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Breckenridge has completed installing the 110 chairs of the Zendo lift. From the photos, here's what we know: the chairs do not have footrests. Just the armrests. On the other hand, the Kensho SuperChair will have footrests, to match in with the consistency of the rest of Breckenridge's high speed quads and six packs. They have posted a video of Zendo doing operation tests: http://instagram.com/p/hwLiCpQATe/

I hope to be taking some pictures of Zendo this weekend, as Breckenridge has dropped ropes on Monte Cristo, so I can view Zendo while lapping the Independence SuperChair's trails.
This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 11 December 2013 - 07:56 AM

Here are some photos of construction of the Kensho SuperChair from Leitner-Poma's website:

Upper terminal:


Bottom terminal:

This photo of the bottom terminal shows a compression tower for tower 1. It looks like tower 2 and possibly tower 3 are depression towers from the photo. And this photo also confirms a clockwise rotation on the lift.

These pictures both appear to have been taken around this time last November, as I know they have spliced rope and the cable is all up as of last week.

Likewise, it looks like the custom wood skin used on the Kensho SuperChair may have been partially used on the Zendo lift as well:

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 11 December 2013 - 08:03 AM

DonaldMReif, on 11 December 2013 - 08:02 AM, said:

Do you know what the drive/tension configuration on Kensho will be? I know that the rest of their high speed lifts are top drive bottom tension except Imperial which it bottom drive bottom tension. Zendo looks to be a top drive and tension.

snoloco, on 11 December 2013 - 01:13 PM, said:

As this video by Breckenridge Ski Resort employees (https://www.youtube....h?v=h4cKkmGhFwQ) indicates, from the commentary of the guy doing the narration, the Kensho SuperChair is a bottom drive lift.

DonaldMReif, on 11 December 2013 - 01:56 PM, said:

Looks like it is a bottom tension as well. I can see the hydraulic rams right next to the bullwheel. I don't know if LPA terminals have tensioning in both terminals or only one. I also don't know if the tensioning moves the entire terminal structure or only the bullwheel.
This post has been edited by snoloco: 11 December 2013 - 02:15 PM

If you can see the rams then the entire structure moves, similar to the older Omega quads.

Altitude at the top of the Kensho SuperChair according to one Twitter photo I have found is 12,302 feet. Yep, that's over 240 feet higher than the previous holder of 'highest high speed six pack', the Panoramic Express lift.

liftmech, on 12 December 2013 - 05:19 AM, said:

The rams are inside the terminal, not on the underside if that makes a difference. I know the Kaatskill Flyer at Hunter has tensioning at both terminals because the rams are easily seen on the underside of the terminals.

The lower part of the Kensho SuperChair's lift line actually reminds me a lot of the profile of the Larkspur Express at Beaver Creek.

DonaldMReif, on 12 December 2013 - 12:40 PM, said:

Will this be the highest in the whole world, and not just North America? I honestly don't know. There are some lifts above 12,000 in Europe and South America, but I'm not sure any of those would by six packs.

At least North America.

https://www.facebook...82780324&type=1

Facebook album from the opening of the new Gad 2 HSQ at Snowbird

I will be in Breckenridge tomorrow and should be able to get plenty of photos of Zendo (as Monte Cristo is open) and some distant views of the Kensho SuperChair (from the Independence SuperChair).

The mysterious Cherry Peak Resort in Utah now has a picture of a partially built lift on their website. I assume it's Blackcomb's Crystal....http://skicherrypeak.com/
This post has been edited by jaytrem: 13 December 2013 - 11:55 AM

Why is Cherry Peak mysterious?

DonaldMReif, on 13 December 2013 - 12:08 PM, said:

Oh nothing really, they just don't seem to release much information on their progress, or even if they think they'll get it open this year. But I'm sure they're crazy busy.

I was in Breckenridge today. I got plenty of photos of Zendo. The chairs on Zendo are up. In the views I could get from the Independence SuperChair and also from as far south as the Mercury SuperChair, it appears that the haul rope is up on the Kensho SuperChair, though the chairs are not yet up. It looks like Zendo simply needs to have its loading ramp built and it could open. Its chairs noticeably do not have footrests, although the Kensho SuperChair's chairs will have them.


Some other things:

1. A couple of lifts, such as the Mercury SuperChair, Rocky Mountain SuperChair, and Peak 8 SuperConnect, have received the standardized yellow unload pictogram signs at their upper terminals. On the former two, they create a noticeable redundancy as the blue text-only signs are still in place.

2. The Peak 8 SuperConnect has been converted from a 90 degree load to inline loading, obviously to reduce stops and slows caused by mis-loads.

3. There are Breckenridge "B"'s on the Quicksilver SuperChair's seats.

4. The Independence SuperChair, at least today, was operating at a much faster speed than before. I think this is thanks to the fact that the gates at the bottom have been removed to reduce mis-loads.

New photo by Breckenridge of the Kensho SuperChair, which now has chairs.

 Kensho SuperChair.jpg (80.78K)
Number of downloads: 74

snoloco, on 11 December 2013 - 01:13 PM, said:

Falcon is a top drive and top tension lift. It did start its life as a fixed grip.

I still think it's taking some time to get used to the fact that Zendo and the Kensho SuperChair have tower heads that are angled inward that make them look like the 1994-2011 tower head design (used on basically all of the other high speed quads except the Beaver Run SuperChair, soon-to-be-defunct Colorado SuperChair, and Falcon SuperChair) crossed over with an early 1980s designed tower head like the kind the Falcon SuperChair uses, even if I have done a couple of trips on Gondola One at Vail. Or the fact that the Kensho SuperChair has the European Multix footrests of the kind the High Noon Express lift uses, whereas Quicksilver and the Independence SuperChair have the older type of footrest.

Also, do you have any idea of how many towers on the Kensho SuperChair are combi towers (wheels supporting and holding down the cable) and depression towers (holding down the cable only)? The photos I've seen make me count at least seven combi towers and one or two depression towers. Zendo has at least two combi towers (towers 3 and 4), and that I know from skiing past it on Monte Cristo and Angel's Rest.