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Detachable midstations where the chairs actually come off come in two versions:

1. Half stations, where chairs detach going up but bypass the midstation on raised towers going downhill. Examples: the Village Express at Snowmass, West Buttermilk Express at Buttermilk, Palmer at Timberline, Orange Bubble at The Canyons, etc. These midstations occur when the lift follows a straight line.

2. I've been on a number of lifts where chairs detach in both directions. These are cases where the midstation functions as a turning station. The Peak 8 SuperConnect at Breck, the Christie Peak Express at Steamboat, and a number of gondolas, like the BreckConnect, feature this.

More pictures:

The Sunshine Village Gondola at Banff has an angle station where you cannot get on or off.




The Peak 8 Super Connect at Breckenridge.




The Collins Express at Alta.




The midstation on Palmer at Timberline is the only one-sided midstation I can find a picture of right now.

For mid-states that are angled, and one (or both) sides don't permit loading or unloading, do the carriers actually slow down? I know they'll detach, but is it necessary to actually slow them down or can they just be driven through the terminal at line speed?

If they do slow down, what is the reasoning?

Cameron.

Cameron, on 04 February 2011 - 11:41 AM, said:

Yes, they do slow down. Perhaps because making a turn at 1000 fpm would cause the carriers to swing a lot?

Orange Bubble and the new gondola angle station at The Canyons. If they didn't slow down, it would be a hell of a jolt to the riders. Riding on the downhill side of the gondola (inside of the turn) is quite the jolt as it is, even at 200 fpm.

Any detachable midstations where the uphill side of the line is on the inside of the turn?

floridaskier, on 04 February 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

Not that I've seen. On all lifts with midstations that I have found, the uphill line is to the outside of the turn, whether left (if turning right) or vice-versa. Besides, such a midstation would have to be pretty high off the ground depending on the design.

West Buttermilk Express




Village Express at Snowmass

Cameron, on 04 February 2011 - 11:41 AM, said:

If you've ever ridden one of the old Poma stick lifts with a decent corner, you would know that if they are cranked up to run at 1000 feet per minute, then skiers can easily get airbourne as they go around the corner. And that's on a surface lift.

I hate to think of the angle that chairs would swing out if they went around a bend at that speed!

floridaskier, on 04 February 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

Chair 6 (Riva Bahn) at Vail, but it's only maybe a 2 degree turn.

skierdude9450, on 05 February 2011 - 01:09 AM, said:

And it should be noted that Riva Bahn only has one turn on it, not two as the map might suggest at first glance, because those turns in the line are actually representing the lift going down the side of a ridge after the midstation.

Here's a picture of the station: