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Ideas for Lift Designs


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#1 trj820

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Posted 05 April 2015 - 08:00 PM

In a nutshell, post concepts having to do with any aspect of lifts that might make them more effective or economical.

I'll go first:
I hear a lot about wind problems on chairlifts, so what if somebody built a bicable lift. Think of it like a Funitel, with one parallel haul rope on either side of the chair.

#2 Snowy Ferries

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Posted 05 April 2015 - 08:49 PM

View Posttrj820, on 05 April 2015 - 08:00 PM, said:

In a nutshell, post concepts having to do with any aspect of lifts that might make them more effective or economical.

I'll go first:
I hear a lot about wind problems on chairlifts, so what if somebody built a bicable lift. Think of it like a Funitel, with one parallel haul rope on either side of the chair.


Good idea, with just one drawback: Cost. It would require twice as much haul rope and considerably larger towers. Other than that, however, sounds like a terrific idea. The lift would be able to run in higher winds than a typical mono-cable chairlift. My two cents.

#3 ceo

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 09:46 AM

I'm pretty sure a fixed-grip dual-cable chairlift is impossible. The inner and outer ropes would have to travel at the same speed except at the terminals, where the outer rope would have to go faster around the bullwheel.

#4 Conrad

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 09:49 AM

I would like to see a super fast poma lift, maybe going 1000 ft/minute. Put it on an expert area and maybe have a down slope at the beginning so it's not picking everyone up into the air at the start.

#5 trj820

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 11:32 AM

View Postceo, on 06 April 2015 - 09:46 AM, said:

I'm pretty sure a fixed-grip dual-cable chairlift is impossible. The inner and outer ropes would have to travel at the same speed except at the terminals, where the outer rope would have to go faster around the bullwheel.

Yeah. It would have to be a detachable, and would mainly be used for above the tree line access. Think a replacement for the t-bar at Breck.

#6 Bogong

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 06:23 PM

View PostConrad, on 06 April 2015 - 09:49 AM, said:

I would like to see a super fast poma lift, maybe going 1000 ft/minute. Put it on an expert area and maybe have a down slope at the beginning so it's not picking everyone up into the air at the start.

The 1,070 metre long Howqua Poma lift at Mt Buller in Australia (1964 - 1983) operated at 6.5 metres a second. (unsure what that is in American units, but that is 25% faster than the fastest detachable quad).

The result was chaos and occasional carnage. After a couple of seasons they cut it back to 4 metres a second which was still fairly fast. However they occasionally cranked it up to full speed for use by mountain staff. It remains the fastest lift to ever operate in the southern hemisphere.
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#7 Peter Pitcher

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 07:37 PM

View PostConrad, on 06 April 2015 - 09:49 AM, said:

I would like to see a super fast poma lift, maybe going 1000 ft/minute. Put it on an expert area and maybe have a down slope at the beginning so it's not picking everyone up into the air at the start.

There used to be one at Santa Fe, originally it went at 1200 feet per minute until we figured out that 50 cycles per second European stuff versus our 60 cycles. It was tough to load at 1200, not too bad at a thousand. There were some interesting loadings though, it was alot of fun

#8 teachme

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Posted 06 April 2015 - 11:17 PM

I have always wondered about lifts with two loading lines and two unloading ramps but one cable. Imagine instead of a 8-pack, use quad or even 6-pack chairs closer together loading and unloading at alternate ramps. Benefit would be less slows and stops due to easier loading and unloading but same or even greater capacity. May even be more economical if chairs could be easily removed from line on slow days and have only one ramp operating with less wear and tear and power consumption.

#9 NHskier13

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Posted 07 April 2015 - 01:03 PM

I see often on detachables that chairs swing around a lot in the terminal. I mean, they do come in pretty fast but on lifts like Independence at Breck, that's gotta cause some serious grip wear. I'd like to see systems that help stabilize chairs and grips in the station, thus reducing the grip wear (hopefully)

#10 DonaldMReif

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Posted 07 April 2015 - 02:09 PM

Is this mostly the swinging from when the chair enters the terminal, or is it while traveling at the loading/unloading speed?
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#11 Kicking Horse

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Posted 07 April 2015 - 02:17 PM

The swinging while turning around is due to the spacing systems.
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#12 DonaldMReif

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Posted 07 April 2015 - 04:41 PM

I think it's not as noticeable on newer lifts, compared to older lifts.
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#13 Kicking Horse

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Posted 07 April 2015 - 09:09 PM

View PostDonaldMReif, on 07 April 2015 - 04:41 PM, said:

I think it's not as noticeable on newer lifts, compared to older lifts.


It can be.
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#14 vons

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Posted 08 April 2015 - 06:33 PM

View PostPeter Pitcher, on 06 April 2015 - 07:37 PM, said:

There used to be one at Santa Fe, originally it went at 1200 feet per minute until we figured out that 50 cycles per second European stuff versus our 60 cycles. It was tough to load at 1200, not too bad at a thousand. There were some interesting loadings though, it was alot of fun

I remember riding that lift in the late 80s early 90s when it made a brief resurgence along with the #5 Poma both when't pretty fast, to bad they finally removed them.

#15 shelldog

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Posted 09 April 2015 - 08:40 AM

View Posttrj820, on 06 April 2015 - 11:32 AM, said:

Yeah. It would have to be a detachable, and would mainly be used for above the tree line access. Think a replacement for the t-bar at Breck.


Bi-cable fixed grip.

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#16 JSteigs

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Posted 09 April 2015 - 01:25 PM

View Postshelldog, on 09 April 2015 - 08:40 AM, said:


Since the carrier has to be able to pivot to go around the bullwheel, I doubt it would reduce chair swing due to wind. Unless maybe after the unload the chair was allowed to tip sideways, to go around the bullwheel.

#17 Snowy Ferries

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 07:37 PM

View Posttrj820, on 05 April 2015 - 08:00 PM, said:

I'll go first:
I hear a lot about wind problems on chairlifts, so what if somebody built a bicable lift. Think of it like a Funitel, with one parallel haul rope on either side of the chair.


https://www.youtube....h?v=ZGdyrwqPTXY
Found this on Youtube: Pulse Funitel.

Post #100

This post has been edited by Snowy Ferries: 17 April 2015 - 07:38 PM


#18 NHskier13

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Posted 25 April 2015 - 04:14 AM

I always imagined a detachable grip like the vises we use in shop class...
Posted Image

#19 Yooper Skier

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Posted 25 April 2015 - 08:53 PM

View PostNHskier13, on 25 April 2015 - 04:14 AM, said:

I always imagined a detachable grip like the vises we use in shop class...
Posted Image

I usually equate them to clothes pins with wheels

#20 woofydoggie

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Posted 26 April 2015 - 06:35 PM

Turbojet powered detachable. 'Nuff said.





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