607 replies to this topic

[SkiBachelor]

POMA also ran into problems with Pikes Peak and removed the chairlift there!

[floridaskier]

SkiBachelor, on Sep 23 2007, 03:26 PM, said:

Looks like the D-C brought back the Girak carrier design, but made a few changes to it.

Do resorts have a choice between D-C six pack chair designs? The Tombstone six pack at The Canyons that was built last summer has Doppelmayr chairs

[SkiBachelor]

Yes, they still have a choice.

[trooper1556]

Quote

Steamboat Springs — The giant mechanical dragonfly that buzzed back and forth over the lower slopes of Steamboat Ski Area on Friday afternoon made short work of installing the 18 towers for the new Christie Peak Express high-speed, six-seat chairlift.

“We’re at an hour and 45 minutes and we have one and a half towers left to go,” ski area spokesman Mike Lane said as the helicopter slowly dropped the gigantic lift towers into place.

The Sikorsky-Erickson S-64 Skycrane helicopter, almost 90 feet long, is owned by Siller Brothers Aviation of Yuba City, Calif. The aircraft appears cut away where its fuselage might have been. The unusual profile makes the whirlybird ideal for lifting heavy external loads, such as logs in the forest surrounding Yuba City or chairlift towers at Colorado ski resorts. The helicopter’s twin engines and six rotor blades are capable of lifting up to 10 tons, depending on altitude.

The Skycrane was able to carry the lift towers with their oversized cross-arms attached. Lane said the heaviest load the chopper picked up Friday weighed 9,800 pounds.

A different helicopter already had flown concrete for the chairlift tower bases in late July. On Friday, employees of lift manufacturer Leitner-Poma had the unenviable task of bolting the towers to the concrete bases while the Skycrane hovered above.

Lane said prior to arriving in Steamboat, the helicopter crew had completed jobs in Vail, Arapahoe Basin and Winter Park.

Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. Marketing and Sales Executive Vice President Andy Wirth said the arrival of the helicopter is a signal that multiple construction projects at the base of the ski area are on time for the scheduled Nov. 22 opening of ski season in Steamboat.

“A lot of locals are getting to see the shape of things to come,” Wirth said. He also is the chief marketing officer for Intrawest, Steamboat’s parent company.

Wirth said the biggest net effect skiers and riders will experience from the new lift is it will trim the trip to the Christie Summit from two chairlifts to just one, cutting the elapsed time from 20 minutes to five minutes. The new lift will carry 3,200 passengers per hour — more than the ski area’s gondola.

Vice President of Mountain Operations Doug Allen said beginners will appreciate the fact that the new lift moves more slowly while passengers get on and off.

Skiers will have the option of disembarking at the top of Headwall, or remaining seated for the ride to Christie Summit.

The lift’s lower terminal will sit approximately where the lower Headwall terminal is now.

The Christie Peak Express is part of $16 million in improvements being made at Steamboat Ski Area this summer. In addition to the lift construction, the Headwall trail beneath the new lift is undergoing a major re-grading project that will eliminate a double fall line and create three distinct zones of the slope with different pitches ranging from 9 to 21 percent.

The new lift also permits the removal of several smaller lifts, opening up teaching terrain.

The big helicopter that ferried Christie Peak Express towers this week didn’t come cheap. But even at $10,000 an hour, it was a value, Lane said.

“It was definitely well worth it when you consider how fast it got the job done,” he said.

Here is the link to the article, there is a video on there as well:
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/se...ift/?local_news

attached are the newpapers pic & some shots i got. under the heli, winds were around 80 miles an hour... i was still getting dirt out of my hair the next day :) I'll post some more pictures soon.

[Allan]

Carriers going online! Sorry for the quality - Cell phone cam!!

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[Bill]

Skier, on Sep 9 2007, 10:01 PM, said:

I got an update from Crystal, they flew the entire bottom terminal today with a twin engine helicopter. They are now going to do the towers around the 30th. I am planning on going up next weekend and when they do the towers and then once in October.

Any update on if they are flying them in on the 30th? Snow level on Sunday is to be around 4,000 ft. Should make it a fun day.

[Peter]

Still no towers around, I hear it will be into October.

[Snoqualmie guy]

They might be battleing a little snow. When I talked to them at Ski Bonkers they said it was a week ahead now that week made up for the lost time looks like.

