Let’s face it, skiing isn’t always suited to people with a fear of heights. It’s not so much the mountain and skiing down it that’s the problem, it’s a case of not liking the experience of getting on the ski lift. Some people just don’t feel safe doing it.
And the problem is compounded even more when you are a parent and you are taking children of a younger age on the slopes. They are understandably going to be excited at the idea, but trying to keep them from wriggling around on that ski lift turns many a parent pale at the mere thought.
If that sounds like you, there is now a solution to your problems. Top ski resort Courchevel in France has now got a much safer way of getting the kids to the top of the mountain. It still involves a ski lift, but you won’t have any worries about them falling off.
That’s because the ski lift has been designed with a huge magnet in the back of it, working on one end of each chair. The child wears a specially made vest that has a magnet in the back of it and once they sit down there is no way they can move or fall until the magnet releases them at the top of the mountain.
In addition, the inventor of this vest and system has made sure the vest serves more than just this one purpose. It’s also bright orange, so even if it’s snowing hard and a child in the group gets separated from the rest, they’ll be easy to see. The skiing lessons offered at Courchevel are the only way to get hold of one of these vests at the moment, but that won’t be the case for very long. Soon they will be available across the resort for anyone to rent – and one would suspect this great idea will soon spread to other resorts in other areas too. Let’s hope so.
If you look closely at the vest you will also see that it is quite thick – thicker than it needs to be for the purpose of the magnet. This is because it has also been intended to help protect newcomers to skiing from hurting themselves too much when they fall. All in all, this new device is being met with real enthusiasm – from parents and children alike.
The good news is the creators of Magnestick – the quirky name for the system – are quite happy for other resorts to use it… at a price of course. But as the positive publicity for this new invention gathers pace, we can reasonably expect most other areas to jump on the bandwagon (or rather the ski lift) too. This will ensure that no matter where families head to when skiing, the kids will feel safe whenever they get on that ski lift.
Until then, Courchevel might just see an influx of families who want the safest skiing holiday possible.