[nmrm]

> Actually this is a simplification as the chairs slow down and bunch up at the bottom and top to make getting on and of simpler

Yeah, this is the problem with the question that I noticed as well.

If you don't know what a ski lift is (grew up in the south and didn't have money for vacations as a kid), you might not even know how ski lifts work. In which case maybe you guess that the chairs are fixed and give the 127 answer. Ironically, you guessed wrong and got the correct answer.

If you do know how ski lifts work and assume the interview does as well, then you just look like an idiot.

I guess the lesson is to state all your assumptions (and also, don't ask these questions).