Belleayre Conditions

[Ripitz]

If it dumps while that lift is down that whole east side will be a little freshy paradise.

 

[snoloco]

If ya zoom the pic ya can see the log that hit the rope.
In Lift Blog database for that lift the 6th pic shows a big tree with a sketchy top.
Don’t know if that’s the one that came down but it looks dead at the top from the pic.
I don’t know when he took the lift pics.

The Lift Blog pictures were taken on November 10th, 2017. The one in the picture you are referencing is between towers 6 and 7, but the actual tree that fell was between towers 5 and 6. My earlier post was incorrect in that I assumed only one tower had deroped.

I'd like to know if the cables / chairs dropped suddenly or in slow motion.

When a tree impacts a lift, it will cause the haulrope to bounce, and if it rebounds high enough, it can derope from towers. Likewise, when the haulrope deropes from a tower, it will also bounce, and so the cycle repeats until the lift has come to rest. It came completely off 3 towers and was not retained by the cable catchers. It is possible that it came off the sheaves on even more towers, but was retained by the cable catchers.

If it dumps while that lift is down that whole east side will be a little freshy paradise.

All terrain off the Superchief is also accessible from the Overlook Quad.

As for the timeframe for reopening, it's hard to say. Lift manufacturers have pulled off amazing feats to get major lifts open quickly after incidents, but many lifts have had season-ending incidents too. My biggest concern is if anything is damaged that has a long lead time to replace, such as a haulrope or tower. Also, several chairs are likely destroyed, as 9 of them contacted the ground. Those will need to be NDT'd again. It's possible to run the lift with fewer chairs, but they would need to be respaced. That lift was slated to have all of its chairs replaced at the same time that it was repowered in 2023. The chair replacement never happened. Maybe it will be necessary now.

 

[tirolski]

The Lift Blog pictures were taken on November 10th, 2017. The one in the picture you are referencing is between towers 6 and 7, but the actual tree that fell was between towers 5 and 6. My earlier post was incorrect in that I assumed only one tower had deroped.

When a tree impacts a lift, it will cause the haulrope to bounce, and if it rebounds high enough, it can derope from towers. Likewise, when the haulrope deropes from a tower, it will also bounce, and so the cycle repeats until the lift has come to rest. It came completely off 3 towers and was not retained by the cable catchers. It is possible that it came off the sheaves on even more towers, but was retained by the cable catchers.

Glad nobody was on it.
Wonder if a worker bee heard it.
Must’ve made a helluva racket.
Tree mighta bounced off the rope too.
Is the sketchy tree in the pic still standing and/or the dead part removed?

 

[snoloco]

I have no idea about the sketchy tree.

For some good news, the haurope was put back on the towers it deroped from. They attached chain pulls to the lifting frame and winched it back up.

However, one of the com lines appears to have been severed in the incident, and there is visible damage to multiple chairs.

According to a comment on Facebook by one of their mechanics, they are trying to reopen the lift for this weekend. Very impressive if it happens.

 

[tirolski]

I have no idea about the sketchy tree.

NYS DEC used to manage Belle.
NYS DEC definitely knows trees.
NYS has a world class Forestry School down the road in The Cuse, Paul Smiths & Wanakena.
Hopefully someone examines the trees to minimize impacts.
Shouldn’t be difficult to coordinate.

 

[billyb3]

From snow report:

Belleayre Express Update: We are pumped to let you know that if all goes according to plan, the Belleayre Express chairlift will resume operations tomorrow! Following thorough inspections, the call just came down the line that the lift has been cleared for operation. It will be on a delayed opening on Saturday morning to start, as we work on re-spacing chairs. As always, we appreciate your patience and are looking forward to a fantastic, jam-packed weekend!