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Worlds oldest operating single chair? Mt. Eyak


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#1 RibStaThiok

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Posted 17 December 2013 - 07:56 PM

I posted about this a few years back but wanted to revise it a little. I included a video that was posted on youtube. Looks like she got new chairs sometime in the recent past

Most of you know this was one of the first chairlifts ever built and started it's life in Sun Valley, built by American Steel & Wire

From Wikipedia:
The chairlift was purchased from Sun Valley, Idaho, and transported by train to Seattle, then by ferry to Cordova. The Sheridan Ski Club painted the towers and repaired the chairs before the army used its helicopters to put the towers in place in 1974.[2] The single chair lift was originally constructed in 1939 and serviced Bald Mountain. It is the oldest working chairlift in North America and one of only two single chairs still in operation. The other is located at Mad River Glen, Vermont.
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ejfWAKgi_CQ

http://www.skilifts....in/liftline.jpg
Ryan

#2 Bogong

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Posted 01 January 2014 - 01:59 AM

Not directly relevant as it's no longer operating, but...

In 1957 a ski lodge owner named Bob Hymans at Falls Creek in Victoria, Australia was tired of his customers complaining about the nutcracker tows that dominated the resort at the time. But there were a lot of wooden power poles lying around from a nearby hydro electric scheme that had been reduced in size, so showing a bit of initiative he built his own wooden chairlift. It ran for 5 years before the state government lifts and cranes inspector caught up with Hymans and closed it down.

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image

Sadly the days when people could build home made projects like this are long gone. :sad:
Red tape and bureaucracy have taken much of the individuality and quirkiness out of ski lifts.

This post has been edited by Bogong: 16 August 2015 - 06:41 AM

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

#3 Emax

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Posted 01 January 2014 - 12:07 PM

 Bogong, on 01 January 2014 - 01:59 AM, said:

Not directly relevant as it's no longer operating, but...

In 1957 a ski lodge owner named Bob Hymans at Falls Creek in Victoria, Australia was tired of his customers complaining about the nutcracker tows that dominated the resort at the time. But there a lot of wooden power poles lying around from a nearby hydro electric scheme that had been reduced in size, so showing a bit of initiative he built his own wooden chairlift. It ran for 5 years before the state government lifts and cranes inspector caught up with Hymans and closed it down.

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image

Sadly the days when people could build home made projects like this are long gone. :sad:
Red tape and bureaucracy have taken much of the individuality and quirkiness out of ski lifts.


FIRST POST OF 2014.
There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians. Georges Pompidou

#4 Bogong

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Posted 10 January 2014 - 05:52 AM

Do I get a prize Emax? :wink:

I guess it helps that I'm in a different time zone than most of you, it was 8.00 at night on 1 Jan, when I posted it.
Details of every Australian ski lift ever built. http://www.australia...ralianskilifts/

#5 Emax

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Posted 10 January 2014 - 01:19 PM

 Bogong, on 10 January 2014 - 05:52 AM, said:

Do I get a prize Emax? :wink:

I guess it helps that I'm in a different time zone than most of you, it was 8.00 at night on 1 Jan, when I posted it.


Sure. What would you like?
There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians. Georges Pompidou

#6 passengerpigeon

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Posted 02 August 2015 - 12:43 AM

 Bogong, on 01 January 2014 - 01:59 AM, said:

Sadly the days when people could build home made projects like this are long gone. :sad:
Red tape and bureaucracy have taken much of the individuality and quirkiness out of ski lifts.

It appears not! Professional snowboarder Mike Basich built a single chairlift in his Lake Tahoe backyard in 2012. The chairs on the Falls Creek lift were at least equipped with armrests and backrests - this lift has nothing of the sort.

#7 Bogong

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 06:55 AM

Impressive, but these days I doubt he could get away with charging the public for a ride.

BTW, there are a few rather scary looking single chairlifts still operating in Japan at Niseko and nearby resorts. In our summer (your winter) a lot of Australians head up there to get a ski fix when there's no snow in this country. I've seen photos of the single chairs at Niseko that are almost as full on as that Tahoe video.
Details of every Australian ski lift ever built. http://www.australia...ralianskilifts/

#8 Emax

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 07:25 AM

Riding a really old lift is much like riding a really old wooden roller coaster. It's kind-of a dare.
... not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'd like to see an honest comparison between recorded mishaps on lifts prior to, let's say 1960 (when even deropment sensors weren't used) and those "safety-sterilized" ones being forced on us today. The result would probably be surprising.

"A measure of security can be obtained at the expense of reliability - but then a lift that isn't reliable isn't really safe". Rudy Schule.
There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians. Georges Pompidou

#9 Mike12164

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Posted 04 September 2015 - 12:39 PM

All the safety systems on modern lifts are liability reducers, if they're tested and recorded as working each day it's harder for the courts to find resorts liable if something goes wrong.
Ropeways are (and always have been) a very reliable, safe and efficient mode of transportation.

As per the rate of mishaps the complexity of modern lifts (ie electronic controls, detachable grips, etc.) increases the number of things that can go wrong, so there's that.





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