carry a long length of sturdy metal cable with you, something metal, heavy & sharp attached to one end and a big clamp on the other. Clamp the clamp onto a metal bit of the chair lift and lob the the end of the cable with the heavy sharp thing attached to it over the side. Hopefully this will guide any strikes to earth.

Alternatively keep your fingers crossed and try not to soil yourself

would have thought that you'd be safe enough as the pylons provide the grounding

Except if the strike his near you, melting the cable, and showering you in molten metal just as you plunge to the ground...

metal pylons, but what if the car is insulated from the pylons?

I've thought about it some more. Def high chance of death. Try not to soil yourself though, not nice for the undertaker

swallows can sit on HV powerlines without injury, the problem only occurs when grounded. I would suspect that unless you suffer a direct hit you would be fine.

Oh, lets us know how you get on!

didn't one of the olde worlde lifts at Champoussin (Swiss side of PdS) get taken out by lightning strike?

I'd guess your safe-ish in a chair - lightning would go down a pylon, but where you get on/off could be interesting. I guess they put conductors on the top/mid/bottom station canopies?

FWIW, when we used to work on farm, we used to park the tin shelter under those massive national grid pylons that come from Kingsnorth Power Station. Never got hit, but it gets pretty noisy!

As safe as a monkey in a cheese hat in a mouse race.

Have you ever seen a man fry?
[url= http://www.248am.com/mark/strange/man-gets-electrocuted-on-train/ ]Its not nice[/url] so don't go to the link if you aren't sick in the head, have a nervous disposition, are easily offended or at work.
Have I covered enough disclaimers?

guess trains are pretty well earthed then 😕

Oh yes 🙁

well a few hours in and "no been there done that" or "my famous mate" responses = things are getting a bit worrying

think best possible outcome is sufficient slight shock to throw adjacent mademoiselle into yr arms - still tinggling and in need of mouth to mouth (etc,etc) lightning welds cable to station - by time rescued you've started a family that will guarantee your gene line

PS wasn't the Renault badge originally the design for memorials at lift stations?

Taz your reasoning is perfectly correct.
Your only objective risks would be the cable melting through electrical discharge (which I suspect is fantastically unlikely/impossible), death from exposure caused by the lift getting stuck (unlikely/impossible this time of year), death from a heart attack caused by fear of the storm, or death from internal injuries caused by panic and jumping off the chair lift.

Thanks Ian

At one point (at the peak of panic) I was considering jumping. My reasoning being that I would recover from a broken limb or 2 but not from frying.

Glad I chose not too

Yeah, its highly unlikely - the strike would take the easiest route down throught the towers, however if its a particularly nasty one it could take multiple routes. Oh and dont forget, everything within about 2m of where it hits will heat to re-hot in seconds - was once caught out in a storm near a radio mast that got hit (I was about 1/4 mile away) and you could see the whole top of the mast (metal latice structure) glowing for about 10 seconds afterwards. Some amazing power in those strikes!

Hey were you on the nice big Les Chavannes 6 seater chair lift!!

I think the only problem would be the force of the strike throwing you out of the chair.
The lightening needs to get to get to ground as quickly as possible, so you may suffer burns.

M_C - I was on the one over from that, to the left as you look up from the bottom. It takes you to the top of the new Bike park that is still being built. Forget the name of the lift.

Ther wer several flashes where I did not even get to count to 1 before the thunder started

Cheesyfeet - you're not going to be insulated from the cable are you? The electricity has just arced across a mile long air gap! 1 inch of rubber wheel is going to **** all. You'll be fine - it'll a pylon anyway, as they're higher than you.

Oh the bike park I didn't get to over P du S weekend as Mr MC broke his knee on day 1! Nice hospital visiting hols for me and no bike riding! boo anyone fancy letting me come on a a trip out there ... feel like I missed out this year 🙁
Guess I'll have to wait to experience bike park and that lift until next year.

Thats why I always wear a condom.

That's bad luck MC. Psss on my well wishes to Mr MC

After more investigations it seems there are several examples of chairlifts being struck.

The main issues are exactly what Ian suggested above. People panic and jump or if it is a a winter storm the chairlift can be stuck for a significant time and people suffer exposure.

So all in stay calm,and warm (if winter) and you should be ok?

Still would not like to repeat my experience

What you dont want to do is provide a parallel path for the power to ground. Pull all your limbs in to your body to form a ball or at least a single stick. For example, if stood with your legs apart on the ground, a strike to ground will pass below you but also up your nearest leg, through your nads and back down the other leg on its way (think parallel resistors). Likewise, if you're climbing down a ladder when the ladder is struck you'll also get got from hands to feet. If you sit on a single point the power has to jump gaps to get to you, which is less likely to occur. When sat in the lift car theres sod all you can do other than not wave your arms around or jump out. The towers may be taller than you, but if your legs are close to a tree etc then you provide a fairly appealing route to ground. Just tuck yourself up and hope 🙂