Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

 SuperRat, on 10 December 2013 - 07:22 PM, said:

Every time I have been there it was running at full speed. If it is windy they would probably run it slower, but they do not slow lifts as a cost cutting measure. That is a stated policy on Killington's website. If the conditions allow a lift to run full speed then it will be running full speed.

 2milehi, on 12 December 2013 - 12:52 PM, said:

I agree 100%. Of course there will be times when the weather does not permit full-speed operation, but otherwise they should be run at full-speed. The expensive lift tickets only add to this need. I can't remember what the most expensive lift ticket my family ever bought was, but probably around $90. I still consider anything over $75 to be pretty high, and the level of service at the ski area (including lift ride time) should justify the higher price. I can get almost as much skiing at a place with fast (450-500 fpm) fixed-grip lifts as I can at a resort that runs detachables at 900-1000 and has 5 to 10 minute lines at most lifts, in addition to paying $30-50 less.

Overall, in a day of skiing, a 10-20% reduction in lift speed will probably allow several runs less.

 missouriskier, on 12 December 2013 - 03:49 PM, said:

You also need to factor in the following, If running at 100% speed, Will this increase the mis loads? Let's take the Village Express for Exp at Snowmass. When I started as the Drive lift op I noticed the lift was stopping 30-40 times though out the day. I slowed the lift from 950 to 900 / 875 and the amount of stops dropped down to about 10 stops a day. On Super busy days she ran 850 and we had very few stops during that time but yet every chair was fully loaded.

So sometimes running 100% speed is not the best solution. I would prefer to be a on a lift that is running slower then one that stops 2-3 times during my ride up the mountain.

That sometimes makes me wonder whether or not that would be an optimal practice for the Peak 8 SuperConnect. Of all high speed quads on the mountain, it appears to be the one that slows and stops the most for misloads. In this case, it's misloads and a 90 degree load with gates at the bottom terminal, plus the fact that the chair catches you while it's still finishing the last bit of the first half of its turnaround. Also, the chairs are very tightly spaced to allow a 2800 pph uphill capacity, meaning you have to move the instant the gates open and stop at a precise point to load. Breckenridge could easily relieve the SuperConnect of some of these misloads if they reconfigured the bottom terminal with inline loading.

 DonaldMReif, on 13 December 2013 - 11:26 AM, said:

Question is does that lift really need that Uphill Capacity even on the most busy days?

 Kicking Horse, on 13 December 2013 - 10:35 AM, said:

Yes, I failed to mention this in my post, but I agree. When the crowd conditions result in the lift stopping excessively, it should be slowed down if this reduces the stops.

 snoloco, on 12 December 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

Why didn't you say that in the first place?

Can you reference the web page address with that policy?
This post has been edited by SuperRat: 14 December 2013 - 03:05 PM

 SuperRat, on 14 December 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

I can't find the page now, but it has been there and I have seen it.

Disregard my previous comments. It turns out that this year, the Peak 8 SuperConnect was converted from 90 degree loading to inline loading. This allows there to be a queue entrance from the Sawmill catwalk. However, the conversion is not entirely perfect as the protruding segment that covered the original location of the loading gates still exists. The gates are still used, though.

 Kicking Horse, on 13 December 2013 - 05:45 PM, said:

Yes it does.

 2milehi, on 15 December 2013 - 07:18 AM, said:

DOUBLE/Tripple Ditto to yes it does. And she's a good lift too.

 DonaldMReif, on 14 December 2013 - 03:54 PM, said:

The gates have to be there. Say there is a full maze at the mid and only a few stragglers at the bottom. The lift can be run so that only the gates open every forth chair. That will allow most of the loading to occur at the bottom. There are other scenarios that SC can be run in.

What I meant was that the gates were transplanted to the new location - much like what they did to the Independence SuperChair when it was extended downhill from tower 2A to the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 base area in 2008, and that was when the lift had gates. I did post an image of the reconfigured loading area over in the Images section (thread "New Breckenridge lift pictures!")

Speaking of which, I believe that this year they are running the Independence SuperChair at a higher line speed that is closer to the 1,100-1,200 fpm range. I assume that from the fact that the noise of the drive motor is about a half-step higher than it was last year (the fact that the gates were sporadically operated last year, and then completely removed this year, seems to suggest that taking those off also may have helped). Albeit this is getting off topic from the original post. It make me think the Independence SuperChair is one of the fastest high speed six packs operating in Colorado, and nonstop rides are much easier to get on it compared to Quicksilver.

 DonaldMReif, on 16 December 2013 - 09:43 PM, said:

Max design speed on Indy is 1,100 fpm.

Super Bee at Copper pretty frequently runs at 1,100 fpm as well.

I think that the Silver Queen Express and Paradise Express lifts at Crested Butte are also operated at the 1,050-1,100 fpm range, as I remember from when I rode them in February 2012, but that was almost two years ago.

Cloudsplitter Gondola at Whiteface (1999 Doppelmayr) is rated for 1,200 fpm. It usually runs in the 1,000 to 1,100 range. It is negatively affected by wind, so it must be dead calm for it to run full speed. Northwoods Gondola (1999 Poma) at Gore is rated for 1,110 fpm, but it usually runs from 750 to 900 fpm. It usually does not get long lines, so I think that they do this to cut costs.

Willamette Pass promotes its high-speed six-pack as being the biggest and fastest lift in the state (Oregon), although it runs about 600fpm on a regular basis to reduce costs. However, the lift was designed to go 1,200 fpm.

 skierdude9450, on 17 December 2013 - 07:17 PM, said:

All the time unless it's windy.

What's the highest wind speed at which Super Bee can operate normally? I believe that each chairlift has a different maximum threshold for wind tolerance.