@ster, not a true story or particularly believable so just terrible as in bad.
I thought it was quite a laugh, yes not “The Third Man” and pretty ropey but a laugh nevertheless.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hmmm, in the interest of pedantry, , that's not what I was brought up with, although obvs one allows for language evolution and drift,
johnE wrote:
This terminology is a trifle confusing.
To me the list goes like this:
...
Multi person drag - where the 5 or 7 of you get on the drag at the same time. It then belts up the hill at high speed, stops at the top and you dismount in an undignified heap. (sometimes called a sling shot) never seen one of these
...
Telecabine - called cable cars in the UK, as in London Cable Car. These like the dismountable chairlifts except there are cabins that you climb into. They take anything from 4 to 16 people. These are installed in places where increased capacity is required or to allow easy beginner or pedestrian access. They can go higher above than chairlifts. Since they are unpopular with experienced skiers they are sometimes mixed on the same cable as dismountable chairs.
I'd say brits would call this a "gondola" or "bubble"
Dual Mono Cable or DMC - like the cable car but using two cables to support the cabine. These are bigger than cable cars and more stable in high winds. They are staning room only.
I wouldn't differentiate this from a "Cable Car", which is a
Telepherique - one or two big cabins taking upto over a hundred people at a time. the cabin is supported on one (or two) cables and hauled by another. They have been around a long time (the first one up the Aiguille du Midi 100 years ago). You wait at the station untill ones arrives then pile in. Little children get bashed around the head a lot. They go quite fast once they get moving. Confusingly wikkipedia gives the following alternative names for them: aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, or seilbahn. Which I think most Brits would call a cable car, and IME north americans call a "tram"
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Forgot rope tow. Which can also provide adventures, especially when the height varies.
@under a new name, I wasn't sure what people meant by a "gondola". If pushed I would have guessed at a telepherique, which I have heard refered to as "freaks" by some people.
A DMC is very unlike a telepherique. In fact it resembles a telecabine much more and unless you are a nerd you probably wouldn't notice that it is not a telecabine in that you pile in while it continues to move, doesn't have a driver etc.
Quote:
Multi person drag - where the 5 or 7 of you get on the drag at the same time. It then belts up the hill at high speed, stops at the top and you dismount in an undignified heap. (sometimes called a sling shot) never seen one of these Shocked
@johnE, interesting, I'm trying to think if I've ever seen your DMC system. I seem to recall "DMC" being used for other, (ordinary) twin cable car systems.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@under a new name, THREAD DRIFT ALERT….
Multi person drag…..never seen one? Here it is….cheesy music mandatory apparently
@under a new name, Thanks for that link. It is fascinating. I never realised that Alpe h'Huez was such an old resort or that the Grandes Rousses lift had so many incarnations. The current one appears to be almost 40 years old and still doing its job.
The Funitel and funiculars have replaced the tecnology for really mass movement.
The Les Suches lift at La Thule is also a DMC, but I never noticed when I was on it.
Sorry about the extreme topic drift
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@johnE,
Quote:
Sorry about the extreme topic drift
What else would we be doing on such a miserable day ?
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@under a new name, OK drift accepted until it builds up too much and avalanches under its own weight…
@valais2, I've been on it and it is not as scary as it looks. It is only a couple metres off the ground. Suprisingly, the stools are very close together so they have a good throughput.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I wondered if rope tow was multi person drag but wow that’s nuts. Imagine if someone in the middle makes the classic mistake of pointing one ski outwards, it starts to widen going up… so much more carnage than a T bar!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I think the worst 'drag' lift I experienced was around The Millenium in Val D'Isere. The Cema lift (the 'escape from Pissailas' Lift in Le Fornet) was condemned at short notice and the solution was a piste basher with 2 long ropes with knots in, the idea was to drag about 20 folks up at the time. Dominoes just doesn't do it justice!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
A variation on the 'piste basher with 2 long ropes'.
In ~1996 I joined a guided group of about 15 on a '7 Valleys tour' which was off the back of Tignes, about 1km on a cross-country track, minibus to Les Arcs, and finish for a pickup in (I assume) Arcs 2000. I was on a snowboard, and checked at the time of booking that it would be OK on a board. When we met the guides on the day, they were not impressed.
When we got to Les Arcs, after an alcoholic lunch (my first intro to both a grolle and tartiflette) the guides were not over conscientious about keeping the group together. When we got to the bottom of the last lift to get over to Arcs 2000, a few minutes before shutting, we were one punter down. This was before common use of mobile phones. The missing person did get found, but by the time they rejoined us the lifts were well shut. Next was a ~10 exchange of views between the guides (who were based from Tignes) and the lifties about whether they'd reopen the lift for us - the outcome was 'No'. Instead they got a skidoo, dangled 2 ropes behind, with 4 or 5 people holding onto each rope, and pegged it round the mountain. Given they had to do 2 trips, and wanted to go home, it was not slow. I'm pretty certain we went at 50-60 km/h, which is ~15 m/s, and I think a normal drag goes at ~2.5 m/s. This was the only time I've been on any form of drag with both feet attached to the board, as it was clear they'd but no time to recover by dabbing a foot down
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Not my own experience but my friend James and a mate of his were in the queue for the famous chairlift in Georgia which had a catastrophic failure and ran backwards uncontrolled.woth multiple casualties.
James was a ski instructor with decent first aid training and as I recall his mate was a medic of some sort...they got stuck in helping the.many who were injured.
Uf they had been there just a minute.or two earlier they'd have been on the lift...
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
, that's not what I was brought up with, although obvs one allows for language evolution and drift,
?
