Ski pole magic...

Skiing entails spending a significant amount of time riding ski lifts. In fact, the better skier one becomes, the greater percentage of total skiing time one ends up just riding lifts. Chairlifts, I would say are the most common way up that I use, and I would argue that it is true for most, unless you only ski Jackson Hole, Snowbird or Argentière, France.

From time to time, chairlifts stop for a broad range of reasons, going from assisting fallen riders at the top or the bottom, loading some provisions, a ski patrol sled or allowing a frightened or injured passenger to download.

Since I've spend days on chairlifts and almost hours while they were at standstill in the middle of the air, I have developed a “mind-game” which, when it works perfectly, can be incredibly impressive. It goes like this: I simply try my best to “guess” the moment when the chair will get back in motion and a fraction of a second before it does, or passengers actually feel it, I tap the frame of the lift with my pole as if I were magically ordering the chairlift to run again.

When the timing works, it gets incredible comments and awes from anyone attentive enough to witness the “miracle.” When it fails, this goes either unnoticed or is placed on the account that I must be an old, fidgety skier. There's no major risk to failing there; of course, you only can do this once in a single ride in order not to make it a suspicious and noticeable activity.

This said, I must admit that I could count on my fingers the instances when that perfect timing has happened, out of perhaps hundreds of not-so-successful attempts. Make sure to try it, next time your chair stops!