Skiing and Waist Packs

         It is important when skiing to use the proper waist pack techniques. You would assume when you bought it that the proper way of wearing it was to hang it over your behind.
         Well, when you ski, it is important to wear it hanging down your front, especially on the chair lifts. If you don't, what happened to me could happen to you.
         I was waiting in line for the ski lift, chatting with a friend of mine that I was going to ride the lift with. It was our turn, so we hopped on. I had my pack in the rear- facing direction. I didn't think anything of it until it was our turn to get off at the top of the lift - I was stuck! I tried and tried to pull it out from between the slats on the chair, and my friend tried to help as well.
         I was terrified that we won't get off in time and we would be flung off the chair as it went around to go back down the slope. The lift operator had not seen our plight. I finally came unstuck a few moments after we should have disembarked from the lift and we tumbled to in a tangled heap right in the way of other skiers trying to get off.
         We were safe, but my friend (who is a good friend of my family and is about 30 years older than me), had landed with her face on my boot.The lift operator called the ski patrol and my friend got a free ride down the slope on a stretcher. They didn't want to take any chances that she might be injured even though she said she was okay. It turned out that she was okay, except that she sported a terrific shiner for days.
         Well, I learned my lesson and always remember to wear the pack in front - or better yet, stuff things in my pockets and leave the rest at home. As to my friend, this event happened about 18 years ago, she is now in her 70's, and she still skis.