Yesterday I found the NSAA’s new website www.kidsonlifts.org.  The educational push of proper chair lift use has started, and we are thrilled.

“Kids On Lifts” is a very cool site with kid friendly videos and safety pointers.  Through e-mail exchange with Bob Roberts, President of the California Ski Industry Association, and Emily Griffith, Director of Member Services for the National Ski Areas Association, I learned that discussion of proper ski lift use was long in the works. This particular initiative, “Kids On Lifts”, began in the Spring of 2012.

The website repeatedly instructs that young passengers sit all the way back on the chairseat, or “back to back.”  The riders should never lean forward or rest on the restraint bar. Further that because young ski school students will often ride with another student (or solo- my observation) instead of an instructor or an adult, it is absolutely critical that parents discuss chair lift responsibility with their children.

The “Kids On Lifts” website is a good starting point to initiate discussion of chair lift safety with your child.  I suggest that you also have a conversation with the Ski School Supervisors, Instructors and Lift Operators to ensure the proper teaching of loading and riding techniques.  The professionals that teach our children the ski skills to get them down the hill should also assist the parents in teaching the kids how to safely get up the hill.

 The Kids On Lifts Logo is downloadable here.