Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Don't you mean degrees and not %? 45 degrees=1:1 ratio=100%.

The aerial tram at Squaw Valley rises up from 6230 foot elevation to 7440 at the next tower of about 1200 feet of vertical at 54% gradient. At one point it climbs over about 800 feet of 80% grade rock cliffs to do so. -dave

I saw the Whiteface Summit Quad made the list, but what about other steep lifts in the East? Based on the stats on skilifts.org, the the Killingon Bear Mountain Quad is steeper than the Whiteface Summit Quad. I found a few respectable lifts in the East...

Killington, VT - Bear Mountain Quad - v-1,184'; h-2,601; sl-2,858' = 45.5%
Whiteface, NY - Summit Quad - v-1,830; h-4,336; sl-4,706 = 42.2%
Cannon, NH - Cannon Mountain Tram - v-2,021'; h-4,953'; sl-4,953' = 40.8%

Anyone know of any others?

-Scott
This post has been edited by tuskvt: 01 February 2008 - 08:54 PM

I would say the opening pitch, while not sustained, of the Shooting Star 6 at Stratton has a good grade to it.

The steepest Lift in Europe (excl. Aerial Trams) that comes to my mind is the Col Pradat 8-Person Gondola at Alta Badia Italy.
It serves a vertical of 1043.3 ft at a length of 1683 ft which is an average grade of 61.9%.
Here you can find pictures!
I heard that it was not possible to build a HSQ because the track was to steep. They had to choose a Gondola which allows larger distances from the ground.

Does anyone know what the steepest single section between two lift towers? How steep can a chairlift, gondola or tram technically go (before it becomes an elevator :))?

-Scott
This post has been edited by tuskvt: 12 February 2008 - 06:08 AM

All manufacturers are different, but most of it depends upon the grip and what it's capable of holding. The steeper the section, the more force the grip has to hold without slipping. There's also the carrier swing to consider, as in how far back can it go before it hits the rope.

"Stevens Pass, Washington Seventh Heaven Double Riblet 1960- 437 1000 43.700%"

Skier's last list had Seventh Heaven on it, but the the earlier post that had the horizontal length at 772 feet was correct. 1000 feet is the slope length (half of the haulrope length).

So with a 437 foot rise in 772 horizontal feet, that would make the slope 57%.

As per the steep stuff, here in Colorado, you can find a lot of steep lifts. The last hill on the Northwoods Express lift at Vail, the Peru Express lift at Keystone from the bottom terminal to tower 10, the Peak 8 SuperConnect at Breckenridge from midway to the upper terminal, and Vista Bahn Express at Vail between towers 12 and 14 are all very steep sections of lifts. Check them out in person!