46 replies to this topic

[driley]

qman, on May 21 2010, 10:04 PM, said:

yeah, infact there are a heap of RPCs that are made without the load mechanism.

once you work it out the prash is actually easier to load IMHO.

the only really problem i have encountered is with the load mech not releasing during unloading on certain types of chairs.
but there are some easy fixes

Q

I would be interested in what some of the fixes are for the unloading issues.

[qman]

here is a photo of one that a buddy did,

1. release the biner
2. load in load position
3. when on chair, reattatch biner
4. unload and ski.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by qman, 22 May 2010 - 10:42 AM.

[driley]

qman, on May 22 2010, 03:40 AM, said:

here is a photo of one that a buddy did,

1. release the biner
2. load in load position
3. when on chair, reattatch biner
4. unload and ski.

Thanks for posting the photo qman. I will have plenty of time over our summer to see what I can rig up. If I am lucky, I will get out one or two more times this season.

[twisted_ophelia]

qman, on May 22 2010, 01:04 AM, said:

yeah, infact there are a heap of RPCs that are made without the load mechanism.

once you work it out the prash is actually easier to load IMHO.

the only really problem i have encountered is with the load mech not releasing during unloading on certain types of chairs.
but there are some easy fixes

Q

Yeah, the RPC load mechanism is an option on the order form that costs a bit extra so I guess if people don't wanna pay the extra $150 or whatever, they opt not to get it. I've only used the RPC with the load mechanism but I used a Yeti last season without one and got on the lift (and off). Not gracefully but I did get on--I do the one handed load thing from the left side, like my left arm waiting for the chairlift arm and the right rigger on the ground and then do my best to pop up. I find the load mechanism much easier for myself. I am a big fan of the RPC for reasons I've mentioned above, lol, and maybe one day after will buy a HOC but for now, RPC all the way. Yay for buying a Prasch, Devin! (I already knew this from your FB but though I'd say it anyway haha). I know someone else who bought a HOC and I think he said he had issues unloading with it (and he's also a ski instructor with DSES in Mammoth and a highly advanced skier). Don't know if Mark is having that issue (or if he's received his yet) but I'm curious about it. I wonder if it's a design issue with the HOC itself that the guy who makes them will need to go back to the drawing board and fix up.

Edited by twisted_ophelia, 06 June 2010 - 12:28 AM.

[driley]

Hey Twisted & Everyone,

I had my second day on the Prasch today. Big improvements with loading. I am now doing the obvious and putting it in the load position before getting on the lift. This combined with lengthening the outriggers has pretty much eliminated the loading issues. Woot! Except when the lift chair is just too high, which other than asking them to tune the height, there is not much that can be done.

Unloading is another story all together. Most times when unloading, it was stuck in the load position, as others have reported. So I will need to do something like Qman has suggested. Not a huge problem but an annoyance.

The big problem I am still having is getting the rig off the chair when it is time to unload. This was even more of an issue than the last time. I scoot forward before it is time to unload and hurl myself forward at unloading time and NOTHING. It is like I am glued to the chair. Never really had this problem with the RPC. I have not yet added a skid plate to the Prasch and I think it is going to help. My instructor said it does look like the frame on the Prasch is just sinking into the chair padding too much.

Once today, I came partway off the chair when unloading and got stuck as the chair began to circle back down the hill. I was hanging down, face first about 5-6 feet off the ground. Very scary. It was an ordeal to get out of that mess. I'm hopeful that adding a "skid plate" to the frame is going to be a big help.

Twisted, I'm not sure if Mark got his HOC yet or not. We have exchanged a couple of short emails and he did not say. I think he took a header and has a sore neck. Not sure if he is riding anymore this season or not.

Anyway, today was my last ride of the season. So I will have plenty of time to work on a solution over the summer.

