Top 10 Things Lifties will hate you for
- Not listening
- Being on your phone when loading
- not having a pass
- ducking the rope for the lift (where the lift swings around the bull wheel)
- NOT SHREDDING HARD ENOUGH!!!!
- Shredding THEIR… POW
- Reckless loading (we are all guilty, trying to get on the cool guy chair)
- bad attitudes
- no reason
- Not Listening!!!!!!!
Basically keep these warriors of the ski world happy and good things will come. Obey their simple, well thought out rules, say thank you when they clean off your chair, and mind your p’s and q’s because these are the people that make it happen for you and your lifestyle….Hug a liftie…..or just be nice……TX JW
you chose your job you hack
without the hacks their would be no ski industry….thanks
I disagree, Europe has no lifties aka people there to tell you to sit down and there are no lifties in the backcountry…..
In europe with do have lift people but their job is basically to help ski schools on to the lift and to stop the lift if someone has fallen at either end, otherwise they don’t do much
NOBODY CARES ABOUT EUROPE…..!!!
UR SO DUMB THERE IS NO LIFTIES IN THE BACK COUNTRY ….GOOD OBSERVATION JACKASS
about time someone gives sum love to the lifties out there
I like when they brush off the snow, like a little effort to keep me bum dry. Nice fella
ALWAYS BE NICE A LIFTY. They do have the power to make your day great or not so great. I haven’t been a lifty but I do know many lifties. I have however worked a position where I was forced to watch people ski pow all day and have them tell me how great it is. Its torture to not be out most days. Tell em thanks, give them a candy bar because we all know they are underpaid and under appreciated.
Yeah, we skiers could have that same list too, after almost being killed several times by spaced out lifties!
You may not have almost been killed if you followed the simple rules. The lift can practically run its self. Aside from getting toilet bowled by a wind whipped raised seat (this won’t kill you) the simple rules of no loose clothing/ remove pole straps, raise your ski tips and most of all pay attion will keep you alive. So most of it is on you buddy. The liftie is only there to provide assistance when the guest slips up, oh and hopefully do some ramp work
Sounds to me like you need to learn how to load a chair… or stop snowboarding
SoundS like a GAPER
maybe you should be a big boy and learn how to properly load the chair, pretty straight forward process.
Thats a good point. The weakest link, can break the chain. I’ll have to do another top 10 list for skiers against the lifties…nothing is sacred……nothing.
I would have thought #1 would have involved doing something that doesn’t allow them to light their onies??
im a lifty and i dont dont checks tickets and i hate people fucking up my ramp and beaver slaping 10 gals of pow on my ramp
aaahhhh i HATE that
Gaper-stomping the ramp should be #1. Then #2 should be people who don’t know how to load properly and slash your shins with their edges. A few others would be swinging the chair, commenting on how awesome the snow is (while they’re stuck working), throwing snowballs, gouging the ramp, etc.
I make a point of saying thank you. I even sang to a few lifties last year. After talking to a few of them about the job I realized that they do actually help make sure my ass gets on the chair. I had a bad bump from a Keystone liftie working his first fix grip at Abasin late in the season, almost killed me.
I see lifties more than friends sometimes and they always seem to be around when I am grinning like a powder-plundering fiend. Lifties are awesome.
never be a d*ck to the guy bumping your chair. you’ll get the ghost bump next time around and be starfished in the low clearance area… if a guy was cool and tossed me candy or some pizza he’s gonna last chair.
This is a pretty lame list. What did it take you all of a minute and a half to come up with these?
why don’t you make a di-cut about it jstorrs? maybe something like “no one cares you make lists about lifties”..?
Coolest people on the hill hands down. These guys and girls have to deal with every guest that comes to the hill. From the pompous ass who thinks he is the best rider on the hill, old farts that you can’t do anything rite for, the family who does not understand why all five of them can’t fit on the same quad chair….this list can go in for days. So be a friend, toss them a candy, a nugget or joint, a high five or a beer. It sucks working for minimum wage with all the responsibilities involved in a lifties day for a free ski pass you hope you get to use on a powder day at some point during the season. All while watching most epic days getting slashed by gapers and toolbags whooping and screaming like a bunch of idiots while they hold a broom/ rake and try to make your day a little better.
I’ve never hugged a liftie before. might have to do that sometime to cause some confusion and sexual tension
I have a couple more.
> Complaining when the lift doesn´t OPEN on time. (it is not the lifties Call so chill out!).
> Who knows when the wind is going to stop/slow, Lifties don`t know when the lift is going back on.
> If your 5 year old daughter fell off the chair 30 feet down and a lifty stops the chair, runs under it and catches her, at least give him a call.
I can also add what lifties love:
> Thank you!, (after they let you on the chair) EVERYTIME.
> Smiling back.
> Helping to smooth of the ramp when they are shoveling (with your skis/board).
Thank you! You said it all pretty much.
Awesome, I want to ride the cool guy chair!
Joe.. with a name like that any lift you ride IS the cool guy chair.
