Chair lift with a 20 month old? Yes or no?

[Gipfeli]

Does anyone have any advice on this? Would I be mad to even be thinking of taking 20m dd on a chair lift? Or am I worrying needlessly?

My DS is 21mo and i wouldnt put him on a lift (hence why he stays at home when we go skiing, until he's older) but i guess it depends on your DD.

A few years ago DH and I went on a lift and we were asked to watch a young girl, she must have been 4, it was only a small lift, but half way she slipped and my DH managed to catch her by the hood of her coat! He grabbed her and it was really petrifying, for her and us, we had to lift the bar up to get her back on the seat and untangle her ski's - Poor Girl, she was so happy when we got to the top and gave us a big hug. The instructor (ESF) came up and also thanked us.

This is why i am so worried but as i said, it depends on your DD.

Why would a 20month need to go onto a chair lift? She wouldn't be skiing at this stage?

We have taken ds (from 4 months and annually thereafter) up on a gondola - but at least he is then sitting in an enclosed space. Dh and I would then take it in turns to ski.

Ds was 4 when he first wnet on a chair lift - which was the year he learnt to ski. Frineds who are ski instructors had thier twins skiing at 3.

We have, although not often in winter when it can be very cold and windy, but you have to be prepared to grab them and run at the other end, without slipping over yourself, not easy. Used reins/harness to have something to hang onto as the gap under the bar is scarily large, not that they woudl have been that effective. Your dd won't be skiing and not all chairs accept non-skiers anyway. Gondolas much preferable every time, you can even get a 3 wheeler inside .

I wouldn't, I'd be scared they'd wriggle and slip under the bar! I'm sure I worry too much though.

LIZS - the method we use on chairs with little ones (although not usually as little as 20 months - ds1 started going on chairlifts at about 2 and a half) is to sit with your arm round them and your ski poles across their lap, so that you can hold both ends of the poles - a bit like a personal safety bar IYSWIM? We also have a harness (like this) with a handle which helps for lifting them on and off the lifts.

Good idea woith pole. When dd was smaller we'd put her in a Baby Bjorn. However we went through a phase , summer and winter , of not letting her on one though once she outgrew it - just too risky. Most larger resorts have an alternative tbh.

Thanks all.

She's not going skiing of course but I put the question here hoping to get some experiences from skiers. Her bigger brother will be having his lesson at the top of chair lift and I was wondering whether she and I would go up and potter about while DH and DS do the "skiing" stuff (he's nearly 4 - there clearly won't be much in the way of skiing for him either ) and then we can all have lunch together up there. Or we can just as easily stay down in the village and play there. We're only going for the weekend and it's not something we need to do but I was just thinking about it.

Actually the chairlift (which is the only route up this particular bit of mountain and is open to walkers etc) is supposed to be being/have been replaced by a gondola but I can't really work out whether it has been done or not.

Thanks for your tips and thoughts. I was wondering about the cold thing too LIZS - she's a real whinger about the cold as it is!

Saw this: Magnetic chair lifts for kids and thought of this thread!