Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

To settle it, here are the actual steepest lifts:
Ski Area, Lift Name, Manufacturer, Year, Vertical, Length, Slope in %

1. Snowbasin, Utah Mt. Allen Tram Aerial Tram Doppelmayr 1998- 1047 1165 0.898712446
2. Marmot Basin, Alberta E Triple Chair Triple Hall 1964- 928 1685 0.55074184
3. Grouse Mountain, British Columbia Blue Skyride Tram 40 Habegger 1965- 2800 5280 0.53030303
4. Big Sky, Montana Lone Peak Tram Tram 15 Doppelmayr 1995- 1,450 2,828 0.512729844
5. Solitude, Utah Honeycomb Return Quad Doppelmayr CTEC 2002- 655 1300 0.503846154
6. Grouse Mountain, British Columbia Red Skyride Tram 100 Garaventa AG 1976- 2631 5300 0.496415094
7. Alpine Meadows, California Scott Triple GaraventaCTEC 1068 2250 0.474666667
8. Stevens Pass, Washington Tye Mill Triple Riblet 1999- 706 1513 0.466622604
9. Mount Baker, Washington Chair 5 Quad DoppelmayrCTEC 2002- 1271 2734 0.464886613
10. Marble Mountain, Newfoundland Newfie Bullet Quad 720 1550 0.464516129
11. Aspen Highlands, Colorado Deep Termerity Triple Leitner-Poma 2005- 1708 3683 0.463752376
12. Park City, Utah Eaglet Triple GaraventaCTEC 1993- 1155 2515 0.459244533
13. Taos, New Mexico 1 Al's Run Quad Poma 1989- 1634 3740 0.436898396
14. Stevens Pass, Washington Southern Cross/Double Diamond Triple Garaventa CTEC 1987- 2,466 5675 0.434537445
15. Whiteface, New York Summit Quad GaraventaCTEC 1997- 1852 4290 0.431701632
16. Alyeska, Alaska Tram Tram VonRoll 1992- 2028 4699 0.431581187
17. Heavenly, Nevada Gunbarrel Express High Speed Quad Doppelmayr 1998- 1588 3758 0.422565194
18. Sundance, Utah Arrowhead Triple Thiokol 1975- 1115 2648 0.421072508
19. Jackson Hole, Wyoming East Ridge Double DoppelmayrCTEC 2006- 849 2024 0.419466403
20. Moonlight Basin, Montana Lone Tree Quad DoppelmayrCTEC 2004- 650 1550 0.419354839

If anyone is curious about a particular lift, I can try and tell you where it is on the list.
This post has been edited by Skier: 18 April 2007 - 10:22 PM

Skier,
Your list is missing at least these (see early post this thread pg 1):

TELLURIDE
Lift 8 (Oak St) 42.7% (v-1055; h-2470; sl-2686)
Lift 7 (Coonskin) 42.4% (1845; 4350; 4725)
Lift 14 (Gold Hill) 44.3% (1475; 3333; 3645)
Lift 6 (Apex) 42.0% (1144; 2727; 2957)

And I am skeptical about your reference re:
Snowbasin, Utah Mt. Allen Tram Aerial Tram Doppelmayr 1998- 1047 1165 0.898712446

89.9% is very steep for an aerial lift. I haven't found horizonatal or slope length or ride time specifications to confirm or refute your claim, but just to suppose you are correct, given a vertical rise of 510 feet, then the slope length would be something like 762' making the ride time at 5 m/s approximately 45 seconds and at 10 m/s 23 seconds plus a little for acceleration and deceleration at the terminals. Does this sound correct to you?

The www.skistats.com website gives the Olympic Tram (aka Mt Allen Tram) at Snowbasin a vertical of 510 and a slope length of 1165, so that calcs out at 48.71% (a little over 1 minute ridetime at 5 m/s rope speed). But this site also suggests that the Viking 3C at Deer Valley has 135 vertical over a slope length of 150 for a whopping 206% gradient, so... who knows?
This post has been edited by ccslider: 19 April 2007 - 02:21 PM

Seventh Heaven at Stevens is steeper by far than Tye Mill, yet it's not on the list? I calculate it at only 39%, yet it doesn't seem flatter than either Tye Mill or Southern Cross. You also have to keep in mind that Southern Cross/Double Diamond is an up-and-over lift; you're calculating the average gradient of both sides because SAM adds the vertical of both sides and runs the total length of the installation.

7th Heaven is a very steep, short lift. An interesting note about it is that the large rope deflection angles at the top and bottom increased the line friction above that which was expected. After the load test, it was unloaded by backing the load down and it stopped overhauling much sooner than expected.

The data sheet I have for 7th Heaven is 441' rise and 772' horz, but for some reason it says 1000' slope length, and the qty of chairs matches 1000'.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the profile anymore.

Your numbers (which I assume are much more accurate than mine) make it 57%. I would guess rope weight on those sheaves is pretty heavy- I'd hate to have the rope jack fail while changing a sheave!

CCslider, I am going by the skilifts.org surveys, which put the Olympic Tram at 89% which is probably wrong, but not by me.