Gotta say that my skiing has been improving by leaps and bounds though. I love this sport!!!

twisted_ophelia, on Jun 5 2010, 05:27 PM, said:

Yeah, the RPC load mechanism is an option on the order form that costs a bit extra so I guess if people don't wanna pay the extra $150 or whatever, they opt not to get it. I've only used the RPC with the load mechanism but I used a Yeti last season without one and got on the lift (and off). Not gracefully but I did get on--I do the one handed load thing from the left side, like my left arm waiting for the chairlift arm and the right rigger on the ground and then do my best to pop up. I find the load mechanism much easier for myself. I am a big fan of the RPC for reasons I've mentioned above, lol, and maybe one day after will buy a HOC but for now, RPC all the way. Yay for buying a Prasch, Devin! (I already knew this from your FB but though I'd say it anyway haha). I know someone else who bought a HOC and I think he said he had issues unloading with it (and he's also a ski instructor with DSES in Mammoth and a highly advanced skier). Don't know if Mark is having that issue (or if he's received his yet) but I'm curious about it. I wonder if it's a design issue with the HOC itself that the guy who makes them will need to go back to the drawing board and fix up.

[twisted_ophelia]

driley, on Jun 5 2010, 09:27 PM, said:

Hey Twisted & Everyone,

I had my second day on the Prasch today. Big improvements with loading. I am now doing the obvious and putting it in the load position before getting on the lift. This combined with lengthening the outriggers has pretty much eliminated the loading issues. Woot! Except when the lift chair is just too high, which other than asking them to tune the height, there is not much that can be done.

Unloading is another story all together. Most times when unloading, it was stuck in the load position, as others have reported. So I will need to do something like Qman has suggested. Not a huge problem but an annoyance.

The big problem I am still having is getting the rig off the chair when it is time to unload. This was even more of an issue than the last time. I scoot forward before it is time to unload and hurl myself forward at unloading time and NOTHING. It is like I am glued to the chair. Never really had this problem with the RPC. I have not yet added a skid plate to the Prasch and I think it is going to help. My instructor said it does look like the frame on the Prasch is just sinking into the chair padding too much.

Once today, I came partway off the chair when unloading and got stuck as the chair began to circle back down the hill. I was hanging down, face first about 5-6 feet off the ground. Very scary. It was an ordeal to get out of that mess. I'm hopeful that adding a "skid plate" to the frame is going to be a big help.

Twisted, I'm not sure if Mark got his HOC yet or not. We have exchanged a couple of short emails and he did not say. I think he took a header and has a sore neck. Not sure if he is riding anymore this season or not.

Anyway, today was my last ride of the season. So I will have plenty of time to work on a solution over the summer.

Hey Devin,

I had that same unload problem with the Yeti I had used before. I must also say I hated that Yeti and Yetis in general so I'm slightly biased but from what I read above, it sounds almost exactly like what the Yeti was doing. The friend of mine who had used that Yeti before set it up for racing slalom. I don't know how the hell he got that thing off the lift because EVERY TIME I tried to get off, no matter what I did, pushed hard, pushed less, etc., the Yeti would 'catch' on the chair and I'd be stuck. I did that hanging facedown thing a couple times and almost every time I'd make it half way off the chair, my ski would pop off the rig, and I'd be totally screwed. They'd have to stop the chair, get my ski back off, help me off the lift... big mess. Anyway, we looked at the underside of the Yeti and the guy in charge of sort of fixing and tinkering with monoskis removed this one thing (not sure what it was but I can ask him) that involved the shock was literally making me get caught on the back of the chair lift. Once that was off, I could jump off the lift and the Yeti stopped misbehaving haha. Mind you, I hated that thing (it was also too big for me) and I found skiing in it was ridiculous.

