fear of chairlifts

I have two friends who have a similar fear, they will use the lifts and are not frightened of falling, THEY WANT TO JUMP I was with them both on one lift when at possibly the highest point we stopped for about 7/8minutes, not great times I can assure you, both frightened to death both wanting to get out ! I knew there was a problem as they both stopped chatting and it turned into a white knuckle ride
There is no explanation, it is all in the mind.
In response to original request you could look at Couchevel where there is the chance to use 4/5 bubbles all giving you access to about7/8 runs and returning you back to 1550/1850

Merryski wrote:
There is no explanation, it is all in the mind.
I

Absolutely correct. And until the person with the fear realises that and that they alone are the only ones who can deal with it, nothing will change for them.

Watch the film Frozen 8)

COULDN'T GET A PICTURE POSTED :(

HOW VERY ANNOYING

I used to have a fear of chairs. A couple of embarrassing 'stopping the lift' incidents I caused didn't help.

I was mostly cured by a great instructor. She talked me through a technique of getting off the lift which helped immensely. As it's such a major part of skiing why not book private lessons and have the instructor talk her through it? It can't make her any worse. Getting on a lift with an instructor gives you more chance of them being able to bargain for extra space on the chair too.

Tony_H wrote:

Merryski wrote:
There is no explanation, it is all in the mind.
I

Absolutely correct. And until the person with the fear realises that and that they alone are the only ones who can deal with it, nothing will change for them.

Watch the film Frozen 8)

I dont mind chair lifts at all, infact i quite like them. But that film is deffo one to miss if you have a fear of them.

When we started out, my OH was terrified of the lifts because of a fear of heights. As soon as she got on a lift or a gondola, she would pull her hat down over her eyes so she couldn't see how high off the ground she was :shock:.

On one Summer holiday on the island of Elba, we took a lobster pot type lift up to the top of the big mountain there. She was terrified and refused to take it back down so we had to walk. The only problem was that we took a wrong turn on the way down and ended up crossing over onto an adjoining mountain.

Not such a big deal you might think except that the other mountain was still smoldering from a major forest fire :oops: :oops:. When we eventually emerged from the forest into a carpark, we met about 20 exhausted firefighters having a break. I am not sure they were too impressed to see the two of us nonchalantly walking out :shock:

Anyway, my OH eventually conquered her fear and gradually began to raise her hat :D. She is now quite comfortable on any kind of lift. She has even used the famous "scare chair" in Alpe D'Huez without too much discomfort :lol:

Hopefully, you friend will also manage to get over her fear :wink:

If the problem is to do with confidence about getting on/off, especially on old chairlifts, then I'd echo the advice to write off a half a day having lessons. My earlier post was really meant to show that there are some techniques you can use that may help, and a professional instructor will be used to helping people adapt.

If it's to do with fear of heights or lack of security, that's much more difficult. Most people have something they are irrationally fearful of, and just as you'd engage a ski instructor to help with physical technique, consider seeing a psychiatrist to help - I know from relatives that there are techniques for handling/moderating phobias. You may not get a cure, but you may get some useful tricks that help.

If it's any comfort, at least in Europe we have bars on our chairs! I have never understood the American preference for chairs with no bars .... I've almost fallen off a couple of times when I've forgotten there's nothing to lean on.

yep another one for the lesson idea and being taught