The beaver tail move to clear your board/skis of snow should definitely have been mentioned on this list. Lifties hate that! I often wonder how anyone becomes a lifty. I’m glad there are people out there who are willing to do the job, because I certainly am not. There are so many negatives, and almost no positives. It basically comes down to people that either are unemployable in the rest of the resort industry, and people who waited way to long to look for a job right? “Its for the free pass” they all say. Which really means, they do not have the self restraint to save enough money for a pass over the summer. Because anyone with half a brain would realize that although you get a free pass, you are getting paid such a low hourly, that you could do any other job in your area, pay for you pass, and still come out better off financially at the end of the season. I’m not trying to insult anyone here, I honestly wonder what would cause anyone to do this job.
beaver tail move- didn’t realize it had a name, is infuriating. Harry- at some areas being a liftie is not a very good job, but my mountain pays me to ski during my shift, before the mountain opens to the public, and sometimes shuttles me up before the public on my days off so that I can start skiing my line as you are getting your ticket checked. Just saying at certain areas its a dream job, at others, its not.
do not pass go, do not collect $200, you’re an absolute dumbass. “There are so many negatives, and almost no positives” yeah, i totally hate skiing two or three runs every pow morning before you melvins even wake up to come ski. getting 3-4 paid skiing hours a day isn’t that sick. 125 days on the mountain last year during arguably one of the best seasons of all time totally sucked.
While you were riding 3-4 hours every day paid (which I doubt is true) I was riding all day, and I also had time to go into the backcountry and take my time. I work Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 3pm, and 9-5 Saturday, Sunday. This means I get to ride every weekday if it’s good, and never deal with gapers on the weekends. Not every day is a powder day, so you would HAVE to pay me to ride 3-4 hours if it’s not at least knee deep. Oh, and since I’m not a lifty, I can afford a snowmobile to access sick pow before you, Melvin in the morning, and also up to a week after any snowfall.
If your working with a good crew you are making laps all day, payed. That’s great you get to go off to work at 3 leaving yourself all day to gape it up. I am off at 4:30. At that point after riding for 3+ hours, enjoying the scean and being outdoors all day I grab a beer and go about my business while your jerk ass is stuck at work. Yeah it’s not a dream job but one day I’ll be able to turn I into one while your serving coffie, waiting tables or wrenching on your snowmo.
One day you may realize the uneducated get payed, enjoy the scean, and serve coffie. Sacrifice a few laps to read a book and get learned, so you can get paid even more, really enjoy the scene, and not worry about having to serve coffee. Thanks for the bumps.
Reasons to be a liftie: You get paid, you get a pass, you get paid to ski/board while working, its fun, you have a great schedule 4 days on, 3 off, you work with great people, great perks with the mountain, pre-public runs, private locker on the mountain, the list continues. Where I work people compete for a liftie job. So I do I half a brain?
*So do I have half a brain?
hey harry theres prolly alot shit you dont get ……i happen to know mnt mangers that have been lifties at one time …..your dumass forgets that to get to the top …one must start at the bottom …..99 percent of the time ….u horses ass……thats y most lifties are between the ages of 18 to 23…..so before you start to think ……dont becuase your obviously dont know your head from your ass…..getting your foot in the door in any industry is great …..if your a good worker you will shine any job you do..you dont have to a liftie for ever..you dont have to be so narrow minded like harry kinney here either.
most of my lifties get pow shots …before your lazy ass gets any breakfast … 100 percent of the time ……and if you happen to get higher than a liftie …to like relieve or foreman , than all you do is ride pow ….so suked it Harry and all the haters …..cuz me and my liftie crew ride more pow than any of you gapers …
Always higher than the lifties!
Ok. Good stuff. I like your reasoning. I did not mean my comment as an insult. It’s just something ive always wondered about. Do you both not think working as a server, bellman, or front desk at a hotel, rental shop, gear shop, any shop, etc. would allow you night shifts, more money, less cold, more opportunity for advancement if you are a good hard worker, and not having to deal with the other 10 things on this list Above. How far up can a you rise as a liftie before you find the ceiling?
Manager at my resort used to be a liftie. About 50% of the lodge staff were lifties at one point. I’ve got a desk job in the resort and I still get at least an hour ride-time on the clock and I used to be a lifty.
Also, some people really ENJOY being out in the cold. I certainly miss it. Getting a workout while you’re out there having fun is worth the wage.
well everyone wants night shifts, so they’re hard to get. many of the lifties I work with are college educated (many from elite schools) and are doing it for a couple of years. In that context its a pretty awesome thing to get paid for (I ski ~3 hours out a 9 hour shift, four days/week). I’ve worked as a server, it sucks. If you’re thinking longterm, you might rise to lift manager (ski all day), lift mechanic (ski all day) ski patroller (throw bombs, ski all day).In my experience the people choosing to make a career out of working on the hill have made a calculated decision about what they want from life, and are winning.
I however, am very spoiled by my mountain, its the best. I imagine at a place thats smaller or more corporate, the job may suck; I heard the lifties at some areas (sun valley?) have to ride the lifts down instead of ski, in that case, their job blows.
being a lifty is one of the most underrated jobs on the hill. ski all day, everyday. prepublic runs every snow day (except for tow rope days). last chair everyday if you want. stress free if you’re good at it.