I've had a couple issues loading and unloading with the RPC but they were entirely my own fault and had nothing to do with the ski. More of a timing issue, and once jumping off the lift too hard and just not landing properly. I've also had giant gusts of wind knock me over RIGHT as I'm getting on the chair, or off (and you know what the wind can be like on Mammoth Mountain haha). And I've even taken a couple people along with me as I went down getting off the chair hahahah now THAT is always interesting. Anyway, with those higher chairs at Mammoth, are you asking them to slow them down? Or doing full speed? Cuz maybe it'd be better to practice at a slower rate and get one of the lifties to stand behind you just in case to pull you up if need be.

Edited to add: Why are you stopping skiing?!!? ;-) You guys have another month of skiing, til July 4th in Mammoth! Keep going right til the end of the season. Are you going out on your own now or just with DSES? Just get a friend to go with you and head out on your own if DSES can't take you out since you have your own gear maybe? You lose ALOT from season to season, sit skiing or just 'regular' skiing, it's prob best to get in as many ski days as you can before the season's end. Even some of the most advanced skiers or boarders I know take a day or two at the beginning of each season to just get back to basics a bit and get back in the groove. Kind of like riding a bike for the first time after a while LOL

Edited by twisted_ophelia, 06 June 2010 - 09:00 PM.

[driley]

Skiing is mostly done since I can normally only go on weekends and the next two weekends are booked, DSES is on their summer schedule now and not working weekends, etc. I might be able to squeeze one last trip in but it would be right before they close. Not sure that the quality of the experience would live up to what I am accustomed to There are only a few lifts open most days now because the crowds are so low. I've skied 10-12 days this season. Not bad for having my first lesson in March.

Also, I don't want to ski with the Prasch until I get some time to figure out why I am getting hung up on the lift. Once I have the ski in the garage I am going to be going over it carefully to find out what is going on. Otherwise, I am really liking the new ski.

I have my season pass for next season, which will be used a lot. More if I can figure something out with my work schedule ;) Skiing is seriously addictive.

I have been asking them to slow down the express chairs, mostly for loading. Switched to the fast loads yesterday and it was no problem. Did fast and slow onloads yesterday. Not sure what was working better.... they both sucked!

twisted_ophelia, on Jun 6 2010, 01:57 PM, said:

Hey Devin,

I had that same unload problem with the Yeti I had used before. I must also say I hated that Yeti and Yetis in general so I'm slightly biased but from what I read above, it sounds almost exactly like what the Yeti was doing. The friend of mine who had used that Yeti before set it up for racing slalom. I don't know how the hell he got that thing off the lift because EVERY TIME I tried to get off, no matter what I did, pushed hard, pushed less, etc., the Yeti would 'catch' on the chair and I'd be stuck. I did that hanging facedown thing a couple times and almost every time I'd make it half way off the chair, my ski would pop off the rig, and I'd be totally screwed. They'd have to stop the chair, get my ski back off, help me off the lift... big mess. Anyway, we looked at the underside of the Yeti and the guy in charge of sort of fixing and tinkering with monoskis removed this one thing (not sure what it was but I can ask him) that involved the shock was literally making me get caught on the back of the chair lift. Once that was off, I could jump off the lift and the Yeti stopped misbehaving haha. Mind you, I hated that thing (it was also too big for me) and I found skiing in it was ridiculous.

I've had a couple issues loading and unloading with the RPC but they were entirely my own fault and had nothing to do with the ski. More of a timing issue, and once jumping off the lift too hard and just not landing properly. I've also had giant gusts of wind knock me over RIGHT as I'm getting on the chair, or off (and you know what the wind can be like on Mammoth Mountain haha). And I've even taken a couple people along with me as I went down getting off the chair hahahah now THAT is always interesting. Anyway, with those higher chairs at Mammoth, are you asking them to slow them down? Or doing full speed? Cuz maybe it'd be better to practice at a slower rate and get one of the lifties to stand behind you just in case to pull you up if need be.

