fear of chairlifts

Hi
We are looking to book a ski holiday and our both beginners with a little experience.
However my wife is terrified of chairlifts so can anyone recommend a resort where we could do without using them.
Okay on gondalas and cable cars just.
Cheers

Benidorm?

Sorry, very facetious!! :oops:

Resorts with glaciers would probably suit as glacier areas are generally serviced by surface lifts. The problem is getting there, although Tignes has the funi.

Don't look at Stubai Glacier then, as they have some very, very long t bars and kill your legs after a while - and if she falls off, she will be even more scared.

I too am not too fond of chairlifts, as from first learning they never seem to tell you how to get on and off, however, I seem to remember - I think it was Saalbach-Hinterglemm - where the chairlifts slowed right down for getting on and off (very sedate), some were heated, and some had the magic carpet where you just stood and went with the movement whilst the chair gently scooped you up. Saying that, I find that if I sit in the middle and stand up and ski straight off I usually have no problems getting off, or you are at least some way out of the way of anyone else. Watch On the Piste 1987 for how NOT to tackle a chair lift...! Would it be worth having a word with the ski school to see if there was someone who could give you an hour's instruction as to how to get on and off (supervised) this might then build her confidence? Sounds silly, but this is obviously stopping the enjoyment of a ski holiday - and what comes down has to go back up - just a thought!

Hi - Try Levi in Finland. There's only 1 chairlift the rest are drag lifts and 1 gondola. It's a good place for beginners too. :-)

Check out St Johann in Tirol, Austria. Well serviced by 2 Gondalas & various drags. Although some chairs, easily avoided Good for Blues & Reds and some lovely tree runs. Also lively Austrian Après ski which is great fun.

Westendorf is also worth a look, very good for learning to ski, the Alpenrose gondola will take you up to the higher slopes, good for confidence building, but drag lifts and nice gentle runs in the village. Niederau is another thought, although have not skied there since mid-1990's, so things may have changed as regards lifts. I do remember several happy afternoons skiing there on the blue up the top (is it Markbachjoch?)

I have skied St Johann too, but it seemed quite a steep drop for a blue on the run back to the resort centre, but I do remember the lifts and they were OK.

Remember it is a holiday, you are there to enjoy yourself!

I also used to fear them, after a couple of falls. But bear in mind that most modern resorts have chairs that detach - there's much more time to get on/off at the bottom/top than on the previous generation. So your question may be "Are there resorts where most/all of the chairs are modern detaching types?" Most big resorts are trying to get rid of the older sorts but don't tend to make a distinction on the piste map or websites, so it's hard to find out.

For example, Verbier has just replaced two wicked, older-type 2-person chairs (Mayentzet->Ruinettes) with a single modern 6-seater combined chair and gondola lift. So now, there's probably only three old-style lifts in the whole of the 250 Kms of Verbier/La Tzoumaz.

However, I appreciate that it's still a worry. Overall, the bigger the resort, the less likely it is that you'll have to use an old warp-factor-9-speed chair.

One way of coping if you have no other option, especially on a 2-man chair, is for the two of you to queue and then you let your wife go by herself. It's much easier to cope with the extra space beside you i.e. get on centrally, and then shuffle over to one side, then reverse the process at the top. Also, your wife can also make it easier by being on the 'outside' seat (i.e. the one furthest from the wheel) at the top. If she puts her outside hand behind her then, even if she is slow off the mark, all that happens is the seat pushes her hand forward, rather than her body.

You aren't alone - You may notice that even clearly experienced snowboarders will sometimes try and leave a vacant seat beside them on a lift. They often have a lot of trouble on old fast chairs as they have to detach one boot. They can't glide on their skis like you and it can be pretty tricky for them to hobble along with one foot on the ground and the other dragging a big snowboard. So don't be too sensitive about what other people think.