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June, 2025

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Developing Fear of Chairlifts

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Quaggy
Posts: 1152 - Karma: 19,198
Hey gang,
I've been skiing for ~12 years now and I've never been scared of heights, let alone riding the chairlift.
But this season, something's different. I get anxiety riding the chairlift, it's gotten to a point where I'm hesitant to go skiing because I'll have to ride one.
Any suggestions on overcoming a developing fear of heights/chairlifts?
5 years ago
22 2
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xxACIDTRIPxx
Posts: 5980 - Karma: 8,185
Xanax
5 years ago
55 3
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dripdroptop
Posts: 584 - Karma: 3,422
We live on a floating rock
5 years ago
59 0
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Quaggy
Posts: 1152 - Karma: 19,198
ScaryDumpTruckWe live on a floating rock

I guess I could fall off at anytime right? Thank god I live in the Northern Hemisphere... How do they not fall off in the Southern Hemisphere though?
5 years ago
43 0
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PimpChimpin
Posts: 1287 - Karma: 12,586
Put the bar down if it worries you that much
5 years ago
33 0
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Julius_Steezer
Posts: 776 - Karma: 4,551
If you cling tightly onto the stranger sat next to you for reassurance and gently sob the whole way up then that tends to work for me
5 years ago
48 0
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Mixy
Posts: 8358 - Karma: 50,505
QuaggyI guess I could fall off at anytime right? Thank god I live in the Northern Hemisphere... How do they not fall off in the Southern Hemisphere though?


Gravity harnesses
5 years ago
9 0
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r00kie
Posts: 5238 - Karma: 59,606
Chair beer
5 years ago
29 0
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_IRRELEVANT_
Posts: 944 - Karma: 4,427
Super glue yourself to the seat you’ll never have to get off it again
5 years ago
7 0
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PsychicMigration
Posts: 2099 - Karma: 10,552
Go cliff jumping
5 years ago
7 0
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KCoCM
Posts: 963 - Karma: 8,787
I just hold onto the back of the chair when i’m scared. there’s a portion of sierra lift at copper that has a high drop and jolting from a lift stop has made nearly shit myself numerous times
5 years ago
22 0
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Chunderface
Posts: 2566 - Karma: 10,057
It's weird I have been skiing my whole life and never once thought about being on the lift. I remember falling asleep on a lift at Copper when I was like 9 and it didn't seem like a big deal. For whatever reason last season out of nowhere I started getting weird anxiety about it and started having to look straight forward or stare at the trees instead of look down. I had what I believe was a panic attack for the first time in my life, where I froze up completely and grabbed the back of the chair tight and tried to talk myself out of it to no avail. It was absolutely terrifying. That hasn't happened again and the problem has calmed down a lot but even now if I get a weird feeling I immediately look at the trees that are passing level with me and try to redirect my mind. The shit is fucking whack.
5 years ago
17 0
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EPfanboy
Posts: 485 - Karma: 3,555
We do...
QuaggyI guess I could fall off at anytime right? Thank god I live in the Northern Hemisphere... How do they not fall off in the Southern Hemisphere though?
5 years ago
6 0
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Paul.
Posts: 1663 - Karma: 11,636
Just remember that chairs only detach from the cable and fall to the ground on rare occasions, so odds are you’ll be okay.
5 years ago
22 0
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RAcecARman
Posts: 200 - Karma: 1,800
Ill spin a 50 foot park jump and be unfazed but put me on any lift that goes higher than 30 feet off the ground and im fucking clinging to the thing for dear life staring at my pants. I feel your pain. I also fucking hate lovelands lifts.
5 years ago
10 0
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CatdickBojangles
Posts: 6490 - Karma: 66,557
Face your fears and launch yourself off at a low spot.
5 years ago
12 0
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3614 - Karma: 4,004
You would be more scared if you knew the maintenance and mechanics that “maintained” them at some resorts.
5 years ago
10 0
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GayWolf420
Posts: 38253 - Karma: 131,503
once saw some tram maintenance crew guys ride down on the top of the snowbird tram. that would be a fuckin no from me, dawg.
5 years ago
14 0
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leprechaunsissy
Posts: 645 - Karma: 239
Started for me after riding the Mountain Chief at Copper in 2012 when my chair came loose, slid back down the cable and slammed into the chair behind me. I recommend talking to your doctor as they may be able to offer a solution in the rare cases where anxiety gets out of control.
QuaggyHey gang,
I've been skiing for ~12 years now and I've never been scared of heights, let alone riding the chairlift.
But this season, something's different. I get anxiety riding the chairlift, it's gotten to a point where I'm hesitant to go skiing because I'll have to ride one.
Any suggestions on overcoming a developing fear of heights/chairlifts?
5 years ago
8 0
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ReturnToMonkey
Posts: 6448 - Karma: 70,211
RAcecARmanIll spin a 50 foot park jump and be unfazed but put me on any lift that goes higher than 30 feet off the ground and im fucking clinging to the thing for dear life staring at my pants. I feel your pain. I also fucking hate lovelands lifts.