Edited to add: Why are you stopping skiing?!!? ;-) You guys have another month of skiing, til July 4th in Mammoth! Keep going right til the end of the season. Are you going out on your own now or just with DSES? Just get a friend to go with you and head out on your own if DSES can't take you out since you have your own gear maybe? You lose ALOT from season to season, sit skiing or just 'regular' skiing, it's prob best to get in as many ski days as you can before the season's end. Even some of the most advanced skiers or boarders I know take a day or two at the beginning of each season to just get back to basics a bit and get back in the groove. Kind of like riding a bike for the first time after a while LOL

[twisted_ophelia]

driley, on Jun 6 2010, 08:32 PM, said:

Skiing is mostly done since I can normally only go on weekends and the next two weekends are booked, DSES is on their summer schedule now and not working weekends, etc. I might be able to squeeze one last trip in but it would be right before they close. Not sure that the quality of the experience would live up to what I am accustomed to There are only a few lifts open most days now because the crowds are so low. I've skied 10-12 days this season. Not bad for having my first lesson in March.

Also, I don't want to ski with the Prasch until I get some time to figure out why I am getting hung up on the lift. Once I have the ski in the garage I am going to be going over it carefully to find out what is going on. Otherwise, I am really liking the new ski.

I have my season pass for next season, which will be used a lot. More if I can figure something out with my work schedule ;) Skiing is seriously addictive.

I have been asking them to slow down the express chairs, mostly for loading. Switched to the fast loads yesterday and it was no problem. Did fast and slow onloads yesterday. Not sure what was working better.... they both sucked!

Ohh, yeah, I forgot you live down out of town! Anyway, did you buy the ski from Mark? Cuz if so, you should totally ask him what the deal is with that and if he had the same issue. He might have done something like what that friend of mine did with his Yeti in the setup to cause that. Did you ask Ken at DSES to look at it? I think he's tinkered with a bunch of skis. Or ask Kathy to see if there's anyone who can help out with it. When Kathy gave me my Shadow, which I've never actually used LOL, she had someone piece it back together and then someone else tinkered with it more and it's now in his garage, LOL.

As far as unloads/loads go, I find it easier to do it full speed. Slow is sort of calmer and a bit less nerve-wracking haha but when it's slow and I'm trying to balance with my left arm/outrigger out, I find that I start to lose my balance while waiting for the chair to come around and then get all off-kilter. When it's full speed, I can just get into position and get on. It was just a matter of timing and being quick with getting into position and making sure I'm far enough to the left, angling my ski properly, etc., to get on without incident. Definitely not perfect at it or anything but I've managed to not kill myself on the lift and any incidents I had were actually at the slow speed. Weird, huh?

[driley]

I live about 45 minutes from the mountain, so I am going to call myself a "local" I did get the ski from Mark and know that he got stuck unloading at least once.

I have not asked Ken to look at it. Only saw him around during Mono Ski Madness. The offices at the mountain are just about deserted now. I'm sure next season I can get more eyes on the problem.

My only problem with the fast loads in the past have been when I've made a mistake. They left little time to fix the problem before ending up in the pit.

twisted_ophelia, on Jun 6 2010, 06:35 PM, said:

Ohh, yeah, I forgot you live down out of town! Anyway, did you buy the ski from Mark? Cuz if so, you should totally ask him what the deal is with that and if he had the same issue. He might have done something like what that friend of mine did with his Yeti in the setup to cause that. Did you ask Ken at DSES to look at it? I think he's tinkered with a bunch of skis. Or ask Kathy to see if there's anyone who can help out with it. When Kathy gave me my Shadow, which I've never actually used LOL, she had someone piece it back together and then someone else tinkered with it more and it's now in his garage, LOL.

As far as unloads/loads go, I find it easier to do it full speed. Slow is sort of calmer and a bit less nerve-wracking haha but when it's slow and I'm trying to balance with my left arm/outrigger out, I find that I start to lose my balance while waiting for the chair to come around and then get all off-kilter. When it's full speed, I can just get into position and get on. It was just a matter of timing and being quick with getting into position and making sure I'm far enough to the left, angling my ski properly, etc., to get on without incident. Definitely not perfect at it or anything but I've managed to not kill myself on the lift and any incidents I had were actually at the slow speed. Weird, huh?

