Lifts: In Praise of Flat Run-Offs

Riders are at a disadvantage when they unload from a lift: they don’t have both feet in a binding. And that’s why flat run-offs from lifts are useful. I would consider them the sign of a rider-friendly resort.

My favorite lifts unload riders and skiers onto a large, flat area, with plenty of room for one-legged riding, and for locking in bindings out of harm’s way.

But some lift run-outs are steep, dropping six, twelve, or more feet from the unloading area. To make matters worse, some of the run-outs develop little gullies that can catch you up, and can push you one into a little j-turn. This is fine and perhaps even desirable for skiers. They’re already in the bindings. But riders? It’s a different story, especially for people still learning.

I find the prospect of dropping down twelve feet with only one foot in the binding nearly terrifying. So if I think a run-out is especially steep, I’ll put my back foot into its binding sometime near the top of the lift ride. (It’s a violation of the rules at every place I know of, but hey, I need to not fall and create a traffic jam.)

Unloading with two feet in presents its own challenge: making sure that I point the board completely straight ahead, to avoid having the board pushed sideways, which would in turn propel me onto the ground after catching a toeside edge.

Flat rides off a lift are a good thing. Ski areas ought to use the off-season to do something (I’m not sure) to recalibrate unloading areas.