Where are you getting your numbers for Oak Street? I can't find that lift in any of the surveys.

For Coonskin, my numbers from SAM put it at 38%.

Gold Hill with the numbers from Doppelmayr is 40%, not in the top 20

Apex could be that steep, it was a relocation so I did not have numbers for it. If you know your numbers are correct, then I can add it, but the numbers from SAM do not agree with most of yours.

Oak Street is the former Palmyra lift I believe. That's why it's not listed on the lift installation surveys.

I will check the stats for the Olympic lift this weekend.

The Doppelmayr Worldbook puts it at 155m x 355m, or 509 ft x 1165 ft, or 43.7%

Updated list:

Grouse Mountain, British Columbia Blue Skyride Tram 40 Habegger 1965- 2800 5280 53.030%
Big Sky, Montana Lone Peak Tram Tram 15 Doppelmayr 1995- 1,450 2,828 51.273%
Solitude, Utah Honeycomb Return Quad Doppelmayr CTEC 2002- 655 1300 50.385%
Grouse Mountain, British Columbia Red Skyride Tram 100 Garaventa AG 1976- 2631 5300 49.642%
Alpine Meadows, California Scott Triple GaraventaCTEC 1068 2250 47.467%
Stevens Pass, Washington Tye Mill Triple Riblet 1999- 706 1513 46.662%
Mount Baker, Washington Chair 5 Quad DoppelmayrCTEC 2002- 1271 2734 46.489%
Marble Mountain, Newfoundland Newfie Bullet Quad 720 1550 46.452%
Aspen Highlands, Colorado Deep Termerity Triple Leitner-Poma 2005- 1708 3683 46.375%
Park City, Utah Eaglet Triple GaraventaCTEC 1993- 1155 2515 45.924%
Stevens Pass, Washington Seventh Heaven Double Riblet 1960- 437 1000 43.700%
Snowbasin, Utah Mt. Allen Tram Aerial Tram Doppelmayr 1998- 509 1165 43.691%
Taos, New Mexico 1 Al's Run Quad Poma 1989- 1634 3740 43.690%
Stevens Pass, Washington Southern Cross/Double Diamond Triple Garaventa CTEC 1987- 2,466 5675 43.454%
Whiteface, New York Summit Quad GaraventaCTEC 1997- 1852 4290 43.170%
Alyeska, Alaska Tram Tram VonRoll 1992- 2028 4699 43.158%
Heavenly, Nevada Gunbarrel Express High Speed Quad Doppelmayr 1998- 1588 3758 42.257%
Sundance, Utah Arrowhead Triple Thiokol 1975- 1115 2648 42.107%
Jackson Hole, Wyoming East Ridge Double DoppelmayrCTEC 2006- 849 2024 41.947%
This post has been edited by Skier: 21 April 2007 - 08:23 AM

SkiBachelor, on Apr 19 2007, 09:18 PM, said:

Oak St (Lift 8) was relocated in 1985 - it used to be the orginal Gorrono Lift 4.

Skier, on Apr 19 2007, 09:09 PM, said:

Let's just say I'm fairly familiar with the Telluride Lifts:

Oak Street (L8): 1055 v, 2470 h, 2686 sl = 42.7% (1972/85 SLI/CTEC)
Coonskin (L7): 1845 v, 4350 h, 4725 sl = 42.4% (1975 SLI/Riblet)
Apex (L6): 1144 v, 2727 h, 2957 sl = 42.0% (1985/99 CTEC/Doppelmayr)
Gold Hill (L14): 1475 v, 3333 h, 3645 sl = 44.3% (2001 Doppelmayr)

The vertical and slope length numbers come from as-built profiles. The horizontal and % gradients are mathmatical calculations (my math is always subject for debate).

I can't be sure, but I'll bet that the "Bridal Veil Falls" tram in Provo UT was the steepest ever. I rode that thing atop the gondola from top to bottom - it was a crane.

I'm pretty sure the triple chair at marmot is not deserving to be at the top of the list, i'm not sure the exact stats but i wouldn't put it as the steepest lift around. And as far as i know there have only been Doppelmayr lifts there.

Are these stats for lifts that are still standing? I guess that would make sense. Any idea what the old Beaver lake lift would have been?

I think Beaver Lake is the lift in the survey with a vertical of 300' and length of 1005' so that would put it at 30%

Emax, on Apr 20 2007, 11:00 AM, said:

yeah I remember seeing "world's steepest aerial tramway in the world!!" above the control room for the tram

lastchair_44, on Apr 21 2007, 08:36 PM, said:

"world's steepest aerial tramway in the world!!"

English majors they were not... but the thing indeed was steep.

Emax, on Apr 21 2007, 07:32 PM, said:

In reality, it might not have said that...English major?? Not I ! (especially after a few cocktails)

I recall looking up the line at Bridal Veil Falls and saying that I didn't think I'd want to do a carriage ride.......!!!

Big Sky Tram? Here's a pic looking up the line.


Epic powder day, too.

Carl