36 replies to this topic

[llamborghinii]

I was reading this article about the best chairlifts in the US http://www.examiner....copper-mountain

And the American flyer was number 8. Was pretty surprised that this lift would even make the list, but anyways, the article said it's the 5th longest lift in the west at nearly 2 miles long. The article excluded gondola and trams, so my question is, which lifts were longer? Not just in the west but in the US. I know the HSQ at angelfire is pretty long, but not sure if it's the longest

[DonaldMReif]

The Chile Express is 2.1 miles long.

Sunshine (#10) at Telluride is also 2.06 miles long.

Snowmass also has some pretty long lifts: Two Creeks at 1.9 miles is about the same length as the American Flyer. The Village Express is 1.92 miles from bottom to top (1.2 miles from the bottom terminal to just the mid-unload station).

[llamborghinii]

Thanks Donald. So the chile express is the longest in the US then? There are no lifts, even fixed grip chairs that are longer?

[silence]

Longest HSQ in US is Slide Brook Express at Sugarbush, 11,012ft. When it was built in 1995 it was the longest HSQ in the world. Not sure if there are any lifts longer now but Chile Express is a whopping 20ft shorter...

This post has been edited by silence: 16 January 2015 - 12:30 PM

[boardski]

What about that Gondola at Silver Mtn in Idaho. I have never been on it but I heard it is over 3 miles and has 45 towers.

[DonaldMReif]

We're talking about the longest chairlift in the US. Gondolas are out by definition.

[RibStaThiok]

llamborghinii, on 16 January 2015 - 10:37 AM, said:

Thanks Donald. So the chile express is the longest in the US then? There are no lifts, even fixed grip chairs that are longer?

Thankfully no.

[boardski]

That's right, sorry guys, it does say chairlift and not gondola. With that in mind though, does anyone know if there is any chairlift which has more than 300 chairs on it. I know the old Sheer Bliss at Snowmass came close with 280. Was there a lift in Arizona that was really long that might have had 300+ chairs?

[DonaldMReif]

A horizontal distance of one mile, plus some, is usually the max distance, in my opinion, for any fixed grip, and I think that, in most cases, above 5,600 feet horizontal distance, the lift should be built as a detachable. Below that, it can be either fixed-grip or detachable, and is dependent on what's appropriate. I doubt anyone would want to ride a fixed grip lift that's longer than the Mercury SuperChair (the length of that lift is 7,450 feet).

The longest fixed-grip I can think of might be West End at Powderhorn. It's about 6,700 feet long, which makes it only slightly shorter than the Montezuma Express lift (6,870 feet long) and almost 1,000 feet longer than the Kensho SuperChair (5,740 feet long).

[SkiDaBird]

Challenger (#10) at Sun Valley is near the length of the Flyer.
As far as longest fixed grips go, the old Summit Local at Mt. Snow was over 7,000 ft.

[DonaldMReif]

Challenger also has a lot more vertical than the American Flyer.

And you remind me how the Highline Express lift at Vail is 6,500 feet long, which is definitely a long high speed quad (the lift is a full capacity high speed quad with 21 towers and 140 chairs) with a ride time of just under 7 minutes. It used to be a double chairlift, with a ride time of around 15 minutes.

[silence]

Not in the US but there's the Burfield FGQ at Sun Peaks that's approx. 9500' long with approx. 2800' vert.

[llamborghinii]

silence, on 17 January 2015 - 04:18 PM, said:

Not in the US but there's the Burfield FGQ at Sun Peaks that's approx. 9500' long with approx. 2800' vert.

That was sort of my next question, any lifts longer in North America?

I've heard the double at sunlight, while no super long, is a 22 minute ride as well. Yikes!

[teachme]

silence, on 17 January 2015 - 04:18 PM, said:

Not in the US but there's the Burfield FGQ at Sun Peaks that's approx. 9500' long with approx. 2800' vert.

And even slower when I rode it as a FGD in the 80s :(

[aug]

Sandia peak's 2 fixed grips are over 7000 feet long and it is a painfully slow ride to the top ... Lft 1 Stadeli 1963 , lift 3 Riblet 1983 (44 towers)

[aug]

I would say the longest FG in the US ....??? Cyclone Lift (YAN ) at Sunrise Peak over 8000' if I recollect correctly .

[Peter]

Here are the top 10 longest chairlifts in the US and Canada
1 Sugarbush Slide Brook Express High Speed Quad 11012'
2 Angel Fire Resort Chile Express High Speed Quad 10992'
3 Telluride Ski Resort 10 Sunshine High Speed Quad 10732'
4 Snowmass Village Express High Speed Six 10074'
5 Copper Mountain Ski Resort American Flyer High Speed Quad 9907'
6 Yellowstone Club Lodge High Speed Quad 9847'
7 Snowmass Two Creeks High Speed Quad 9835'
8 Buttermilk Summit Express High Speed Quad 9581'
9 Sun Peaks Resort Burfield Quad 9510'
10 Keystone Ski Resort Summit Express High Speed Quad 9403'

You have to go all the way to #32 on the list before the next fixed-grip lift which is Cyclone at Sunrise Park - 7982'

There are 63 operating chairlifts in the US and Canada that are over 7000' long but only four that top 10,000'

[towertop]

Peter, you give us too much credit.... Cyclone is 1.5 miles @ 7867 ft still a long ride and a lot of line work.

[DonaldMReif]

Some of those 59 lifts that exceed 7,000 feet in length but are shorter than 10,000 feet long are:

1. Breckenridge Independence SuperChair (7,522 feet)

2. Breckenridge Peak 8 SuperConnect (8,276 feet)

3. Breckenridge Mercury SuperChair (7,450 feet)

4. Breckenridge Beaver Run SuperChair (8,904 feet)

5. Copper Mountain Super Bee lift (8,633 feet)

6. Vail Skyline Express lift (8,208 feet)

7. Vail Orient Express lift (7,690 feet)

8. Vail Riva Bahn Express lift (8,932 feet)

9. Beaver Creek Centennial Express lift (7,637 feet)

10. Beaver Creek Arrow Bahn Express lift (7,808 feet)

11. Beaver Creek Upper Beaver Creek Mountain Express lift (8,556 feet)

12. Snowmass Big Burn lift (7,650 feet)

13. Snowmass Sheer Bliss lift (9,009 feet)

14. Snowmass Alpine Springs lift (7,077 feet)

15. Snowmass Elk Camp lift (7,492 feet)

16. Aspen Highlands Exhibition lift (8,617 feet)

17. Crested Butte Silver Queen Express lift (7,525 feet)

18. Winter Park Olympia Express lift (7,037 feet)

19. Snowbird Peruvian Express lift (7,555 feet)

[machskier]

While shortened considerably for the 98-99 ski season, the originally installed Northeast Passage Triple at Killington (now sunrise triple as K abandoned the Norteast Passage base and trails) was 9243'. I rode it a few times back in the day, that was one long lift ride!