Pay Attention, People: Match up When the Lines are Long

Every activity has rules, formal and informal. One informal rule of skiing and snowboarding that ought to be obeyed more frequently is this: “When there’s more than three or four people waiting for a chair at a time, double up. No singles.”

To use an extreme example of why this is so, say that there are 50 people in line. It will take twice as long to load them one at a time, compared to each chair carrying two people. When you’re in a region (such as the Midwest) when it takes twice as long to go up the hill as it does to come down, maxing out on the number of singles wastes everyone’s time.

Granted, novices may benefit from having a single, particularly the person who is extremely nervous about getting off the chair. And sharing a ride up isn’t always fun. Someone may want to chat when you want to sit in quietness, and vice versa. But pairing up means less time in line and more time riding or skiing.

I’ll admit to not pairing up as often as I should, especially if I’m out alone at a time when the crowd is dominated by the under-21 population. At least half the time when I try to ride up with another single in line, he or she will drop back in line and let me go ahead–as if to say “No, I’d rather not share a ride. You go first.”

Today I was out on the hill when the lines were longer each time I got to the bottom of a lift. At that point in the day, etiquette would dictate pairing up.

I saw four teenagers, all boys, in line right in front of me. Some of them were talking with each other. So how many chairs did they take? Four.

Each one of them occupied a chair by himself, even though there were 20 or 30 people behind them. It was at that point that I decided it was time to go home.