Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Hi All,

Here are the newest updates: http://www.colorados...t/yanlifts.html

It has info on the mystery gondola built by Yan and the Teller accident.

Very nice work. Just wondering, was it a lot of work to dig out that old information. Im sure it was, and it really paid off. Great stuff!

The Teller accident is the reason our welder stayed busy for many summers. What the article fails to mention (probably for fear of alarming the public at the time) is that the welds securing the bullwheel to the hub failed. Yan issued a Maintenance Instruction, similar to an autombile company's service bulletin, explaining what to do to fix the problem. I have heard the original weld issues stemmed from the fact that not all of Yan's fabrication welders were certified. In effect, they did not know how to properly prep, perform, and finish a weld. It showed on Teller. I won't go into technical details of welding, but suffice it to say that ski areas basically had to re-weld all bullwheels of that style using a certified welder. That meant not only the 1000 series like Teller, but also the slightly older 250 and 475 series which can be seen all over Tahoe and Colorado. We inspect those welds as part of our weekly maintenance, so we won't miss anything if it develops. I think all of Yan's original welds, especially in the immediate area (us, Keystone, Loveland, and A-Basin) were redone.
Nice research, Brad

Thats pretty scary knowing someone that doesn't really know how to weld was in fact in charge of probably one of the most important welds on the lift. Its not like they didnt have any certified welders on the project, right?

Where was the other Yan gondola?

Those cabins look better than the ones on the lift now

KZ, on Jul 22 2004, 08:48 AM, said:

I don't know if the bullwheels were done by a certified welder or not; I know Yan hired several guys for the fabrication yard and apparently they were only shown how to set up the equipment. When you put two pieces of thick steel together, you have to angle the edges so that you get good 'penetration' into the joint- these guys didn't know that. A tower on old B-1 lift was spliced in this fashion, without bevelling the edges, and when the lift was removed it was discovered that the weld was almost completely cracked through because it wasn't strong enough.

Seems like a certified welder would know not to do it that way...was that done in the resort parking lot or back at the factory?

Nice job Brad

hey all,

glad you enjoyed the new page. it took a little digging up, per se, but i think it was worth it!

Did Keystone keep operating the Teller lift for the rest of the year after the accident?

Our BW's have been retrofitted with a catcher so they won't fall in the event of a catastrophic failure such as this. Those pictures are quite shocking, I've never seen them before, or heard of the incident.

I think Yan or someone designed the bullwheel catcher (all of ours have them too) quite soon after the incident. I guess Yan figured the e-brakes would hold the sheave up, but with nothing on the opposite side, that's pretty laughable.
Tyler- I think the weld on B-1 I mentioned was done on site due to a miscalculation in tower height. Bullwheels were done in Carson City at the fabrication yard.

according to the articles the lift was back in service like 3 weeks after the incident. it was re-welded and designed by Lift Engineering.

damn...thats scary a bullwheel falling off the lift!

It seems like it would be better to get someone else to fix the weld...Yan screwed it up in the first place

Have you seen the safety track record of Yanek Kunczynski and his various companies? This guy is unbelievable. There's multiple fatilities in just about every company or engineering project he undertook:

Ski Lifts - 4 fatalities in at least two accidents.
Tram Cars (Las Vegas Style Transporters) - 1 fatality.
Railway (Angels Flight in LA) - 1 fatality.

Reports about the Angels Flight accident indicate he fled to Mexico. Makes me wonder if I should ever ride another Yan lift again.

Powdr

I think that most of the fixed grip YANs are safe enough, they have been around for awhile with not many incidents, and resorts are keeping very good eyes on the ones still out there, however I think its been proven that his detachables, gondola, trams, etc are a little unrealiable. Honostly for me I would ride his fixed grip units, but I would think twice about the others.

Powdr, on Jul 27 2004, 07:06 AM, said:

Speaking from an industry perspective, we keep a closer eye on Yan lifts than any other manufacturer. The problems encountered on them are so well documented that if a problem has not yet been encountered, we know where it will pop up. As Bill said, Yan fixed-grips lifts are just as safe as any other these days. Problem areas have either been modified or, as in the case of the Teller-style bullwheel weld issues, re-welded to eliminate the original problem.

personally, i ride all operating lifts in colorado, i feel we have a great safety program...so no worries here!

It would be impossible avoiding all Yan lifts

The train in los angeles seemed like it was the haul rope makers fault, not yan because didn't the cable break? I know Ryan has said this, but every company has had its share of accidents, like Garaventa killed 4 alone on the tram accident at squaw. His problems just got the media attention, and when you consider the number of accidents for all lifts compared to the number that operate on a regular basis, its very unlikely something is going to happen. It is probably one of if not the safest transport modes.