fear of chairlifts

There is no gondola at the new Mayentzet lift, only 6-seater chairs. You can still ski from Attelas to Medran without having to use any chairs, but I am not sure how beginners will cope with this run.

That's odd - someone else said the same. All the publicity in the summer mentioned a mixed gondola+chairs, like the Medran 2. And there was also a recent announcement that it wasn't formally opening 'till the 28th., but it has been running. I suppose they may have changed their minds ..... ?

A lot of resorts will have gondolas from village to mid station but after that you will be out of luck. As mentioned earlier, Tignes has the Funi which runs from village to glacier. The problem is you will spend a week skiing the same run/runs everyday.

I think that it's a good idea if you try to get a lesson on how to board/dismount (As mentioned) this should build confidence. Its actually quite peaceful and relaxing once on. If its heights she has a problem with maybe a pop at hypnotism may help? Not sure if it can be applied to this or if it would work but could be a shot in the dark.

La Grave. Not a chair in sight.


Seriously, a mate of mine is a lift pussy as well. In fact, he gets very stressed on gondolas and cable cars too, but says he is ok on them. One look at his face tells you he is trying to be brave.
Put it like this, a day on the mountain for him is dictated to by the lifts he will have to take in order to ski certain runs, and as such I have not yet been able to spend a day on the mountain with him despite having been on approximately 5 ski trips with him.
None of this is critical of my friend - he has a fear, its irrational, and he cannot beat it. However, it shows just how something like this can ruin a ski trip for someone. He becomes quite stressed in the mornings as the realisation kicks in again that he will have to ride some kind of lift that day. We sit down and plan a route to take, but after the first lift he will back out and decide to go an alternative circuit. This also of course impacts on his GF who would happily take any lift and ski more of the mountain but obviously wont leave him.

Talking to him about this, he says he can deal with gondolas and cable cars, but chairlifts freak him out more. Its something to do with his legs dangling apparently. Thing is, he loves skiing, is into the whole thing in a big way with all the gear, yet this fear prevents him for being able to ski more than a handful of runs in a large ski area. In fact, sometimes I am amazed he actually gets up the mountain at all, if you could see how wound up he allows himself to get about lifts.

Therefore, the analogy I used is to demonstrate that if you have a fear, you have a fear. It might be something no one else can empathise with or comprehend, but its there and it wont go away. I used to have a fear of flying until about 10 years ago and decided to hit it head on and book a flight, and Ive been flying ever since, making up for list time in fact. But thats only because I got myself into a state of mind where I decided I actually wanted to tackle the problem as i didnt want it dictatinv where I could travel to.

As far as I am concerned, the only way someone with a fear of lifts can deal with it is to man up and hit it head on in the same way; The lift is not going to crash. You are not going to die or hurt yourself. Your fear is irrational - look at how many other people use the lifts. By not using the lifts, you are ruining your holiday, and possibly the holiday for others as well as they will have to sympathise with you and restrict themselves accordingly.

It is quite simply a state of mind that can be overcome by looking at what the issues are and dealing with the responses. What are you frightened of? Dying or falling off? It isnt going to happen....and if it does, you're one seriously unlucky person. Think of the incredible views up there you are missing out on, think of all those lovely pistes up there you'll never ski because you're scared of a silly lift.

BTW, I am not intending to be patronising or unsympathetic at all, but merely wanted to point out that when you think about it, its actually really silly and pointless, and the hope is you might look back someday and laugh at how daft you were not getting on a lift. I do every time I get on a plane now, although some dark thoughts do come back when we're bouncing around in heavy turbulence...... :shock:

msej449 wrote:That's odd - someone else said the same. All the publicity in the summer mentioned a mixed gondola+chairs, like the Medran 2. And there was also a recent announcement that it wasn't formally opening 'till the 28th., but it has been running. I suppose they may have changed their minds ..... ?

Medran 2? It's just a bubble. The only mixed gondola/chair in Verbier is La Chaux Express. If you take the chair you need to get off at the top of Fontanet, which is steep, but beginners or walkers can take the gondola. Beginners will still need to ride a chair if they want to ski in that area. There were never plans to build gondola/chair instead of two lifts at Mayentzet, only to replace them with a modern fast lift. Gondola would serve absolutely no purpose there. At least it brings beginners to and from La Chaux so that they don't have to ski the steep slope that leads to beginners'area and out of it back to Ruinettes. But Combe1 and Combe2 are not beginners's slopes, gondola would be a waste of money there.

Is it the height or fear of falling as she gets on & off?

The reality is that more and more drag lifts are being replaced with chairs perhaps so persevering to overcome the fear may be the long term solution. Most resorts have some drag lifts but they are often accessed by chairs or simply service the nursery slopes.

Perhaps learning some relaxation techniques or even hypnosis before she goes may ease the situation.

I like Rosshütte at Seefeld. There are plenty chair lifts but a nice little train linking the bottom to the main mountain station, you can ski with that all day and not bother with the other lifts, I often do. The only better option is to get touring skis and walk up the side of the piste. If you think it sounds horrible you probably never tried it, I find it great. And it saves on lift passes!

The truth is chair lifts are very difficult to avoid if you want to ski. And most beginners areas are in one way or another served by chairs. Maybe on glaciers you will see many drag lifts or T-bars - though I just can't imagine how riding a t-bar can be preferable to a chairlift, especially long t-bars. You can try Zermatt. All the top runs in Klein Mattahorn area are basically rolling hills so they are suitable for beginners and to get there you need to take a cable car and then there are just t-bars. But it will be better just to start getting used to chairs - I can't see how they can be more dangerous then gondolas.