I had a day skiing once in an badass snow/lightning storm at Winter Park. It was one of those days where there is noone on the mountain, and it is dumping fast enough that every run is a fresh one. The sky is pitch black, and there is no wind at all. It is eerily quiet, and I'm riding the c-lift through the trees about three quarters of the way to the top. The snow is piling up on my skis and legs and the chair at an alarmingly fast rate.
I'm soaking it all in, when the sky lights up and is followed immediately by the loudest crack of thunder I've ever heard. It sounded like it happened right above me and scared me to the bone. After checking my pants and making sure the sky was not going to fall on my head, I realized the lift was no longer moving. I was later informed that the lightning had struck one of the lift towers on a different lift than I was on. But, apparently the mountain has some kind of fault-tolerant system where the electricity is automatically cut to all other lifts so nothing is damaged.
Not knowing this at the time, I was left to believe that the lift I was on was struck. I figured I'd wait it out a little. Some time passed, all the while I'm wondering when the next lightning bolt is going to come and strike my ass down. I start to calculate my height from the ground and how I'm going to drop it without breaking a leg, when all of a sudden, the lift lets out a little whine and I start to move forward. The lift may have only been down for twenty minutes, but it felt like an eternity while waiting for the creator to take my life with a death usually reserved for the most evil of sinners. With very little of interest, the lift dropped me off at the top, and the mountain obliged me with a sweet soft playground of untouched snow.
After that run, I was disturbed to find that they were going to shut the mountain for the day. I packed up my gear and headed on home with only this story to share with all of you.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to the story. In fact, I hope not. I am merely bored and wanted to convey that it was pretty neat. Sorry to waste your time.