59 replies to this topic

[hoodoo]

what a silly topic, really...

Go buy a golf cart

[machskier]

The waterfall express quad at Whakapapa in New Zealand. Very early Dopp HSQ (still had the clips pulling it around the base and top terminals) but the chairs are just plastic slats. Actually, most lifts new or not are non padded down in New Zealand. But waterfall's slats seemed even more uncomfortable than all the others we rode down there.

[snoloco]

liftmech, on 22 October 2014 - 03:00 AM, said:

Back on topic. Many Doppelmayr carriers have a 20-mm thick foam pad which admittedly isn't as comfortable as some. The pads supplied with Pomas have been better, in my opinion, but they don't last as long.

Mountain Creek's lifts have these. They aren't very comfortable and mainly just cover the cold sheet metal below. I do think that some lifts were given additional padding. The Face Lift at Whiteface is also a Doppelmayr HSQ which was built in 2002 and is 4 years newer than Mountain Creek's lifts from 1998. The Face Lift has far better padding than Mountain Creek's lifts, so did Doppelmayr change the padding, or did Whiteface buy thicker padding for their lift? The Burnt Ridge Quad at Gore Mountain is a 2008 Poma, and it is the most comfortable chair I have ever ridden, however it is 10 years newer than Mountain Creek's lifts. Killington's Needle's Eye and Ramshead Express have really good padding and are from 1996, so pretty much the same vintage as MC's lifts.

[Backbowlsbilly]

liftmech, on 22 October 2014 - 03:00 AM, said:

I'd have to disagree. They still have to maintain all lifts to a certain standard (I have to meet the same one) set by the state. The broken-off platter mentioned before no doubt happened during operation and was repaired soon afterward. Occasionally there may be a delay due to ordering parts.

Back on topic. Many Doppelmayr carriers have a 20-mm thick foam pad which admittedly isn't as comfortable as some. The pads supplied with Pomas have been better, in my opinion, but they don't last as long.

It might be hard to order parts since it is a Von Roll platter and I don't think many of those were made, but I definitely don't want a high speed lift back there. It would become so much more crowded, Mongolia is a good spot for powder late in the day at Vail after everything is all skied out.

[vons]

Backbowlsbilly, on 22 October 2014 - 02:17 PM, said:

It might be hard to order parts since it is a Von Roll platter and I don't think many of those were made, but I definitely don't want a high speed lift back there. It would become so much more crowded, Mongolia is a good spot for powder late in the day at Vail after everything is all skied out.

The platter components themselves are not very brand specific if the issue was with the spring box then I could see a difficulty getting replacements. Vail is one of the best in terms of maintenance and in my experience every lift is maintained well.

This post has been edited by vons: 22 October 2014 - 04:45 PM

[DonaldMReif]

I think it all depends on the amount of padding the resorts put on each chairlift. Although I have to admit the most comfortable chairs would be the LPA chairs that are used on the Kensho SuperChair and the Colorado SuperChair, plus the Omega chairs on Leitner-Poma quads (high speed or not) no older than say, 2009 (the High Noon Express lift; Zendo Chair). The Omega chairs on Excelerator are not as comfortable as some other quads from that time period, which may have to do with the fact that your are slung off the chair and the terminal speed feels faster than on most detachables.

Sometimes, newer lifts seem more comfortable to ride than older lifts that have been around for long periods of time. I admit that with the original Colorado SuperChair, the original carriers didn't seem to have as much padding as the Omega carriers used during the last two seasons of that lift's life.

[liftmech]

Pads wear out. E is on its second set, and these are from a different supplier.

[NHskier13]

Anything that's Stadeli or Meuller.

[Doug]

Summit Platter at Lake Louise. The track is so steep in places that the tow table almost touches the ground. It was a T-bar when I was a kid. That was even worse.

[NHskier13]

Bethlehem Express at Bretton Woods, NH. The Quad chairs seem to vary in size from comfortably fitting 4 to barely fitting 3. I wonder if that was just an error in the manufacturing,as it is an "eh" aged lift. (1989 Doppelmayr)

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 28 October 2014 - 12:00 PM

[skierdude9450]

One that comes to mind is the old River Run Gondola at Keystone (although it's been gone for a while). The blue-colored cabins all had these horrible molded plastic seats. You lucked out if you got a green cabin with the traditional bench seats. Probably the worst was Whistler Village Gondola with the old cabins, especially in the morning when they pack them full (which is 7 people, I can't imagine ever getting 10 people into one of those cans). I'm really looking forward to riding it with the new Sigma cabins.

[RibStaThiok]

I miss the old River Run :(

[teachme]

OK, I got to agree with Doug on Louise Summit Platter - just too steep. Can not agree on Whistler village though. Yes it was a bit tight but at the time it was a vast improvement over what was there before (4 FG triples ???). Now, truly uncomfortable was the original Whistler Creekside Gondola or the Original Louise Gondola - one had to be a hunchback to get in! One can try them out still. There is a Whistler cabin in the Peak-to-Peak station and an original Louise cabin in front of the visitor's centre in Louise.

TME

[NHskier13]

Bobcat Triple, Wildcat, NH. I don't know why, I hated the lift so much. It's a 1982 Riblet fixed grip triple. The seat is just a flat piece of plywood covered in the plastic thingy, and it digs into your legs sitting down, and once in the spring, someone in front of me got a splinter from loading
I have a couple photos from NEskihistory and this site:

[snoloco]

Riblet lifts of any kind are usually pretty bad due to the plywood seat. I also hate the formed plastic seats that Halls and some CTEC's have. You can't sit with the footrest between your legs if you are riding 2 on a chair and if you are riding alone, you can't sit right in the middle.

[NHskier13]

Actually Crotched's riblets aren't too bad... the pads are nice and thick though the footrest thingies live up to the mountain's name :P

[SkiDaBird]

The Alta Rope Tow if you are this guy...

https://www.youtube....h?v=6-6pQwo_9r4

[snoloco]

Poma doubles and triples built before 1986 are really bad. The pre arceaux carriers can barely the number of people they are built for and if you are over 4 foot 11, forget about using the footrests. The F-Lift at Hunter Mountain has 1984 arceaux triple chairs and can fit 3 adults, but the footrests are almost unusable. I don't even use the safety bar on that thing because the footrest bars make it extremely uncomfortable.

The older Hall wood seat models suck as well because they are so cramped. Mount Peter has a lift with them and if two adults are loading, they need to turn to the side to fit on the chair.

[6207]

I second the Sneller. Just plain unnatural.

[llamborghinii]

I def agree with resolution at Copper, I never knew what it was but it makes sense that the short backrest plays a part.

I loathe chair 2 at Loveland. While not extremely uncomfortable by itself, the 13+ minutes ride makes you want to jump off.