[Limelight]

I'll head over to Dollar Mt tomorrow morning and get some updated pics of the two new HSQs. Looks like there both about done.

[Allan]

Allan, on Sep 25 2007, 06:52 PM, said:

Carriers going online! Sorry for the quality - Cell phone cam!!

Carriers are all on, acceptance test is on Tuesday!

[liftmech]

Sounds like you guys are ahead of most- to add to what people have mentioned about Crystal, sounds like load test may be after the rest of the mountain is open. I don't envy them at all- late fall in Washington isn't exactly dry.

[Peter]

Load test? I'm thinking January. They still don't have any top terminal foundation, or foundations for the top 3 towers. No drive station, no towers, no cable. I am wondering how they are going to do the helicopter flying for the towers when there is no clear day in sight. I guess the top station is all going to be by crane so that should be doable in bad weather. I would not want to be the one driving the motor room up there in the snow. Maybe they'll do it by cat. I am going to try and hike up in the rain/snow next weekend and see what is up. Apparently they now have a hole at least for the top station footing.

John, do you know if it will be a diesel drive? They have not laid any cable from Green Valley that I am aware of.

[Snoqualmie guy]

The way we're talking, the lift should be open for the '08 part of the season!

[Peter]

Wishful thinking, but it would be nice if they would open North Back for one last time before the lift is ready.

And some new photos:
http://www.holidayva...cfm?subpage=647
http://www.schweitzer.com/mountain/multime...oto_gallery.php
http://www.skilookou..._Star_pics.html
http://www.skimontripley.com/
http://www.brianhead...terconnect.html
http://www.skiwinterpark.com/mountain/impr...mic_express.htm
http://64.146.72.197/cpg1410/index.php

[liftmech]

North Back should be closed until construction is finished- too many ways for the public to get hurt.
Towers are in the parking lot and should be flown starting sometime next week.
Power is already out there- it went in this spring. I'm not sure how the bottom terminal will be powered, especially since it's the tension terminal and from the pics I've seen it's hydraulic. Perhaps it's a passive system like old Midway's was- occasionally we'd have to give it a few pumps by hand but there was no constantly-operating electric pump.

[Peter]

Thanks for the info, they are tentatively scheduled to fly the towers on October 22nd.

[skiersage]

Towers installed at Gore mountain. I think it is safe to say at this point that this lift is a Borvig that has be refurbished by Partek. This is similar to the haileys comet lift that was installed at Mt Peter (also a borvig lift refurbished and reinstalled by partek).

[Peter]

So is Partek still at work? These lifts seem to be almost all new parts.

Also, regarding the Oct 22 tower flying at Crystal, Does anyone know how good of visibility is needed for the helicopters? It seems likely that it would be cloudy and rainy/snowy.

This post has been edited by Skier: 02 October 2007 - 08:38 PM

[lastchair_44]

Skier, on Oct 2 2007, 09:31 PM, said:

So is Partek still at work? These lifts seem to be almost all new parts.

Also, regarding the Oct 22 tower flying at Crystal, Does anyone know how good of visibility is needed for the helicopters? It seems likely that it would be cloudy and rainy/snowy.

Cold weather is best for the "bird" for lift purposes, and I have been on a job where we flew in the snow before. I think as long as the pilot can see the guys on the ground you're ok. But I've only been on a few "fly days" so I'm not 100% sure.

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[Limelight]

Well, Crystal is in class G (uncontrolled) airspace, so the FAA part 91 VFR minimums require 1 mile of visibility (rain snow haze), and must remain clear of all clouds (cannot penetrate any cloud layers), for day operations. The cloud base (ceiling) must be at least 1200 ft above ground level.

So trying to meet these requirements in late October in the Washington Cascades is going to be a huge challenge to say the least. Now, I do know that helicopters do have special VFR weather amendment that allows for less visibility as long as they can maintain positive visual contact of all obstructions and terrain, and as long as they operated at a slow speeds (hover), but they still must remain clear of all clouds. Also, it gets a little windy up there during that time of year. I'm sure that plays a large role as well.

I've got to ask, why the hell are these towers going in so late? I would not be at all surprised if a few, if not all of those towers spend the winter in the parking lot.

I truly hope thats not the case but honestly, you'd be lucky to get 500 feet of visibility and/or cloud ceiling clearance in late October! And if you do, it will only last for a few minutes.

This post has been edited by Limelight: 03 October 2007 - 08:37 AM