As a part of National Ski Safety Month, the Vermont Department of Labor advises those taking part in winter recreational activities at Vermont's ski mountains to follow the safety guidance when skiing, snowboarding and riding lifts up the mountain. The Department has provided tips for safety when riding lifts in coordination with Ski Vermont.
Additionally, we recently sat down with Mike Nellis, the Passenger Tramway Supervisor, to discuss the program and its role in keeping Vermonters safe.
What is meant by ‘passenger tramway’, and what does the division do?
I think the first thing we need to talk about is the definition. When we say ‘Passenger Tramway’, we are talking about ski lifts, so you'll hear me talking about passenger tramway and ski lifts, they're basically the same thing.
The passenger tramway division was started in the early 1960s to make sure that the ski lifts in Vermont are safe for the public use, and that there was an oversight of construction and maintenance.
What role does Passenger Tramway play in safety for Vermonters?
We have 208 ski lifts in Vermont that are inspected and monitored 12 months out of the year. Lifts are inspected before they open up to the public, and we are doing spot checks and monitoring operations throughout the year.
We work closely with the ski areas, and our Passenger Tramway team is able to spend the winter either riding lifts or skiing, looking at it from the same view as a skier. We don't care the size of the ski area, and it doesn't matter if you have one little rope tow, or if you are one of the big ski areas in the state - everybody is treated the same and held to the same standard of safety.
We monitor with ski areas the construction, the operations and making sure they meet all the safety codes. But also, that they use the best practices, and that is pretty much our jobs with them, working together. You know, we're not out there to close ski areas down. When we do have problems, we work with them to get the issues corrected.
How does Passenger Tramway work with ski areas to meet both national safety guidelines and those here in Vermont?
We have a code that is set up in the United States called ANSI B77, which is pretty much our bible. That details the construction, maintenance, and operations of all passenger tramways in the United States. That's what we do our inspections with.
Additionally in Vermont, Vermont Passenger Tramway Laws (VSA 31.15) goes through all the different aspects specific to the state, and we also have the Vermont Safety Rules that are basically an addendum to ANSI B77.This allows us to say 'Ok, we want to have this switch put on here, we want this sign' and stuff like that specific to Vermont.
ANSI code is set up by a committee, and I am voting member of that committee. There are 50 of us in the United States. Our job is to make sure the code is up to date. We are actually working now on a new edition that will be out to spring, but we always need to keep up new technology, and that's part of our job in reviewing.
How do you work with ski areas to make sure they are meeting these requirements?
We work through our check sheet based on the ANSI code during each inspection. For example, ANSI code says you have to test your breaks every 30 days the lift is in operation. During the summertime you have to check 20 percent of your grips for cracks, and 20% of your chairs to make sure they are not cracked.
We go right down through this check list, and the ski areas get a copy of it. They will usually be with us during the inspection, so it's not a hidden thing. We're going down through with lift maintenance manager, maybe their supervisor, a lot of times the mountain manager or risk manager may join us as well. We go through all the requirements with them as we are inspecting their lift, making sure that it's up to code.
Are Tramway Inspectors only working during the winter season?
We work year-round. This year we will have 29 ski areas that will be operating 208 lifts. Before they can operate for the winter, they have to be inspected and have to meet all the code requirements of checking chairs, checking wire rope, brake testing. All of that has to be done before they can open.
Leading up to the wintertime, we start monitoring this, really starting in April. So as soon as they close in April, they start tearing the lift down and doing all their maintenance, any new construction or major modifications, and testing. We have about 20 lifts that open up for the summer, and any maintenance again has to be done before they can open for the season. This would be checking chairs for cracks, checking grips, doing line work, checking wheels, etc.
For us, the summertime is spent monitoring these activities and doing inspections. So as ski areas are doing their maintenance, they're calling us and say, 'Hey, we found this, can you come out and look', or 'We have this specialist in, can you come and watch them work'.
While we are monitoring what is going on with maintenance, new lifts are being built in Vermont every year. Part of our job is to monitor all the new construction, checking, when they pour in cement, erecting the steel, etc. We're already working on next summer, with several new lifts planned.
In between all the maintenance is being done, the new construction and modifications, we are also doing spot checks during the summer. So, if a ski area is doing mountain biking on a lift, making sure the racks are right and the decks the loading unloading is you know, up to snuff, and there aren't any dangerous situations for riders.
When are lifts inspected and how often?
Before a tramway can open up to the public, they have to do a full Vermont Inspection (go through the check sheet). This is done seasonally, but during winter and summer operations, we actually have a check sheet for spot checks as well.
There are things like the auxiliary motor has to be run 30 minutes every month online (has to be hooked up and be able to run the lift), did they put fuel in it, and then checking the brakes, just like in your car. There is an emergency brake and a service brake, which basically is just like the brake pedal in your car, it stops it every time.
There is also a torque test procedure that they have to do once a month and prove that the brake has got the holding strength needed. They are responsible for keeping this in a maintenance log, which we monitor when we do our spot inspections.
What are some of tests that are done on ski lifts?
