Kids and Queues?

Morning all.

Not an earth shattering topic this one but one I'm curious about as it's pi$$ed me off in the past.

In European resorts many kids seem to think they have a god given right to barge through lift queues so they can get on first. Not a subtle thing but forcing their way though and around people. When I was a kid it would have been unthinkable to barge an adult out of the way!

Now the one time I skied in Canada there was not a hint of this. Everyone took their turn down to several queues merging and people automatically taking alternate turns to move forward.

My question is have these European kids been told that they are allowed to go first? Is it the polite and the right thing to let them through?

My instincts when I see it are to block them or stand on their bindings but that would be bad if they're doing nothing wrong? :twisted:

If socially it has been deemed that kids may go first then why not give them their own line at the lift?

Cheers,

Owen.

I have only ever skiied in Austria and had no real problems. Kids in Skischule do sometimes push in but the instructors do have to try and keep together. I hate it when people push in but I have had to train my children not to be too British (apologies if that is a bit racist), but my younger one nearly got suffocated at Disneyland Paris by an adult! That said there is a difference between being assertive and being aggressive. Failing that you could always use your ski pole- accidently of course :wink:

Well - I am not aware of any "cultural" thing about letting kids through in lift queues.
But - I reckon there are as many polite as impolite kids, adults, Brits, French etc etc.
Perhaps kids are just more noticeable?
What gets me going are those who hold back on a chair when it is busy to be with their firends.
You know - queue a mile long and most 4 man chairs going up with 3 etc.
No problem when no queue, but .... :evil:

My first ski trip was to M & as I was going to ski school I had to go in the cable car up to the Ahorn, this was my first experience in a cable car & the queueing system. :evil:
It was in March & was a school holiday period so kids were everywhere, the adults were bad enough trying to push past but the kids were worse, even had them crawling between my legs as well as some pushing in around the sides, total chaos & seemed to be no one supervising them.
As for the cable car when I thought it was full another 15 got in, I have never been so cramped in my life, ski bus the same as the lift.
As I said it was my first ski trip & it almost put me off skiing, knowing you had to do this every morning.In some resorts they have a separate entrance for kids going to ski school & this helps, although you will have to wait longer as they go first.

I avoid the school holidays like the plague so don't find too much of a problem. I have seen it and where possible block them from getting past. I find using a ski pole to open their rear binding soon slows them down.

Catching the Bellvue Cable Car in Les Houches we were confronted with hundreds of tiny children in ski kit. Bit of a holdup at the turnstile which turned out to be quite funny. All of the children were so small, their lift passes were below the sensor, and they were too small to push the turnstile.
The Lifty resolved this by picking each child up by the collar of their ski jacket, swiping the whole child against the sensor and depositing them on the other side to go into the cabin.
8)

I normally find a low cloths line does the trick followed by a quick apology or for the adults just unclip one their bindings it normally slows them up :evil:

Like others, I travel out of school holiday periods so its not USUALLY a problem. I think the issue with kids pushing through comes from when they're in ski school and they usually get taken by their instructor to the front or have a special lane for them, but once they're out of ski school they still think they can go first.
TBH I have found the problem far more common with adults, particularly in France, and a couple of times I have had to poke someone in the back with a pole, or block their attempt to push past. This usually results in a quick apology and a load of "European waffle" which once they know your English they give off as some kind of justification as to why they should be getting in front of everyone.
I haven't tried opening peoples bindings yet, but if I have a problem next week, I might give that a go, could be quite amusing.

What does Pee me off is when the person behind you in the queue for the lift thinks its acceptable to literally make spoons with you and shuffle RIGHT up behind you, which generally involves them standing on the tails of your skis. Ok, when you have rental skis its still annoying, but when they're your own skis, its bordering on vandalism.
This is the one time I really do unload and have a go at someone if they do it more than once, knowing that the first time could be accidental. Please, don't stand on someone ski tails.