[twisted_ophelia]

driley, on Jun 6 2010, 10:54 PM, said:

I live about 45 minutes from the mountain, so I am going to call myself a "local" I did get the ski from Mark and know that he got stuck unloading at least once.

I have not asked Ken to look at it. Only saw him around during Mono Ski Madness. The offices at the mountain are just about deserted now. I'm sure next season I can get more eyes on the problem.

My only problem with the fast loads in the past have been when I've made a mistake. They left little time to fix the problem before ending up in the pit.

LOL I ended up in the pit once, that was seriously not cool. Not in Mammoth (though I came very close with Maggie and I could hear Jeremy laughing his ass off behind me cuz he was on the chair behind). Hahah that was actually really funny. I dunno what happened. I think I was too far away from the left arm rest of the chair and went I jumped on, I completely and entirely missed the chair and got maybe a couple inches of the bucket on but the lift was full speed and the liftie didn't notice so it just kept right on going towards the pit while I'm basically hanging by a thread. Maggie literally THREW herself on top of me and was clutching me and holding me onto the chair like some kind of superwoman. Thank God I'm not very big because otherwise I don't think she would have been able to keep me on. The liftie finally realized we were having issues haha and stopped the lift, right over the pit. At this point there was nothing to do but try to scoot backwards and have Maggie try pull me back and luckily we were successful. LOL. Good times. I love Maggie.

Anyway, Ken is really cool too. I've been out with him a bunch of times and he's taught me a lot. See if you can get to go out with him a few times next season. There are a few instructors who really know their stuff. I love Zach too, who I think you've been out with?

I know a couple guys who use Praschbergers and I can ask them to see if they had that issue as well. I would imagine that if this was a universal problem with the Prasch it wouldn't be as popular as it is so maybe it's just the setup of your ski. Did Mark buy it used? Cuz the person before, if it was used, maybe did something funny to it in the setup (like with that shitty Yeti I used).

[qman]

I cant really understand your loading and unloading problems other than it remaining in load position.

but that is effected by the type of chair.

it seems to depend on how padded the chair is. if it is thick and padded it seem unlikely to release the load mechanism.
if it is a basic slatted type of chair the it will almost always work fine.

Q

[driley]

It is a padded type chair. The load mechanism isuue is not a big deal. The big problem is that I am getting hung up trying to unload. Like something is catching on the chair.

One time I ended up hanging face down from the chair. Nobody could see for sure what I was hanging from.

qman, on Jun 8 2010, 01:05 AM, said:

I cant really understand your loading and unloading problems other than it remaining in load position.

but that is effected by the type of chair.

it seems to depend on how padded the chair is. if it is thick and padded it seem unlikely to release the load mechanism.
if it is a basic slatted type of chair the it will almost always work fine.

Q

[twisted_ophelia]

qman, on Jun 8 2010, 04:05 AM, said:

I cant really understand your loading and unloading problems other than it remaining in load position.

but that is effected by the type of chair.

it seems to depend on how padded the chair is. if it is thick and padded it seem unlikely to release the load mechanism.
if it is a basic slatted type of chair the it will almost always work fine.

Q

I don't know anything about the Prasch but does it have a 'switch' you flip while riding the chair so that it just pops down into ski position like the RPC does? Because if you don't flip the little lever on the RPC, when you unload, you stay in load position. How does the load/unload assist mechanism work with the Prasch? I'm also just curious!

driley, on Jun 8 2010, 11:44 AM, said:

It is a padded type chair. The load mechanism isuue is not a big deal. The big problem is that I am getting hung up trying to unload. Like something is catching on the chair.

