Heated chairlift seats at Norway's Norway's Trysil Ski and Snowboard Resort and Austria's Zell am See warm skiers' and snowboarders' tushes, but are they necessary?
This skiing and snowboarding headline arrived today from Norway:
Norway's Trysil Ski and Snowboard Resort Opens New Six-Seat Chairlift with Heated Seats—First in Scandinavia
Which brings to mind a bet.
While skiing in the Salzburg region during January, at Zell am See, if I remember correctly, I was told by my German friend Michael that "some of these lifts have heated seats."
"No they don’t," I countered, just for the sake of contrariness.
"Yes, the guide told me."
"Nah."
"A bet? For a schnapps?"
"Well..."
"I bet we ride one chair with heated seats before lunch."
"Okay. For a schnapps."
"Done"
I won. We did ride a lift with heated seats. But, not until after lunch.
It was also a mild day at Zell am See that day, so the heated seats were entirely unnecessary. And the news from Norway conveys something of that conundrum of necessity:
The warmest autumn weather in 40 years delayed the Toppekspresssen chairlift's opening by several weeks. The new chair lift, Toppekspresssen, opened shortly before Christmas. But we had plans and hopes to open it already on December 9th. The lift was ready, but not the weather! Unfortunately guests who visited Trysil early and mid December did not get the chance to experience the lift and the heat in the seats.
This raises another question: do chairlifts with heated seats add to global warming?
Europe in general is suffering one of its warmest and snowless winters in years, and I can’t see where heated seats help the situation.
Seriously, though, when we finally rode the chair that toasted our bottoms, it seemed they provided little comfort. It was kind of like standing in front of the fireplace: one side of you toasts while the other freezes. The difference on the chair, however, is that unlike the fireplace, where you can turn around to warm your other side, you can’t roll over on the chair.
The Norwegians happily report, however that now the temperatures are more back to normal and we have lifts and slopes open all over the mountain. And, they’ve turned on the heat.
(Only skiers would celebrate the idea that the weather has turned cold. And, maybe snowmobilers. Believe me—my warm-weather loving spouse thinks we’re nuts.)
Probably the jury’s still out on whether a warm tush makes for a happier, better skier or snowboarder. But, the heated seat is there for those whose bottoms demand it.
Personally, however, I don’t think I’ll be traveling to Norway just to road test the lift. It’s all about the snow, not a warm bottom.
