Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

I don't honestly know.

Looks like they started stringing the com lines for the Mountaintop Express today.

Why do so many resorts leave it till so late to build lifts! I would think you would want everything done (including test runs) by mid-Sept just in case problems arose. It is a lot easier to build in July than in a snowy November. (I understand some are due to environmental mitigations, but not all I'm sure)

There are several factors affecting a construction timeline. Start off with contract signing. The later you are, the more folks are ahead of you in the factory queue. There aren't many lift part factories so there's limited capacity. Second, there's Forest Service approval. We didn't get their go-ahead for West Ridge until 29 August, for instance. Nothing you can do to speed that up. Third (for turn-key projects) is crew availability. The same guys building Vail's chair 4 are building our two lifts as well. There are other complications but those are the biggest, to my mind.

Photo of Peak 6 tower installation from today. This is for the Zendo lift.  Peak 6 lift installation.jpg (72.2K)
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This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 07 November 2013 - 08:35 AM

Thanks liftmech. I can understand forest service approval, but contract signing and manufacturing again relate to the resort, not outside factors. If you sign in early it gets built early and is ready early just in case. Is it financial - sign late, pay later, less interest?

My thoughts on this were based on Lake Louise about 20 years ago when they built a lift on the backside and in load tests the top station shifted; as we working in LL were told, but may not be the whole story. As such it did not open until much later in the season and the top of the lift was a construction zone for a good part of the winter.

DonaldMReif, on 05 October 2013 - 02:39 PM, said:

Kaman K-Max K-1200 synchropter (intermeshing rotors).

Teachme-- you're absolutely right on the contract signing being the resort's issue. Being on the maintenance side I don't know the reasons as to why management will leave that decision for the last minute. Could be capital approval from the parent corporation or owners, loan approval from the bank unfamiliarity with the whole process, not sure.

Got a quick pic of the return for Caribou express at Lutsen Mountains MN.

I don't know if I should assume the Kensho SuperChair will be a clockwise or an anticlockwise lift by using this photo as reference. The deeper foundation looks more likely to be that for the terminal while the one on the right is for the shack.
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 07 November 2013 - 08:36 AM

Gad II splice @ Snowbird

Towers are in!

Breckenridge released some more construction photos today on their Facebook page. Looks like the quad's towers are all completed. The photos also seem to show that the quad and six pack will both be clockwise lifts, based on the positioning of the foundation for the shack at the quad's top terminal.
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 11 October 2013 - 07:48 PM

Vail's starting to construct the Mountaintop Express lift's bottom terminal, now that they've completed the top terminal.

Wolf Creek

You know, we have the same terminal as they do, but the black colour makes theirs so much cooler

I'll have some more photos from Stormy next week, perhaps. Been a little busy lower down on the hill lately. Towers are in, comline's been pulled, and I think the top terminal's in but I'm not sure. West Ridge towers are also in, and although you can see them quite well from across the hill they still don't show up on my cell phone camera.

Wolf Creek has the traditional EJ backrests. Last year's Mountaineer at Deer Valley has these plastic slat backrests I've never seen anywhere else before. Is the old style still around, or was DV's a one off?

floridaskier, on 17 October 2013 - 08:21 AM, said:

Little Cloud at Snowbird got the slats last year too. I'm guessing they are better in high winds.

Peter, on 17 October 2013 - 08:40 AM, said:

Definitely makes sense for that location, it's very exposed up there. Certainly isn't for comfort

Before the EJ-style carriers came around Doppelmayr put green plastic slats on every part of the chair. Most places wrapped some sort of seat pad around the bottom, though.