For those of you that would enjoy more information on ski lift design, construction, accidents and maintenance.
This link is to the Colorado school of Mines, Arthur Lakes Library, Ropeway Studies section. It has a large (perhaps largest) database of technical articles on ski lifts.
http://www.mines.edu/library/ropeway/
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Lift Accidents
Started by Whistler, Feb 10 2004 04:09 PM
52 replies to this topic
#22
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 07:42 PM
(TSIL - August 15, 2000) -- Investigators were still looking for the cause of
a gondola accident at Lutsen Mountain, MN, last Wednesday, resort spokesman
Jim Vick told TSIL Tuesday. He hoped the results of the investigation would
be available later in the week. Three people were hospitalized -- one in
critical condition -- after one car on the lift slid backwards and crashed
into a second car.
A sheriff's deputy said he believes the accident was caused by a faulty grip,
the device holding the car to the cable. He said that when the car was
launched, a safety device tripped, stopping the ride. Operators inspected the
car, found no problem and restarted it. Shortly afterward it crashed. The
gondola had been purchased from Loon Mountain in 1989. LUTSEN, MN -- The Lutsen Mountains gondola reopened on December 24th after being closed the past year for re-construction. Last year, the rare Hall gondola was forced to close because replacement parts were no longer available. After a lengthy search, Aerial Engineering of Spokane, WA was contracted to reengineer the lift.
The re-building effort started in 2000 following an accident in which a gondola car lost its grip on the cable and slid backward into the car behind it. One person was critically injured.
Aerial Engineering worked from the engineering aspect and contracted Rainbow Enterprises of Monticello, MN to build the actual replacement parts. Due to the narrow tolerances and special heat tempering required in the part specifications, this process took several months.
In 2000, a new DC motor and drive were installed. In 2001 most of the gondola cabins were rebuilt. For the past year, and the final component of the re-build, new grips and sheave wheels were fitted to the line.
The re-opening of the gondola has been highly anticipated. More than 140,000 passengers ride the gondola each year. The lift is the only operating gondola in the midwestern US.
Lutsen acquired the gondola from Loon Mountain, New Hampshire in the late 1980's. Loon replaced the Hall gondola with a Doppelmayr built gondola with 4-passenger CWA cabins. LONDONDERRY, VT -
a gondola accident at Lutsen Mountain, MN, last Wednesday, resort spokesman
Jim Vick told TSIL Tuesday. He hoped the results of the investigation would
be available later in the week. Three people were hospitalized -- one in
critical condition -- after one car on the lift slid backwards and crashed
into a second car.
A sheriff's deputy said he believes the accident was caused by a faulty grip,
the device holding the car to the cable. He said that when the car was
launched, a safety device tripped, stopping the ride. Operators inspected the
car, found no problem and restarted it. Shortly afterward it crashed. The
gondola had been purchased from Loon Mountain in 1989. LUTSEN, MN -- The Lutsen Mountains gondola reopened on December 24th after being closed the past year for re-construction. Last year, the rare Hall gondola was forced to close because replacement parts were no longer available. After a lengthy search, Aerial Engineering of Spokane, WA was contracted to reengineer the lift.
The re-building effort started in 2000 following an accident in which a gondola car lost its grip on the cable and slid backward into the car behind it. One person was critically injured.
Aerial Engineering worked from the engineering aspect and contracted Rainbow Enterprises of Monticello, MN to build the actual replacement parts. Due to the narrow tolerances and special heat tempering required in the part specifications, this process took several months.
In 2000, a new DC motor and drive were installed. In 2001 most of the gondola cabins were rebuilt. For the past year, and the final component of the re-build, new grips and sheave wheels were fitted to the line.
The re-opening of the gondola has been highly anticipated. More than 140,000 passengers ride the gondola each year. The lift is the only operating gondola in the midwestern US.
