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Information needed on earliest Doppelmayr detachable in North America

Doppelmayr detachable chairlift

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#1 Bogong

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Posted 12 August 2018 - 11:17 PM

A quick background, In 1983 - 1984 Mt Buller ski resort in Australia installed two Doppelmayr detachable quad chairlifts. This was in the very early days of detachable chairs and lift makers were experimenting with designs. People seem to think these lifts were "orphans" and that Dopp didn't build any others like them. However a story has surfaced that a third lift to the same design may have been built in North America. Does anyone have even a vague idea where it might have been?

My informant says that "the lifts originally made a loud noise when the chairs engaged the main line and as they were in an enclosed building, it made the sound louder. So much that the American one was removed after just 1 year, as it wasn't getting used, because of the noise, customers were put off. The Aussies did not act the same way."

The first of these lifts at Mt Buller was replaced in 2008 and used for parts to keep the second one going. This summer the surviving lift is being replaced with a six pack, so I'm writing an article on the two "Blue Bullet" chairlifts..

BTW, the two detachable quads built in 1983 - 84 replaced what was supposed to be the first Doppelmayr double chairlift in the world, built on the same route at Mt Buller in 1963 - 1964. Has anyone heard of an earlier Dopp chairlift?

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Details of every Australian ski lift ever built. http://www.australia...ralianskilifts/

#2 Lift Dinosaur

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 06:29 AM

Doppelmayr built a detachable triple at Mt. Bachelor, Oregon in 1983. It was in an enclosed building as described. The Lift Installation Survey shows that it was rebuilt/replaced in 1997- nothing about the lift being removed after one year- maybe the building?
Dino
"Things turn out best for the people that make the best of the way things turn out." A.L.

#3 RibStaThiok

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Posted 13 August 2018 - 09:38 PM

Doppie installed the first HSQ in Breckenridge in 1981. I wonder how similar it was to what was put in down in Aussieland?
http://www.skilifts....quicksilver.htm

In operation from 1981 - 1999 2800pph, 774 vertical rise, 5862 length, 500 hp, a slower 787 on the line speed, 145 chairs, 22 towers. Top drive, bottom tensioning, 7.4 min ride time.
From Peters site- https://liftblog.com/breckenridge-co/
Ryan

#4 vons

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 01:58 PM

Quicksilver made a noticeable clunk when the grip attached look at https://www.remontee...lmayr-4243.html as the lift was reinstalled there.

#5 RibStaThiok

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 06:31 PM

Hey that is great that QS went on to another resort! I thought it would have been scrapped.
Ryan

#6 skierdude9450

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Posted 25 August 2018 - 07:06 PM

I think Quicksilver may have been the lift you're thinking of even though it wasn't removed within a year. Everything else seems similar, it had enclosed terminals and it's hard to tell from the pictures, but the grips appear to be the same pre-DS version.
-Matt

"Today's problems cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein





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