52 replies to this topic

[SkiDaBird]

Backbowlsbilly, on 03 April 2014 - 03:12 PM, said:

I would gladly take a 10 minute lift line on the worst days at Breck or Vail, you can talk about liftlines of 30 minutes and up on the busy days. I waited for an hour on Quicksilver once at Breck on President's day and its a double loading six pack. Both Breck and Vail average over 1 million skier visits per year and I'm sure the bases at Whistler and Park City get like this too on busy days. I haven't skied the East but I bet on busy days or weekends that the main lifts get crowded like this too. The first capacity-minded eight pack will likely go to one of these resorts that has nearly unbearable crowding on some days that cripples the mountain but once again, as others have said, the first eight pack will have a large chair interval and be an advantage in marketing for the resort that gets it. Does anybody know what the maximum capacity of an eight pack is or what the largest capacity eight pack built today is?

A lot of us outside CO complain if there is a liftline :)
Spoiled, yes, but it's the Bird.

[DonaldMReif]

If I had to take a wild guess at an eight-pack's capacity, I'd think it's in the 4,000-4,600 pph range.

[Phalanger]

Doppelmayr has 4,550 pph design using a angle loading, where the chairs and the people approach offline from each other. The weak point is unloading the chairs more than loading them. There are also 4,000 pph beginner 8 seaters now which averaged very low stops, when the snow on the exit ramp was kept at the right angle. Making it flatter made it worse.
https://www.youtube....h?v=HkgW0iQckfs

However some of the new gondolas are also really impressive, Solden has an 8 person Doppelmayr one which does 3,600 pph at 6m/s. These use the longer platforms for loading.
https://www.youtube....h?v=6Iwm7vhUuAU

This post has been edited by Phalanger: 06 April 2014 - 01:28 AM

[boardski]

That's sort of funny that the first video shows the 8 pack having to stop for a misload.

[Phalanger]

Don't think it was a misload...

[DonaldMReif]

Backbowlsbilly, on 03 April 2014 - 03:12 PM, said:

I would gladly take a 10 minute lift line on the worst days at Breck or Vail, you can talk about liftlines of 30 minutes and up on the busy days. I waited for an hour on Quicksilver once at Breck on President's day and its a double loading six pack. Both Breck and Vail average over 1 million skier visits per year and I'm sure the bases at Whistler and Park City get like this too on busy days. I haven't skied the East but I bet on busy days or weekends that the main lifts get crowded like this too. The first capacity-minded eight pack will likely go to one of these resorts that has nearly unbearable crowding on some days that cripples the mountain but once again, as others have said, the first eight pack will have a large chair interval and be an advantage in marketing for the resort that gets it. Does anybody know what the maximum capacity of an eight pack is or what the largest capacity eight pack built today is?

Quicksilver isn't the worst. Look at the Colorado SuperChair as a quad. I've heard of 30 minute+ lines not being uncommon in early season or during peak periods. The lines mean that I only ever used it to transition between Peak 7 and Peak 9. I have more check-ins at the Rocky Mountain SuperChair this season. Breckenridge is making the Colorado SuperChair a six pack to cut down on lines, especially in the early season. Of Breckenridge's high speed six packs (both currently operating and future), I've actually found it easiest to get a nonstop ride on the Kensho SuperChair (does not service beginner/low intermediate terrain, goes above timberline, clearly is meant for experienced riders), even with the winds that can pound the above-timberline part of the lift. I think most stops and slows on the Kensho SuperChair are for wind, while the Independence SuperChair has a mix of stops and slows for wind and for misloads/misunloads (Peak 7 gets a lot of crosswind), and Quicksilver Super6 is primarily misloads and misunloads.

[boardski]

That's true, there is nobody down in the bottom terminal. Just a little odd they film the lift having to stop when it seems like the goal of shooting the video would be to show how efficient the high-capacity lift is.

[2milehi]

Maybe Lift Maintenance was poking at the lift causing it to stop. Like nobody around here does that.

[Aussierob]

The 8 pack video is not from Doppelmayr so not surprising it shows a stop.

[SkiLiftsRock]

Aussierob, on 08 April 2014 - 04:21 AM, said:

The 8 pack video is not from Doppelmayr so not surprising it shows a stop.

Is the lift not a Doppelmayr, but the carriers are?

In the picture has Doppelmayr name of the back of a carrier.

 doppelmayr chair.JPG (32.68K)
Number of downloads: 51

[kwoodsparky]

I believe he means Doppelmayr did not make the video.

[Aussierob]

@ kwoodsparky Correct, Its a Doppelmayr chairlift but not their video.

[Phalanger]

The music is a dead giveaway when you have one of their videos:

https://www.youtube....h?v=waALfLyn6x4

However that is one really cool lift, combined 8/10 with separated loading areas.

[SkiLiftsRock]

SkiKC, on 26 March 2014 - 04:56 PM, said:

Also, would the idea of a 12-pack be at all feasible?

A 12-pack might be an interesting setup.

This picture was on the wall in my office area, 16-pack.

 16.jpg (756.64K)
Number of downloads: 195

[Yooper Skier]

SkiLiftsRock, on 10 April 2014 - 10:45 PM, said:

A 12-pack might be an interesting setup.

This picture was on the wall in my office area, 16-pack.

16.jpg

For some reason, that AK-4 doesn't seem like it would have much holding force in the open position...just sayin'

[pete643]

What is the purpose of the springs on the 8-pack carriers? Some type of suspension system to control sway?

[egieszl]

Kicking Horse, on 30 March 2014 - 07:56 PM, said:

Village Express is a prime exp of a "well" run six pack.

There was a noticeable improvement at Snowmass this season. I rode the Village Express 31 times this season and many of those rides the lift did not stop or slow at all. Even the queue management during the few busy periods was significiantly better this year!

[liftmech]

pete643, on 11 April 2014 - 06:07 AM, said:

What is the purpose of the springs on the 8-pack carriers? Some type of suspension system to control sway?

Yup. Carrier's too wide for simple rubber blocks like a quad.

[snoloco]

egieszl, on 11 April 2014 - 05:40 PM, said:

There was a noticeable improvement at Snowmass this season. I rode the Village Express 31 times this season and many of those rides the lift did not stop or slow at all. Even the queue management during the few busy periods was significiantly better this year!

Another few examples of well run six packs are the American, URSA, Sunrise, and Shooting Star Expresses at Stratton. When I was there back in February, all these lifts ran very fast all day with little to no slow downs and all the queues were organized and orderly, almost every chair was going up full. An example of a poorly run six pack is the Kaatskill Flyer at Hunter since it stops very frequently and slows almost every ride up. This is due to the fact that the terminal speed is geared way too fast and the chair isn't straight for long enough because of 90 degree loading. Because it has 90 degree loading, only the turnarounds need to be at the slowest speed. I would think that all that needs to be done is to replace a few belts and gears in order to slow down the turnarounds. Does anyone know if this is a practical upgrade to do? It seems like a relatively easy thing to do that would improve the lift's operations greatly. What might have the same effect and be cheaper to do is to run at 800-900 fpm vs. 1,000 fpm as long as the absence of stops and slowdowns increases capacity, even at the lower speed. Killington does this on the Ramshead Express and there are almost no stops at all.

This post has been edited by snoloco: 16 April 2014 - 04:33 PM

[liftmech]

I'm sure the terminal is 'geared' properly.