Lutsen acquired the gondola from Loon Mountain, New Hampshire in the late 1980's. Loon replaced the Hall gondola with a Doppelmayr built gondola with 4-passenger CWA cabins. LONDONDERRY, VT -
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#23
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 07:45 PM
The Mt Bohemia lift is a used Riblet. The area is very low-budget, with its base facilities being little more than portable yurts. I'm not saying this has anything to do with the accident, but perhaps the guy they got to put the clips in wasn't experienced enough to tell if one wasn't fully seated. Pure speculation on my part, of course.
Member, Department of Ancient Technology, Colorado chapter.
#24
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 07:50 PM
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#25
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 07:52 PM
Guys I think the score is all tied between manufactures.
Design is getting much better.
Upper management ignorance of preventive maintenance still the same, with the exception to Colorado areas.
Pressure from any department to operate in inclement weather still the same.
Ryan B
Design is getting much better.
Upper management ignorance of preventive maintenance still the same, with the exception to Colorado areas.
Pressure from any department to operate in inclement weather still the same.
Ryan B
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#26
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 07:57 PM
At mammoth some time in the 70s or 80s as they were pushing the cabin out of the top terminal, for some reason it didnt attach, so it just went down the trackropes untill it hit the next car, then it fell to the ground. The accident was covered up in like 15 minutes, so barely anyone knew about it. I heard about it from a lift operator who worked the gondola when it happened.
Zack
#27
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Posted 10 February 2004 - 08:29 PM
why with the exception of colorado?
I have a picture of vails gondola accident in the 70's. too bad it is on a backup site cd that i don't have in boulder...funny how that works! one of these days i will upload it again.
I have a picture of vails gondola accident in the 70's. too bad it is on a backup site cd that i don't have in boulder...funny how that works! one of these days i will upload it again.
#28
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Lift Maintenance
Posted 11 February 2004 - 06:23 AM
Colorado has a very stong Tramway Board and inspection program. However, I can assure you that in Utah, we have had a very good record for the last 25 years or so (about the time designs were improving). And for the most part the 7 "metro" areas have excellent pm programs.
#29
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Posted 11 February 2004 - 10:03 AM
coskibum, on Feb 10 2004, 06:58 PM, said:
maybe ryan knows something about this but a riblet tower at snowmass fell over during either the 70s or 80s...it had a bad foundation.
That was in 94 or 95. I remember that. ;) Or Snowmass had a nother problem in 94 or 95. with a chiarlift.
Jeff
#30
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Posted 11 February 2004 - 05:22 PM
liftmechanic, on Feb 11 2004, 09:23 AM, said:
...I can assure you that in Utah, we have had a very good record for the last 25 years or so (about the time designs were improving). And for the most part the 7 "metro" areas have excellent pm programs.
Not to try to discredit what liftmechanic said, and i dont have any idea if this is true or not, but according to an instructor at PCMR (which is one of the 7 metro areas along with The Canyons, DV, Snwobird, Alta, Brighton, and Solitude) said that the Crescent quad- a Yan- was having trouble with the chairs slipping on the line in its final year in operation. The lift was a pretty short ride straight up a black diamond trail. I dont think anybody got hurt in any of these, or else we may have heard about it, but either way the lift was removed. The lift was removed under POWDR Corp's ownership. However, it was probably removed because it was a useless, redundant lift that only served like 4 short runs
- Tyler
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet
#32
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Posted 12 February 2004 - 06:41 AM
On the trail map it looks like it went up the cresent ski run. I can upload the PCMR trail map later and give you a link if you can't picture where the lift would be.
- Cameron
#33
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Lift Maintenance
Posted 12 February 2004 - 07:46 AM
A little bit of info on ski resorts, they are a business just like any other, rumors and misinformation can run rampant. I can pretty much tell you that an instructor
(unless it was the director or a very senior employee) would not really have the whole picture involving lift details. Typically anyone with a brain would not be talking with a guest about the sensitive inner workings of the company. It is amazing how a routine repair made during the day on a lift is rumored to have been a catastrophic failure by days end. Having a wide variety of experience at a lot of resorts one thing I have learned is that with a few exceptions, the majority of instructors have little knowledge about the behind the scenes operations of a resort. Those in the know are: lift maint, snow safety, patrol, groomers, snowmakers, mountain ops management, and shop mechanics. Was their an accident in the lift at PCMR-no. In any case any good program will make every effort to solve problems before their is an accident.
