36 replies to this topic

[snoloco]

What are the lifts that were in a location the shortest amount of time? Here are the ones I can think of.

Yan River Run Gondola at Keystone:
First Season: 84-85
Last Season: 85-86
Service life: 2 seasons
Replaced with: Von Roll 6 person gondola
Fate: Scrapped

Other Yan HSQ's:
Installed: Late 80's early 90's
Removed: 1996 (after quicksilver accident)
Fate: Scrapped, some parts reused in replacement lifts.

Fixed Grip Superchief Quad at Belleayre:
First Season: 99-00
Last Season: 05-06
Service Life: 7 seasons
Replaced with: Doppelmayr HSQ
Fate: Relocated to Catamount to become Ridge Quad.

Tombstone Express HSQ at The Canyons:
First Season: 97-98
Last Season: 05-06
Service Life: 9 seasons
Replaced with: Doppelmayr 6-pack
Fate: Towers reused on replacement lift. Terminals, towerheads, and chairs sent to Steamboat to become Sunshine Express.

[DonaldMReif]

Could Timing Flats, the lift that was built at Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics count? It only lasted in its alignment until the end of the Games, then became the Strawberry Express at Sunshine Village.

[floridaskier]

Quincy and Ruby at Deer Valley (the original fixed grips) each lasted only 4 seasons, from 1997-2001 and 1998-2002. The original Carpenter HSQ there too was there from 1991-96, one of the later installs. Quincy (which had once been the Wasatch lift) lives on as Day Break at The Canyons, which was closed for mechanical reasons acccording to The Canyons twitter page. Ruby is now the Majestic lift at Brighton

Raptor at The Canyons was there for 4 years (1997-01) paralleling Golden Eagle before it was removed to put up Dreamscape. It was in the Saddleback alignment before that - probably only 3-4 years there too.

[snoloco]

How could have been in the Saddleback alignment? I thought that lift alignment and trail section was one of the ones that Les Otten put in during his time there.

[SkiDaBird]

Moonbeam III was only there for 3 years before becoming Powderhorn II.

[snoloco]

Original Solitude Fixed Grip Quad at Okemo:
First Season: 87-88
Last Season: 93-94
Service Life: 7 seasons
Replaced with: Poma HSQ
Fate: Relocated to become South Face Quad.

Southface Fixed Grip Quad at Okemo:
First Season: 94-95
Last Season: 96-97
Service Life: 3 seasons
Replaced with: Poma HSQ
Fate: Relocated to become Sunbowl Quad at Sunapee.

[floridaskier]

snoloco, on 04 April 2015 - 03:33 PM, said:

How could have been in the Saddleback alignment? I thought that lift alignment and trail section was one of the ones that Les Otten put in during his time there.

It was installed by Wolf Mountain in approximately 1994, and it ran up the ridge to the skier's left of the Saddleback line, ending at the same spot. You can see the line clearly from down by the road, and from this picture (look above and to the right of the gondola line). Think it was the only lift installed by Wolf Mountain

http://www.dadlogic....ity-Utah-01.jpg

[liftmech]

I think the Yandola at Keystone wins on short service.
Old chair 6 (which for some reason became 7 in 1980) at Crystal. Built 1974, removed 1982. 8 seasons, mostly inactive. Became 'new' chair 7 further upvalley, replacing the Gold Hills T-bar.

[Kelly]

Yan/Vonroll gondola at Squaw Valley CA
one winter season only

[boardski]

Original Riblet Argentine at Keystone installed in 1970, replaced with current Yan in 1977 for unknown reasons. BTW are there any pics available of the original Argentine?

[snoloco]

floridaskier, on 04 April 2015 - 06:36 PM, said:

It was installed by Wolf Mountain in approximately 1994, and it ran up the ridge to the skier's left of the Saddleback line, ending at the same spot. You can see the line clearly from down by the road, and from this picture (look above and to the right of the gondola line). Think it was the only lift installed by Wolf Mountain

http://www.dadlogic....ity-Utah-01.jpg

Oh, so it served some of the same trails as the current Saddleback Express, but was on a slightly different line. How did you get to it from the rest of the mountain? The gondola didn't go in until Otten took over and neither did Short Cut or High Meadow. Was there a trail from where the Orange Bubble Express ends now? To my impression, most of the trails on looker's right of the gondola existed pre-Otten.