One time I ended up hanging face down from the chair. Nobody could see for sure what I was hanging from.

qman, on Jun 8 2010, 01:05 AM, said:

I cant really understand your loading and unloading problems other than it remaining in load position.

but that is effected by the type of chair.

it seems to depend on how padded the chair is. if it is thick and padded it seem unlikely to release the load mechanism.
if it is a basic slatted type of chair the it will almost always work fine.

Q

Devin, this is LITERALLY the same problem I had with the Yeti. I thought I was the only one who had experienced it haha but as I mentioned above, it was all in the setup of the ski. Once the setup was fixed, the problem stopped happening and I could unload fine. I was literally getting hung up on the padded part of the chair, the rig was actually getting stuck, and when I was getting off, I was stuck on the back but I'd jumped forward and so was left hanging face down towards the snow, lol. Not fun. And for the my first few days skiing with that Yeti (I think I skied in it about 16-18 days this season), I skied with a high end slalom racing Atomic ski and the DIN was set crazy high. For some reason, one of the guys from the pro shop made the DIN less and then the ski started popping off when I'd get off the lift. I then switched to a Salomon ski, hated it, and went back to the Atomic racing ski which made that evil Yeti easier to manouver and turn. Needless to say, I will never use a Yeti again and I would NEVER buy one. Horrible. No offense to any Yeti fans but man...

[driley]

<----- chair direction

| |
| This is the seat / <----This is the chair back
| /
| ______/
| /\
| / \ /
| / \/
| 0

^^^^This was me upside down^^^^ (not to scale - my head is bigger)

Edit: My stick man did not come out right, but you probably get it.

Check the picture on the bottom right of this page and you will see what the Prasch looks like in the load position. http://www.praschber...rsport/monoski/

Maybe the shock spring caught something under the lift chair?

So your ski popped of when getting off the lift?! How awesome that must have been Mine came partway off when I got stuck and they removed it.

twisted_ophelia, on Jun 8 2010, 10:20 AM, said:

Devin, this is LITERALLY the same problem I had with the Yeti. I thought I was the only one who had experienced it haha but as I mentioned above, it was all in the setup of the ski. Once the setup was fixed, the problem stopped happening and I could unload fine. I was literally getting hung up on the padded part of the chair, the rig was actually getting stuck, and when I was getting off, I was stuck on the back but I'd jumped forward and so was left hanging face down towards the snow, lol. Not fun. And for the my first few days skiing with that Yeti (I think I skied in it about 16-18 days this season), I skied with a high end slalom racing Atomic ski and the DIN was set crazy high. For some reason, one of the guys from the pro shop made the DIN less and then the ski started popping off when I'd get off the lift. I then switched to a Salomon ski, hated it, and went back to the Atomic racing ski which made that evil Yeti easier to manouver and turn. Needless to say, I will never use a Yeti again and I would NEVER buy one. Horrible. No offense to any Yeti fans but man...

Edited by driley, 09 June 2010 - 12:36 AM.

[Bazirker]

They did come up with a fix for the loading mechanism on the Praschberger, which in my experience thus far works well. There's a lever to pull the pin to engage the loading mechanism...well now that same lever pushes the frame back into a bent position on the lift so it collapses correctly when unloading. It's been a long time since someone posted here, so I'm not gonna bother with pictures...but let me know if you want/need some and I'll do what I can.

[Pete Anderson]

Bazirker, on 10 April 2011 - 12:12 AM, said:

They did come up with a fix for the loading mechanism on the Praschberger, which in my experience thus far works well. There's a lever to pull the pin to engage the loading mechanism...well now that same lever pushes the frame back into a bent position on the lift so it collapses correctly when unloading. It's been a long time since someone posted here, so I'm not gonna bother with pictures...but let me know if you want/need some and I'll do what I can.

I would like to see pictures of the mechanism that allows for the frame to return to the ski position. I shimmed the area with pennies, dimes and tape so the mechanism does not fully lock into the load position. It works most of the time.

Pete

[Pete Anderson]

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!

PS: Its snowing here in Salt Lake City!!!