Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

A couple of deconstruction photos:
First up is T-1 from old B-lift being removed. The base bolts are being cut off before the boom truck lifts the tower onto its bed. Note the foundation for the lift shack and the operator pedestal controls are still there. This was one of Copper's original lifts, a Heron double dating from 1972.

Sad to see an old Heron Go. I used to love skiing of that lift.

Second is a tower from old B-1 (1973 Yan double) being flown out. Because Yan towers were direct burial (no base bolts) this is an interesting process; the torch guy from the previous photo cuts the tower in two places, leaving only a couple of 1" tabs of steel holding the tower up. The helicopter then rocks the tower back and forth until the tabs break off and flies it to the parking lot. The guys discovered a scary thing while removing T-3; when the helicopter was breaking the tower off the tabs stayed firm but the factory weld a foot higher broke cleanly. It was decided after close inspection (thankfull for curiosity only and not tram board investigation!) that the welder did not angle the ends of his pipe joints- just placed them end-to-end and welded a bead on the surface, producing a poor-quality weld that had cracked from the inside out

crazyskier91, on Jun 20 2004, 05:30 AM, said:

You don't have any pictures, do you? These are all I can find of the old lifts; I haven't asked around the hill yet, so I may find more.

How much would one of those towers weigh, it looks like the Helicopter is dragging the tower along the ground.

I don't know exactly, but part of the dragging is that helicopters have reduced lift at 11,300 (approximately the elevation the photo was shot at) so it takes a bit for it to get off the ground. One of the towers almost hit a lift supervisor who was watching- she had to dive into the lift shack!

No I don't have any pics of it, I was going to ask if you had any more. I can remember the lift but when I was 7 I wasen't very interested in taking pictures of chairlifts. :---:

Me neither, and I'm kicking myself for it now. I've ridden a lot of lifts that no longer exist, not to mention wandered through base areas which have been completely remodeled. I guess it's my history major background, but I really like to at least see photos of old stuff...

Take a look at this tram. :D

another picture where you can see the top tower.

liftmech, on Jun 20 2004, 06:40 AM, said:

Apparently when they were building motherlode, the little cables that supported the tower when the foundation was being built snapped, and the tower fell over!

So sad to see any lift go. When they take the towers out can the towers be reused if some one bought the lift?

where is that tram?

Mount Blanc in Switzerland. There is no towers just pure vertical feet(Freeky Ride)

iceberg210, on Jun 20 2004, 03:31 PM, said:

Yes. That is why they were flown out instead of cut down and skidded like logs. No-one actually bought the lift, and we apparently didn't want to store it indefinitely. All that's left is the gearbox and top bullwheel. Keystone, on the other hand, cut Pack 1 down and left the towers where they lay for a few months- you could see them sitting in the liftline as you drove by.

Ok here is some weirdness on the Golden eagle express @ Kicking horse
either the emergency rail has carbon fibre guards or those are solar panels

does anyone hazard a guess as to what they are? and please explain if you know!

It's not carbon fibre, nor is it a set of solar panels. That is diamondplate steel (named for the stamped design on it, not because it's coated with diamond) and it serves to keep snow off the rail. Some lifts, particularly in Europe, have guards to protect the motors which drive tyres to automatically move chairs or gondola cabins. I don't see any evidence of that in your photo, so the guards must serve exclusively to keep the rail clear. I wish I had some on the Flyer as it's impossible to chip ice out of the rail.

cool thanks for the info

i wonder why then they used diamond plate? possibly as snow adhears less to it than other metals? it seems odd to me that it doesn't match the termial sheet metal or maybe it was a later mod by the resort

Could be either one; diamondplate has a glossy finish as you can see in the photo, and nothing except grease really sticks to it.

Odd, but the Headwall Express chair at Squaw has it, but it makes sense for them becasue it covers the grips as it gets very nasty during bad storms, and that probably saves some time chipping off the ice.