This post has been edited by snoloco: 05 April 2015 - 02:41 PM

[floridaskier]

snoloco, on 05 April 2015 - 02:40 PM, said:

Oh, so it served some of the same trails as the current Saddleback Express, but was on a slightly different line. How did you get to it from the rest of the mountain? The gondola didn't go in until Otten took over and neither did Short Cut or High Meadow. Was there a trail from where the Orange Bubble Express ends now? To my impression, most of the trails on looker's right of the gondola existed pre-Otten.

All of the runs on the bubble chair area (and the Lookout Cabin building) were there pre-ASC. There was also a lift on the Snow Canyon/Sun Peak line. I believe you could have gotten there near the spot where the bubble chair ends now, would have to look harder next time I'm there. (This is also before my time, is there anyone on this board who skied at Wolf Mountain?)

[JohnRW]

Chair 2 at Alyeska. Opened fall 1972, destroyed by avalanche April 1973.
http://www.alsap.org...tos/Alyeska.htm

[Backbowlsbilly]

Wildwood Express at Tamarack comes to mind for me, a 2005 Dopp UNI-GS high speed quad that was removed in 2012 by Bank of America because of debt, a total of seven years but it wasn't running for the last 3 to cut costs. I believe it was relocated to Brian Head, Utah.

[Bogong]

A little further away, Australia has had three lifts that only lasted one season and a few that lasted two seasons, including a mile long triple chair at Mt Buller.

Cresta rope tow, Mt Buffalo
First Season: 1937
Last Season: 1938
Service life: 2 seasons
Replaced with: not replaced due to war starting in 1939
Fate: Destroyed in forest fire.

Sponar's rope tow. Charlotte Pass
First season: 1952
Last season: 1952
Service life: 1 season
Replaced with: Woodrum nutcracker tow in 1958.
Fate: stored.

Crankenback nutcracker tow. Thredbo
First Season: 1957
Last Season: 1957
Service life: 1 season
Replaced with: Mueller double chair
Fate: Moved elsewhere on the mountain.

Gam T-bar. Thredbo
First Season: 1957
Last Season: 1957
Service life: 1 season
Replaced with: double chairlift
Fate: Scrapped, it was chronically unreliable

Lake Albina T-bar, Main Range, Snowy Mountains of NSW
First Season: 1957
Last Season: 1958
Service life: 2 seasons
Replaced with: Not replaced
Fate: Unreliable, Scrapped

Slalom Run hook tow. Mt Franklin
First Season: 1965
Last Season: 1965
Service life: 1 season
Replaced with: not replaced
Fate: Possibly moved to Selwyn Snowfields?

Horse Hill triple chair, Mt Buller
First Season: 1984
Last Season: 1985
Service life: 2 seasons
Replaced with: Dopp detachable quad chair / gondola
Fate: Moved to Helicopter flat to become Abom Chair

[silence]

The original Green Mtn Express HSQ (Poma) at Sugarbush
First Season: '90-'91
Last Season: '94-'95
Moved to it's current location as the North Ridge Express for '95-'96 season
Replaced (and shortened) by Green Mtn FGQ (Dopp) aka the Snail which also had a short life span at Sugarbush:
First Season: '95-'96
Last Season: '01-'02
Moved to Jay Peak
Replaced by current Green Mtn Express HSQ (Poma)

[DonaldMReif]

F-Lift fixed grip quad at Breckenridge. Built in 1985. Literally only lasted one season before it was converted into the Falcon SuperChair.

High Lonesome at Winter Park was a fixed-grip quad built in 1985. It lasted six years before it was converted into the High Lonesome Express lift.

[lift_electrical]

What was the Sun Valley Yan detach that stood less than a year, Frenchman's maybe? It was replaced in 1995 with the rest of the Yan detaches.




Jeff

[DonaldMReif]

Technically, Frenchman's wasn't replaced. Doppelmayr just overhauled the terminal infrastructure and replaced the grips, and in the case of most of the lifts, also replaced the chairs completely.

[DonaldMReif]

Speaking of Lift Engineering detachables, Deer Valley got one in the form of the original Carpenter Express in 1990. They completely took it out and replaced with the current Garaventa CTEC high speed quad in 1996 (well, they did reuse most of the original lift's towers on the current Carpenter, including the tower heads).