ski racers, your topsheet's life isn't worth a plugged nickel: take off your board when you get into the lift line, carry it until you're on-deck for the chair, and only then put it back down and re-engage your front boot. Taping/gluing some sandpaper to the tail should work too...

[mnovak]

As they approach from behind, slap your tail a few times. Then do it randomly. They'll give you room. LOL!

I've done that too -- my only fear is one day some idiot will put his ski right under the board just before it comes down and I'll have gouged my own board! I like skipuppy's idea -- one of those "why didn't I think of that?"

[Erik J]

-Pour lighter fluid on your board and set it on fire.

-Don't wear any clothes and cover yourself in animal blood.

-Bring your pet skunk.

-Iron a patch onto your jacket that says "got syphilis?"

-Tie 38 lobsters onto individual strings about 4' in length and tether them to your bindings (do TD's come with a lobster tether?). Don't feed them for a week before boarding and just before going riding insult their mothers with phrases like "your mama's roe stinks like flowers" or "your mama's claws are symetrical". Aint nothin worse than 38 pissed off lobsters. The lift line is yours.

All of these have worked well for me in the past, although the last one can backfire so bring a can of raid and a handgun if going for the attempt.

[UK2TX2CA]

Someone posted this suggestion a long time ago ( sorry I can't remember who ), attach a strip of velco across the tail of your board, the fuzzy part not the hooks...anyone riding over your tail will not hit the top sheet

[Steve Dold]

Or an even better one, from another thread: A piece of saw blade

[ARCrider]

I'm more upset when I get someone irrationally backing up in front of me. Then I have to stork it for a moment with my board in the air until said group has reassembled themselves as they like. A back glance is recommended before laying the board back down. I'm much more concerned about my base than my topsheet. But that doesn't mean I don't get ticked off royally when someone scrapes over it. occasional board stomping can intimidate most people.

Had an incident last year while loading a chair. Little tyke on my right that I was sharing a quad chair with decided to do a supersnowplow stop at the load point. I was gliding up to take my spot beside him when he did this. My fatherly instinct was to step left, lift my board, lift him, lay my board back down and load the chair. Plan went well except that my stepping foot was still firmly in the snow when the chair scooped us. My foot remained anchored in the snow while the chair maintained its pace and 4 people sat down. my knee hasn't been the same since. Two partial tears in the quadriceps tendon. I wish the attendant had been on the ball and estopped the lift but it all happened rather quickly.

A good reason not to ride with strangers. They might do strange things.

[LeeW]

There was a post about this last year. I really liked this idea so much. Tilt your alpine board slant, and if some guy try to come up and try to "run over" your board would get a giant stratch from square edge of your alpine board to the top of their board. -smirk-

[big mario]

-Pour lighter fluid on your board and set it on fire.

-Don't wear any clothes and cover yourself in animal blood.

Now this

-Bring your pet skunk.

-Iron a patch onto your jacket that says "got syphilis?"

-Tie 38 lobsters onto individual strings about 4' in length and tether them to your bindings (do TD's come with a lobster tether?). Don't feed them for a week before boarding and just before going riding insult their mothers with phrases like "your mama's roe stinks like flowers" or "your mama's claws are symetrical". Aint nothin worse than 38 pissed off lobsters. The lift line is yours.

All of these have worked well for me in the past, although the last one can backfire so bring a can of raid and a handgun if going for the attempt.

Now this is the Ericj I have come to admire You are one sick and twisted individual, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Please keep your demented posts coming, they are some of my favorites. Do not seek professional help

mario