For new and modified lifts, we look at the construction and maintenance, but also monitor the testing. The Acceptance Test is where we use water to simulate the weight of persons riding the lift. We use water and 170 pounds per person, per seat (six place chair 6X170) and then we add an additional 10 percent. That’s how the new and modified lifts are inspected to make sure that all the breaks work, all the switches work. With a full load on the lift, the motor running the lift has to be able to run that lift at a minimum of 100 feet per minute.
Every seven years, for aerial tramway (like a chair lift or a gondola) has to be dynamically tested with water again, making sure the breaks all work, the auxiliary motors can pull the load and that all the electrical works.
What about evacuations?
We require that for every season at each ski area, they have to do evacuation demonstration for us in order to get their lifts inspected for operations. For that, we will also tell them how many chairs we want in the load with people and where we want them to get the people off. They have to perform that demonstration for us and that's usually the ski patrol in the wintertime because they have a full-time people, and they have part-time patrollers.
In the summer this can be more of challenge, because in the wintertime you get around with snowmobiles or snowcats, whereas in the summer they will use four-wheelers or pick-up trucks. You also have people with shorts and flip-flops that you are lowering down into the grass that you have to protect. But every operating season the ski area has to demonstrate to us that they can be able to evacuate a lift safely in under two hours.
Additionally, to evacuating lifts with ski patrol, sometimes you can use the auxiliary motor a part of the lift. Normally they run on electric, but each aerial tramway has to have a back-up motor, either diesel or gas which they can hook up and run the people off safely that way. That's what we prefer, but somethings because of a mechanical breakdown they are aren't able to run that motor, so they have to rope evac it. During that demonstration, they have to hook it up for us and show us that the lifts can move on electric, but also that the auxiliary power can get people off too.
What is the relationship with other states, and how do they differ in their oversight of ski lifts as compared to Vermont?
We can share any issues we are seeing with other states. We work closely with New Hampshire, Maine, New York, among other states. We all work together and when we have problems, we're letting each other know what's going on.
At this time of the year, we are having more conversations. Like I said we have running over 200 lifts at this time of the year, so there is always something going on. It could be mechanical or electrical, and with our weather it can be -20 degrees and the next day we are at 30 degrees with rain and ice.
We do have different problems come up, but we share that information with each other. Different states have the same manufacturers and ski lifts. In the older days, ski areas may have fought each other, but in today's world we know that working together keeps people safer.
For New York, as an example too, for their tramway inspectors the ski lifts are probably their secondary job. They inspect elevators, and I think trains, and that sort of thing. In New Hampshire, inspectors actually inspect amusement rides as well as ski lifts. In Vermont our time is spent just working on passenger tramways, that is our full-time job.
Who makes up the Passenger Tramway Division?
In the Tramway division, there's three of us that are full-time inspectors, and we are funded by the ski areas, who pay a registration fee for each of their ski lifts. That is a part of the regulations - if you have a rope tow, you pay so much, or if you have a detachable six-place chair, you pay your share too. So that's how we're funded.
I serve as the Passenger Tramway Supervisor, and then Mike Morelli and Jack Savasta are our other Tramway Inspectors. We split the state up with Jack out of the north, Mike in the central, and Mike is in the central, and me in the southern part of the state. In addition, our program director and staff administrator are based out of Montpelier.
As inspectors we will probably spend at least half the week visiting ski areas, riding lifts, doing inspections, and just talking to personnel and observing how lift maintenance personnel are doing.
What is your background?
I have been in the ski business all my life. I started as a lift operator in 1974. I stared at a small ski area in western New York, and after a few years, moved my whole family out to Steamboat Colorado, where I worked as a maintenance mechanic and building lifts.
We moved back east to be closer to family in 1985, and since have worked at a few of the different ski areas, most recently Stratton. I was then looking for another challenge, and was looking for change, and had been talking to the Vermont Inspectors for years, so when a position came open, I applied and got the position. Now I am the supervisor for the division, and it has been a great job to be able to be outdoors every day and work with a lot of interesting and talented people in Vermont. I think that is what has kept me in the ski business and seems like I am always learning something new every day.
What is the Passenger Tramway Board, and what is their role?
In Vermont we have a passenger tramway board, which consists of two industry representatives and tow representatives from the public. The Department of Labor Commissioner chairs the board. The board oversees what we do as a division, with my role being to provide updates on construction, operations, and safety issues. The board also looks at variances from ski areas for any rules.
What should people know about ski safety and what the state of Vermont is doing to protect them?
I think probably a lot of skiers don't realize they have responsibilities too. We're running on mechanical equipment that we are continuing to inspect and maintain, but skiers have to abide by safety rules and guidelines, like the skier’s code, which is posted at most lifts, it's on the back of their ski ticket using posted on their trail maps.
Then too, if they're not familiar with a lift, always ask. That was one sign we added here in Vermont, that if you're not familiar with the lift to ask an attendant for help. It's important that if you're not sure about how to get on this chair or T-bar, ask before you get into trouble or get hurt.