I think growing up and learning to ski at Loveland has made me virtually unfazed by chairlifts. I don't even think about the danger, knowing the engineering that goes into them now.
SkiBum.You would be more scared if you knew the maintenance and mechanics that “maintained” them at some resorts.

However, yeah the maintainance is questionable sometimes. Last week at Big Sky, we stood in line at Sledhorn while it was stopped for like 15-20 minutes watching a few people run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Eventually another dude shows up on a snowmobile, runs into the hut for like 13 seconds, up into the motor room for a minute, and then it worked again. I bet it was just a software or sensor issue but the number of people running those who actually have no idea what's going on is spooky.
5 years ago
5 0
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dmcdmc
Posts: 208 - Karma: 1,432
Think about it this way:

How often do you fall out of a chair in normal life? (without skis or boots or anything). Probably not too often right? No reason you'd slide out on a chairlift either.
5 years ago
4 1
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EvanMeyer
Posts: 3828 - Karma: 3,537
Depends, at shitty east coast resorts where half the employees are alcoholics who don’t ski it can be a little unsettling. The lift maintenance crew we have at bachelor is top notch though, they don’t give those jobs to just anyone.
SkiBum.You would be more scared if you knew the maintenance and mechanics that “maintained” them at some resorts.
5 years ago
4 0
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The.Fish
Posts: 2269 - Karma: 4,997
I always keep an arm around the back of the chair unless there is a bar. Nothing is scarier than when you sit on the chair and it is super slippery or icy.
5 years ago
2 0
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mountaindewgirl
Posts: 2317 - Karma: 21,132
Ride the lifts that have the foot rest on them. You'll feel more secure. Use the bar. Hold onto the back.
5 years ago
3 1
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GrapeHunter
Posts: 2406 - Karma: 8,779
stop skiing and spend the rest of your life in a safe basement on reddit
4 years ago
9 2
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stroh67
Posts: 37 - Karma: 188
Did you just start smoking weed or something? I remember when I was younger and would just get super lit and be terrified that I was gunna fall off the lift!
4 years ago
4 0
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Quaggy
Posts: 1152 - Karma: 19,198
Hey gang!
Thanks for some fantastic suggestions! I'll keep holding onto the back of the chair for dear life until I find something that works!
Thanks again!
4 years ago
3 0
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Wyatt_05
Posts: 74 - Karma: 327
If you feel yourself getting scared on the lift just think “ when was the last time is was sitting in a chair or on a couch and I just fell off”
4 years ago
2 0
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Nuno812
Posts: 432 - Karma: 1,794
I was on the Spillway East chair at Sugarloaf when it fell off the towers and a few people got seriously injured. Not to say that scared me but focusing on a music track or making conversation with ski buddy’s or random people help make the ride go by. I do tend to put an arm over the back of the chair bar down or not...of course statistically you are unlikely to ever even be roped off a lift. Thinking of the statistics of flying is the only way I get myself on a plane.. and cuz it’s usually to fly to the Alps.
4 years ago
2 0
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WisconsinDogfart
Posts: 675 - Karma: 5,529
I’m more scared of the extremely sketchy chairs we get at small mountains in the midwest. Mix that with the lifties being piss drunk half the time, theres a disaster waiting to happen here
4 years ago
1 0
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GrandThings
Posts: 3335 - Karma: 34,523
OP, freaking out about something you know is ridiculous/super unlikely/you've already been doing for years is like THE textbook sign of an anxiety disorder. Not trying to make a huge deal out of it, but you might start noticing it creeping it into other aspects of your life, maybe consider going to talk to someone or at least start practicing some mindfulness techniques.

(For example, a few years ago I used to get suuuper freaked out riding in cars with people for no good reason but I was obsessed thinking they'd crash/go off the road and it got to the point where I was declining road-trips with my friends, just cause my anxiety was so bad.) Mindfulness really helped me break the cycle of these thoughts, and while I sometimes get those shitty thoughts, its much easier to just let them pass and enjoy the moment.

Sorry to get on a pedestal/talk about my own shit here, but this sounds just like something I'd struggle with too!
4 years ago
4 0
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