The Snowboarder's Journal - frequency 17.1
SWINGING CHAIRS
Words: Colin Wiseman 2019-09-23 13:46:04
It was a typical midweek day at Mt. Baker—late February, light crowds, minimal powder panic. Down low, it was soggy. But there was eight inches of fresh up on Pan Dome and the classics were riding soft and grippy.
I’d been cruising a few favorite lines by myself for the better part of the morning, linking with friends for a lap here and there. Pulling into Chair 6, I stopped at the loading line. The lifty, a young, wiry dude, was swinging chairs exceptionally well. He’d grab the passing four-seater with two hands, dig in his left heel, and use his weight to slide the seat up to waiting passengers. He’d clearly been at it for a while—his grab-and-drag technique had built a six-inch-deep groove.
Mt Baker has fixed grip lifts. They’re a bit of an anomaly nowadays in a world of detachable, high-speed six-packs with bubble-domes and magic carpet roll-ins. The art of the butt bump is largely lost on the mega-resorts of the world. At the mom-and-pops, it lives on.
When I was 17 years old and fresh out of high school, I got a job as a lifty. It was the winter of ’98-’99, when Baker set the world record for snowfall in a single season. I worked at Forbidden Plateau, a small, two-lift operation on central Vancouver Island, BC. My time there didn’t last long; soon after I was hired, the main lodge collapsed under the weight of all that snow and the little ski area shut down for good. But I did the job long enough to gain an appreciation for those minimum-wage employees who keep us moving. I’d come home every night wet, tired and, if I was lucky, with a couple of midday powder laps under my belt. Swinging chairs is hard work, especially when you stack it atop the constant digging and raking required to maintain an uncovered loading ramp.
After that February day, I began to pay closer attention to the lifties at Baker. Each had their own unique technique. Some would only drop a cursory one-handed slap on the bar on the way by, letting your calves take the impact of the incoming chair—not a good look. Then there was that girl at Chair 7 who loaded seamlessly with a two-footed, heels-in approach and a determined look on her face. She was great. I complimented her technique once, and she held a steadfast gaze, fully focused. Chair 3 dude with the beard had the luxury of working a slower lift, but he stood out for always having a smile on his face when he sent a snow-caked four-pack back up for another lap. He even mentioned to watch my highback once when the ramp was getting high during a thick storm. He was definitely one of the good ones.
Here’s to the lifties, especially those at the mom-and-pops of the world, who put in the hard labor to keep us spinning laps in comfort. Your work is poetry in motion.
Photo Caption: The end of a hard day’s work at Mt. Baker, WA’s Chair 5 with Harry Kearney, Jimmy Goodman, Timmy Taussig and Jerry Mark scoring the last bump. Photo: Andrew Miller
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SWINGING CHAIRS
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