(unless it was the director or a very senior employee) would not really have the whole picture involving lift details. Typically anyone with a brain would not be talking with a guest about the sensitive inner workings of the company. It is amazing how a routine repair made during the day on a lift is rumored to have been a catastrophic failure by days end. Having a wide variety of experience at a lot of resorts one thing I have learned is that with a few exceptions, the majority of instructors have little knowledge about the behind the scenes operations of a resort. Those in the know are: lift maint, snow safety, patrol, groomers, snowmakers, mountain ops management, and shop mechanics. Was their an accident in the lift at PCMR-no. In any case any good program will make every effort to solve problems before their is an accident.
#34
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Posted 12 February 2004 - 09:32 AM
coskibum, on Feb 10 2004, 08:29 PM, said:
why with the exception of colorado?
As Liftmechanic said, the Tramway board here is very strong. For example, every time I replace a broken spring on the Flyer, I have to report it to the board as a 'critical component failure'. CPTSB requires a great deal of preventative maintenance that most states don't; fortunately, any area with a good maintenance department will have a PM programme anyway. We had a pretty good one at Baker; even with only six primary and two backup lifts, we still took all summer to go through them.
Member, Department of Ancient Technology, Colorado chapter.
#35
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Posted 13 February 2004 - 01:31 PM
Park City Ski Area- 93/94 trail map
Here's a map- it's a pretty bad scan, but it's something. There's a little box that says -'Crescent quad- providing access to the summit via Pioneer Chair' or something like that. The lift was pretty short
Here's a map- it's a pretty bad scan, but it's something. There's a little box that says -'Crescent quad- providing access to the summit via Pioneer Chair' or something like that. The lift was pretty short
- Tyler
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet
West Palm Beach, FL - elev. 9 feet
#36
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Posted 14 February 2004 - 09:14 AM
KZ, on Feb 10 2004, 07:57 PM, said:
At mammoth some time in the 70s or 80s as they were pushing the cabin out of the top terminal, for some reason it didnt attach, so it just went down the trackropes untill it hit the next car, then it fell to the ground. The accident was covered up in like 15 minutes, so barely anyone knew about it. I heard about it from a lift operator who worked the gondola when it happened.
My neighbor was on the gondola when it happened!
(coming up from the other direction)
This post has been edited by CAski: 14 February 2004 - 09:14 AM
"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catalina, patientia nostra?" -Cicero
#39
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Posted 14 February 2004 - 09:38 PM
No. I don't think so.
According to my neighbor, he heard a loud booming sound then saw the cabin fall to the ground. He also said that it took a few hours to get the gondola moving again, and the passengers were compensated by some monetary sum (the amount I am not sure of).
According to my neighbor, he heard a loud booming sound then saw the cabin fall to the ground. He also said that it took a few hours to get the gondola moving again, and the passengers were compensated by some monetary sum (the amount I am not sure of).
"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catalina, patientia nostra?" -Cicero
#40
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Posted 16 February 2004 - 03:22 PM
A few posts back we were discussing maintenance programs that different states had.
Chairlift problems – 2 years ago
Apparently the operators' preventive maintenance program included State Inspectors to look for lost sheave axels!
http://cgi.citizen-t...tory/news/16994
http://cgi.citizen-t...ory/front/15662
Chairlift problems – 2 years ago
Apparently the operators' preventive maintenance program included State Inspectors to look for lost sheave axels!
http://cgi.citizen-t...tory/news/16994
http://cgi.citizen-t...ory/front/15662
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