We've all been on plenty of ski lifts in our lifetime. But if you had to pick one to lap for the rest of your life, which lift would you choose? We asked our athletes just that and a lot of them were on the same lift.
Lifts to Lap for a Lifetime
CHRIS MCCORMICK
"The only lift I would need for the rest of my life is no doubt the P60 in Laax, Switzerland. I'm sure that this isn't the most original choice, especially within the UK ski scene, but for good reason. There's not many places in the world where you can ski a full slopestyle course and then cruise a rail line longer than most parks in the same run. Some people say that the chair ride up is too long, but I see this as more of a nice opportunity to catch up with friends. Then when the park is buried, the run under the chair is more than capable of providing some epic powder days. To top it all off, after a long day riding you can grab a beer down the bottom at Indy."
Harris Booth, Mike Rowlands, Kirsty Muir & Benjamin Carlund also said P60 in Laax.
CHARLIE DRUMMOND
"If I had to pick just one chairlift to ride it would have to be something like Col de Balme in La Clusaz, France. It has everything you could want from one lift, a fun steep windy piste, great playful terrain with unlimited bc potential, and one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. Pair that with a fun shred crew and you have everything you need for a lifetime of good times on one chair."
Guillaume Le lan, Lupe Hagearty, Arthur Tillier & Mina Quenet also said Col de Balme in La Clusaz.
JOSS BALDWIN
"If I could only ride one lift for the rest of my life, it'd most likely be Les Lanches in Tignes, France. It provides access to some of the most amazing terrain straight off the lift, like "Petit Balme" or the Genepy Bowl, if you're keen to earn some turns you can ski classic Tignes lines like the "P" colouirs or the big daddy "Grande Balme". Lots of these off-piste routes are north facing so generally the snow stays super good. Just fancy a piste blast? Double M is a 700 vertical meter leg burner that is prime for long GS style turns! Lanches is one of the first lifts to open every season and usually the last to close which is always nice as well. And hey, if you get tired from blasting laps all day Planks Clothing & Coffee Tignes is only a 1 minute walk away, what could be better?!"
JACOB BELANGER
"I still have a lot of lifts to discover, but from my experience, I think it would have to be the Albona lift in St Anton, Austria. It's a small two-man ski lift that leads to a super flowy terrain with many jumps, bumps, and some avalanche barriers.
A great place to have plenty of fun!"
TOM GREENWAY
"The Whitestar Express in Cardrona, New Zealand, is the long lift lap for the park in the resort, this would be my lift to lap for the rest of my life because Cardies is by far the most fun park I’ve ever ridden. Having a long lift lap for the whole park is perfect (providing the lift queue isn’t massively long like it is sometimes)."
SAM KCKEOWN
"This is one of the hardest questions I’ve had to answer in a while. There are so many different lifts that I would ride for different reasons, but all else considered, I would have to go with the Grizzly Express Gondola in Lake Louise, Canada. It provides access to both the front and backside of the mountain, giving you a world of options such as groomers, moguls, tree runs, or open pow. It also provides access to their park, as well as some of the best out of bounds riding the Rockies provide. I could go on for days about the different lifts I would ride but for now, the lake takes the cake."
JUHO KILKKI (REAL SKIFI)
"If I had to choose one I would probably just go with the main t-bar of our local ski hill in Finland. I mean it's not the best skiing on the planet but it's the way I've been skiing my whole life more or less. My family and friends are here and the hill is close by. They got some rails and a couple of mediocre jumps. There might be few tiny "powder days" in a year. That's all I need to love skiing! I don't like to think about far-away destinations that much mainly because of environmental reasons. Naturally, I'd love to shred more pow someday, but after all, I don't need it that much. I'm happy where I'm at."