What do these symbols mean?

Symbols in a telecabine/bubble/gondolaMonday 25th April is the last day that the lifts will be open in La Clusaz (it’s also the very important ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, lest we forget). The eminent closure of the few remaining ski lifts in one of only three ski resorts still open in Haute Savoie has prompted me to present the three final signs from telecabines in La Clusaz which could be misinterpreted.

Firstly, there’s the “No mobile phones that require pens in this cabin” sign. Or is that “No miniature stick figures poking out of your mobile phone”? It’s certainly a far cry from the detailed line drawing figure I wrote about previously with their suits and business shoes. Actually, it’s a person leaning out of a cabin, although it’s not very representative of the cabin shape.

Next up is a symbol that’s far better at capturing the shape of the cabin a bit more accurately. Why did they not apply this to the one above instead of trying to reinvent the wheel? Anyway, this one looks to me like “No ballet allowed in the cabin”, although as a visiting friend remarked upon seeing the sign, “What’s wrong with stretching if there’s enough room? Is it the leaning you’re not allowed to do?” Bingo! At least one other person took a moment to realise that the sign actually means “Don’t swing the cabin”. Of course. The good news is that I can carry on doing ballet while my friend leans on me to stretch. Not swinging the cabins is actually very important. If the swinging causes the cable to wobble too much, the cable could misalign with the pylon wheels that move it forward, causing the cable to fall to the ground (along with all the cabins and people). But don’t panic: this is hardly a common occurrence as the cabins are engineered to withstand high winds and the swinging that happens when the lift stops suddenly. I recall seeing the Lakeside poma (drag lift) at Falls Creek in Australia stopped with the cable off because, allegedly, someone let go of the lift before the end of the run, and the poma bounced up and caused the cable to fall off. This was back in the 80s before the web existed, but I heard at the time that people using the lift had suffered broken legs and other injuries when the heavy cable fell on them. Now, if I really need to get off a drag lift before the end, I make sure I do so right after a pylon to limit the impact on the length of cable. Thankfully, these accidents are rare, so let’s lighten the mood .

Finally, we have this gem of a symbol which is pretty obvious: “No open fires in the cabin”. Yes, you can’t mistake this one. So if you see anyone rolling their barbeque into a telecabine at La Balme this weekend, remind them that they’ll have to wait to get to the top before they fire it up and start sizzling those sausages. I’m surprised they haven’t bothered with signs such as “No blow-up paddle pools”, “No fireworks” or “No sucking on icicles in case you stumble and they make you bleed a lot and scar the roof of your mouth” (how I wish I knew that one when I was about eight – the scar is still there), as all these things seem about as relevant as someone seriously starting a fire.

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I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

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