Kids’ chairlift safety was on the radar of many resorts even before a fatal fall by a seven-year-old in the racing program at Sugar Bowl, Calif., last winter. That incident has made kids’ safety more urgent. There are several proactive steps areas can take, and some have actually done so.

To encourage more areas to boost their efforts, NSAA has made kids’ chairlift safety a focus of its education efforts. At the annual convention in May,

NSAA’s Sid Roslund said the association is developing a Kids on Lifts website and encouraged resorts to share successful ideas, programs, and policies.


Technological Solutions
One way to keep kids in their seats is to provide a physical barrier that prevents them from sliding out. Both Doppelmayr and Leitner-Poma offer restraints to help kids stay put.

Doppelmayr has even made child-friendly bars a theme for this year. The company offers four varieties of solutions: manual and automatically-locking bars, and traditional bars with vertical dividers, either between riders or between each rider’s legs. “It’s sort of like a fork,” says Doppelmayr’s F. Scott Pierpont. “You can only slide forward as far as your crotch, so it’s difficult to slip out of the chair.” Any combination of these solutions are available, and can be specified for both new and existing lifts.

Alta has added bars with dividers both between riders and between their legs on some lifts. The area has also attached a strap to the bar, to make it easier for kids to pull it down. The ski school helped get the height right on the strap.

Leitner-Poma’s solution is the Leitner Kid Stop, a plastic restraint panel that extends down from the bar to reduce the space between the restraining bar and the seat by about 50 percent. The panel is hinged, so that it doesn’t jut into the legs of big people.

Grouse Mountain, B.C., was among the first to go this route, and Arapahoe Basin was the first in the U.S. President Alan Henceroth wanted the most secure restraint available when Arapahoe installed its new, main access lift, the Black Mountain Express in 2010. Along with the area’s beginner chair, it carries the highest number of kids.

“We look at it as just another version of the bar. A lot of people are comfortable having a bar on the lift, and with this new bar, we just made them feel better,” says Henceroth. “We’ve seen no downsides,” he adds; the Stop provides a slightly snugger fit, but “at no point is there a tight fit.”


The Magnetic Approach
Magnestick has created two systems to prevent riders from slipping out of chairs. The first, Magnestick Kid, uses magnets to keep kids in place. One magnet is attached to the chair, another is incorporated into a vest. When a rider wearing a vest sits on the seat, the magnets keep him planted. The magnets are briefly demagnetized at the top, and lift riders are free to glide away.

Alpine Meadows was the first in the U.S. to adopt the technology, but new owner KSL removed it. However, previous owner JMA has installed Magnestick Kid at its two remaining areas, Homewood, Calif., and Red Lodge, Mont. Both areas report easy adoption of the system and positive response to it.

The new Magnestick Bar is an automatic locking bar system, similar to that of Doppelmayr.


Teach Our Children
Perhaps the easiest solution to implement, if not the most foolproof, is education. Both Canyons, Utah, and Telluride, Colo., have created programs to keep people in seats.

Canyons’ “Sit on the Spot” campaign places round targets on the seats of the High Meadow quad, to provide a visual reminder of where to plunk one’s can. The High Meadow accesses the easiest terrain on the mountain and is frequently used by snowsports school beginner and children’s programs. The program has been in place for three seasons.

Telluride initiated its Chill in the Chair signage and messaging campaign, aimed at kids, in 2010-11. It expanded visibility of the message this past winter, and has made employees more aware of the program as well.

“We wanted to gear it toward children, but we reached everyone,” says risk manager Janice Todd. “We wanted to tell them the chair is not a place for horseplay.” And it seems to be working: “we haven’t had any incidents,” she says.


Safety Policies
Of course, resorts have adopted other practices to help keep kids safe. Many routinely ask adult guests to ride with kids, both to help them load and unload and to sit safely and cut down on horseplay. Vail Resorts is training mountain hosts to help out on beginner lifts for this purpose. And many resorts instruct kids to sit in the seat closest to the lift attendant, so the liftie can assist as necessary and help kids sit back on the seat.

Still, more can be done. In Austria, bars are required on all lifts, and lifts use a red/green light system to instruct riders when to lower and raise the bar. Some lifts incorporate a child restraint system, and some have “hanging skier” gates with catch nets beneath them. Systems that automatically lower/raise the bar have also been effective. As a result, Austria has lower incidence of falls from lifts than other countries. Can North American resorts find the right mix of technology and tactics to lower incidents, too?