BTK2000 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 16, 2018 3:46 pm

I can speak to this because I am currently a ski patrolman here in nc and have worked at several resorts out west. This is what’s called a rollback and is the cumulation of poor maitnance, design and operation. The regulation of ski lifts in the US depends depends on the state but is fairy strict across the us. A chairlift has a primary service brake that is used anytime the lift stops and can hold a loaded chair lift in place. There is also an emergency brake that can be manually activated or is activated automatically If the chair rolls backward. This brake is applied directly to the bull wheel itself and locks the unit in place. The gearbox also has a preventer unit that will prevent the lift from running in reverse on most lifts. With more modern lifts it is impossible to start the lift if it detects any faults with these systems. This is the same situation as an elevator being in a free fall and idk if y’all remember the myth busters episode about jumping in a falling elevator. They had to take a torch an cut all the preventers and cables to even test the myth. They came to the conclusion that it was so hard to get the elevator to free fall due to the strict safety regulations that the myth was basically busted.