Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Saturday they finished up with attaching all the chairs to the new haul rope and Sunday they did the rest of whatever else needed to be done. SO....the Keechelus double is back in working order.

One of the first posts in the tech forum.
My answer to a forum question at Hyak.net
Posted on Nov 9.
Good guess on haul rope finish time.
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Hours to Change a Haul Rope:
Having done this at least 30 times here's my estimates on an average lift (3000', 20 towers, 120 chairs, crappy access, clean site when finished).
All major groups with total man hours-

Unload rope from truck and transport to lift 8 mhrs
Partially detension lift 20 mhrs
Remove chairs and clips from rope 50 mhrs
Clean and NDT all chairs and clips 32 mhrs
Fully detension lift and lower haul rope to ground 50 mhrs
Setup, and test spooling system 50 mhrs
Splice new rope to old 50 mhrs
Pull new rope 50 mhrs
Measure and tension new rope 50 mhrs
Move old rope to bone yard 8mhrs
Splice new haul rope 70 mhrs
Release rigging in splice area 10 mhrs
Hang rope on towers 50 mhrs
Reattach support sheaves at lower hold down towers 4 mhrs
Tension haul rope 20 mhrs
Worry about lack of carriage travel in either direction 4 mhrs
Partially detension lift for clip installation 10 mhrs
Restack or repaint all chair numbers 4 mhrs
Install clips and chairs 60 mhrs
Return all slings to storage 8 mhrs

600+ man hours
5 men 120 hours
5 men 3 weeks

Expected life of a haul rope:
500' long lift running 1500 hours per year = 5 years
2500' long lift running 1000 hours per year = 25 years

Ryan B

I read on Jack's site about Alpental's misfortune. The pedestrian bridge from the parking lots to the lodge collapsed. Knocked out sewer and communications as well.

That bridge collapsing is not good.

Maybe they can replace it with a magic carpet bridge, then it won't take so long to cross. I've cross that bridge a few times and it looks like Booth Creek hasn't been maintaining it like they should. Some rails have been replaced with a sheet of plywood.

Wow...thats never good. How big is the gap? Could it be repaired before the season or does it have to be replaced?

Attached is a picture taken after the last Keechelus chair was installed on the rope.

Here is picture 2 of 3

Here is picture 3 of 3

People have been complaing about booth at sierra and northstar

Jack- do you happen to know who did the splice? That's a monstrous tuck smasher they've got there...
I get the idea Booth is 'over it', to use a slang term. It seems that they just don't put in the effort it would take to keep an area running, even though in some cases it would be a minimal investment. If they are treating Sierra and Northstar like they have been treating Snoqualmie, their future doesn't look good.

I don't know who did the work......but ditto what you said about Booth. It seems they do just enough to keep the place floating and hope the $$$ will roll in. I know nothing about the equipment used, but are you implying that the equipment shown is cheap? Just curious..........

Not at all! I've just never seen a 'tuck smasher' that big, and I helped with two splices on an identical lift/rope some years back. We just pounded the tucks with two brass hammers. I think the quote is, 'I am a lift mechanic. I can lift heavy objects and use big hammers.' (said with a caveman voice) :D

Guys:

I believe you are looking at a Jim Ellis redesign of Riblets detensioner. Jim and his son own Aerial Engineering. Jim was Riblets mechanical engineer who left a few years before the main owner Tony Sowder passed away. After a few years of contested ownership Tony's son Doug took over the company.

I actually have fabricated a few tuck presses; boy they can make a bad splicer look good.

Ryan B

liftmech, on Dec 8 2003, 05:03 AM, said:

Hah! That's what we did :) Beat on the rope sitting on a stump!

Ryan, your guess makes more sense than mine. Now that I look at it, it does look like a detensioner (the famed Riblet finger amputator!) I wonder if Ellis is going to get a lot of business now that Sowder's called it quits? Jim has done a great deal with older Riblets, and someone's going to have to fill the vacuum on spare parts...

Who is Ellis?

Jim Ellis and his son John run Aerial Engineering out of Spokane. Jim was one of the main engineers in Riblet's boom days, and left to form his own company (I never heard why). Jim has forgotten more about lifts than I'll ever hope to learn, and he's a great guy to learn from. I've taken several classes from him at the PNSAA Maintenance seminar. He also tells great stories from all over the industry.
Aerial Engineering does redesigns, new profiles, supplies used parts, designs new ones, and generally does about everything except build brand-new lifts.

Ok, I know who he is, and rumour has it, he acquired Riblet's inventory and will support the Riblet Tramway lifts.

nice business with all the riblets out there.