Detachable vs Fixed Grip Lifts

[raisingarizona]

I assume you're referring to Arizona Snowbowl. There were 4 lifts built recently. Two detachables from Leitner-Poma, and two fixed grip quads, one each from Skytrac and Doppelmayr. There's nothing wrong with any of those designs, it's just that ownership didn't stick with one manufacturer when ordering the lifts. This means they likely took the lowest bid each time. It can make it more difficult for lift mechanics since they now have to stock replacement parts for 3 different manufacturers instead of just 1. Some resorts like to stick with one manufacturer, while others will mix it up. It really depends on the ownership and what their priorities are.

Yup. All of that.

 

[raisingarizona]

I thought about that as well. I rode King Pine lift a month before the roll back. The one day it was making a lot of noise.
I was on a 200’ rollback at Hunter in the 70’s scared the crap out of me. The kid I was with talked me out of lowering the bar. We were at the highest possible point when it stopped and reversed. The brake stopped suddenly an we swung back close to 45 degrees. I cursed him out and never ride without the bar down.

Dam straight I’d stick it too

Ok, the anti bar down folks are a little silly. I like it down for the foot rests and I’m more comfortable with it down on the high points and the resistance from some is funny to me.

 

[Harvey]

Finally got to ride the Kancamagus 8 at Loon, often referred to as Kanc 8, and styled on the logo as Kan8amagus. It's a Doppelmayr D-Line model installed last summer. It's the third lift to serve the West Basin terrain at Loon, as it replaced a high speed quad, which replaced a double-double.

The lift statistics are as follows:

Length: 3992 feet
Vertical: 1065 feet
Capacity: 3500 riders per hour
Speed: 1080 fpm

Flat light made it difficult to take good pictures, but I did the best I could. This was taken near the top of the lift first thing in the morning.
View attachment 11922

The bottom terminal is inside a large building. This building also houses the chairs, which are parked inside every night. This lift is bottom drive, but you'd hardly notice. It has a Doppelmayr Direct Drive (DDD). The motor is attached directly to the bullwheel and there is no gearbox. Not only is this more efficient and more reliable, but it is also extremely quiet. There are return terminals that are louder than this drive terminal. There are loading gates and a conveyor. This is important because it helps to line up all 8 people so they all sit down at the same time.
View attachment 11923

The top is a standard Doppelmayr D-Line station.
View attachment 11925

The lower section of the lift, taken late in the day.
View attachment 11924

This lift has individual seats with contoured backs. And yes, they are heated. It seems to work better on some chairs than others, but is definitely noticeable, particularly on cold days like the day I took these pictures. The bubble of course does a great job keeping the wind out, and since 8 pack chairs are very heavy, the lift will almost never go on wind hold. The safety bar locks in place once it is down, and each foot rest has a bar between your legs, so it is impossible to fall out. The safety bar and bubble automatically raise at the top.
View attachment 11926

Last but not least, this lift has excellent capacity. Even with no organization (European style line for European style lift), the line pictured was under 12 minutes. Also, just look at the size of the bottom terminal. It's as big as the lodge, if not bigger.
View attachment 11927

Nice pics!

 

[x10003q]

I thought about that as well. I rode King Pine lift a month before the roll back. The one day it was making a lot of noise.
I was on a 200’ rollback at Hunter in the 70’s scared the crap out of me. The kid I was with talked me out of lowering the bar. We were at the highest possible point when it stopped and reversed. The brake stopped suddenly an we swung back close to 45 degrees. I cursed him out and never ride without the bar down.

Dam straight I’d stick it too

When I was racing in college, one of my teammates was in the civil engineering program and worked for a lift install company during the summer. He was always going on about roll back and how much time you have to make the decision to get off and picking landing spots. One time a lift stopped and he was talking about lifting bar. I told him if he lifted the bar he better have a good landing spot because I was going to throw him off the chair. The funny part is I still think about how much time and landing spots all these decades later whenever a chair stops. That MFer is still in my head. Thankfully, I have never experienced a rollback of more than a few feet.

I have not talked to him since college, but he currently has his own lift engineering company.

 

[tirolski]

Where do we really need high speed lifts?

What problem are these lifts solving?

Kimberly needs one as an arson, allegedly, started a fire at their main quad that gets folks to their backside.
They’re asking folks to ride using snow cats (lottery system unless yer old) or walk up from another lift.
WTF.

Northstar Express Quad Update - January 2022 - Kimberley Alpine Resort

Update – January 10th The Kimberley RCMP shared today that they believe the fire in the top lift control station of the Northstar Quad Chair in the early morning hours of December 18th, which made the lift inoperable, to be arson and deliberately set. This will be a difficult and painful fact to...

skikimberley.com

 

[x10003q]

Kimberly needs one as an arson, allegedly, started a fire at their main quad that gets folks to their backside.
They’re asking folks to ride using snow cats (lottery system unless yer old) or walk up from another lift.
WTF.

Northstar Express Quad Update - January 2022 - Kimberley Alpine Resort

Update – January 10th The Kimberley RCMP shared today that they believe the fire in the top lift control station of the Northstar Quad Chair in the early morning hours of December 18th, which made the lift inoperable, to be arson and deliberately set. This will be a difficult and painful fact to...

skikimberley.com

That is horrible. This lift is main lift and the only way out of the base area. They have some snow coaches that they are using now.

 

[abe]

I don't know what exactly they're using but snow buses are awesome

 

[snoloco]

Kimberly needs one as an arson, allegedly, started a fire at their main quad that gets folks to their backside.
They’re asking folks to ride using snow cats (lottery system unless yer old) or walk up from another lift.
WTF.

Northstar Express Quad Update - January 2022 - Kimberley Alpine Resort

Update – January 10th The Kimberley RCMP shared today that they believe the fire in the top lift control station of the Northstar Quad Chair in the early morning hours of December 18th, which made the lift inoperable, to be arson and deliberately set. This will be a difficult and painful fact to...

skikimberley.com

Kimberly did this to themselves (not the arson but not having any lift access). There were once 3 additional lifts parallel to the high speed quad. They removed each of them in 2001, 2003, and 2006 and they have no backup to access the rest of the ski area.

 

[tirolski]

Kimberly did this to themselves (not the arson but not having any lift access). There were once 3 additional lifts parallel to the high speed quad. They removed each of them in 2001, 2003, and 2006 and they have no backup to access the rest of the ski area.

Why’d they yank em all?
Seems they could’ve used at least 1 of em azza backup, in hindsight.
Ya know what kind they were? Did they move to another place for some reasons?

 

[Harvey]

Kimberly did this to themselves (not the arson but not having any lift access).

Seems likely the backup lift would have been hit at the same time. This wasn't just random FU, it was purposeful.