28 replies to this topic

[NHskier13]

I believe the chain needs to be replaced every few seasons like the haul rope, whereas tires need to be inflated right.
Cadence chains have problems in variable temperature conditions. It was explained in another thread ; I forget the title but they mentioned something about how chairs may come in late when it is colder out, and come in to early when it is hot out, (probably the other way around)

From what I understand, the big issue with carpets is loading speed vs. chair spacing. I heard that on the new Colorado lift that the carpet moves too fast relative to chair speed. I suppose that either you could space out chairs a bit more, slow down the carpet, or speed up the lift.

Personally, I think load carpets on detachables are rather unnecessary. The lift moves slow enough, even slower in cases like Ramshead or Barker, that people should have plenty of time to load. There are sometimes issues with misloads that we can't fix but for the most part detaches where I live are very well run by the lift operators.

One thing that I think would be neat but maybe not successful and possibly hard to implement would be unload carpets for lifts that held 6+ on a chair. I've heard that some six packs are just crazy when unloading, and I think a carpet would be neat since people don't really communicate on their plans very often. That said, I have yet to experience the true mess of a six besides Okemo. Ragged mountain (NH) has a 12 second interval on theirs, so theirs is fine (despite a fast unload like Excelerator at Copper, which I actually like because you don't need to push to get to some trails ;) ) Okemo's is a 2900 (Spaced about the same as Kensho) and had a lot of problems - never seen the source of any but I suspect it is the load gates or unloading on the 6. Sunday River's Chondola appears to be just fine, even if it serves the 2nd most beginner friendly terrain on the mountain, and I don't know what to compare the spacing to but the chair in front gets out of your way just in time.
I think an unload carpet would need a little tweaking for unload areas ; they're mostly elevated off the ground, so the carpet would need to be raised to match. Also, in the case like Ragged's Six, which unloads at a really fast speed, I think the transition would be impossible without falling (it is quite fast - you can see a video on my youtube channel from Jan 2015) so a carpet might be hard to add. However, I don't know about lifts like Colorado / uhh what is the new one at vail? Mountaintop? but if they ran slow enough at a constant speed it might be possible. Any insight on this? Seems like it might help but at the same time it might not.

By the way, I decided to be nice and not make you hunt for the video - see the unloading bit https://www.youtube....h?v=-vSC1Euev-k

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 08 April 2016 - 08:28 AM

[Lift Dinosaur]

NHskier13, on 08 April 2016 - 08:25 AM, said:

I believe the chain needs to be replaced every few seasons like the haul rope...

Ahhhh.....NO. Chains need to be maintained on a regular basis and can last many years...just like a properly maintained haul rope.
Dino

[snoloco]

For whatever reason, Steamboat's lifts constantly stopped and started when I was there. That's by biggest complaint about that place by far. Christie, Sundown, Sunshine, Morningside, and Elkhead were horrible. Even the gondola had a lot of slows and stops.

[liftmech]

julestheshiba, on 08 April 2016 - 05:42 AM, said:

Cadence chains seem to have a larger margin of error compared to tires I would guess. I also thought that cadence chains were phased out for not being effective?

Nope. Cadence chains are noisy, greasy, and maintenance-intensive, but still very effective. Our one remaining chain system does the job well. That said, tire contours are simpler and MUCH easier to maintain.

[snoloco]

The Soleil Express at Tremblant (1988 Doppelmayr) has a chain system, only one on the mountain. It was originally where the Telecabine Express is now, but was removed and relocated in 1998 and 1999 respectively. They didn't upgrade it to a tire system when relocating it. When I rode it, there was this weird problem at the bottom. The chairs were coming in very early, so early that they'd literally stop before being picked up by the chain, and the next chair would come in and almost hit the chair that was stuck. You'd see the chair come in, stop, move back and fourth, and then hear a thump and it would start moving again suddenly.

Hunter Mountain's Zephyr Express was originally the Snowlite Express where the Kaatskill Flyer 6-pack is now. It first had chain systems at both terminals, but at some point the top was upgraded to a tire system, while the bottom remained a chain system. When it was relocated, the bottom was upgraded to a tire system to match the top.

[julestheshiba]

liftmech, on 09 April 2016 - 05:08 PM, said:

Nope. Cadence chains are noisy, greasy, and maintenance-intensive, but still very effective. Our one remaining chain system does the job well. That said, tire contours are simpler and MUCH easier to maintain.

I guess it just seems like ski areas take cadence chain problems out of proportion.

[NHskier13]

Hmm... never heard of such thing as a load speed limit. Interesting...

[Smacpats]

When I think of lifts that need loading carpets I think:
Stratton - Amex
Stratton - Ursa
Stratton - Sunrise
Stratton - South American
Stratton - Solstice
Stratton - Tamarack
Stratton - Villager
Stratton - Snowbowl

Ironically, without knowing it I just named every chair at stratton except Shooting Star (Six pack that serves Intermediate/expert terrain that nobody skis except for me )

[theliftguy]

2milehi, on 06 April 2016 - 07:45 AM, said:

I've seen plenty of explosions on the loading carpet (present company included) which require the lift to be stopped. Your just trading one set of problems for another.

True. The one time I was at Loon with a friend of mine, we were getting in line for the Seven Brothers lift, which is a CTEC/Hall triple, and has a loading carpet. A little girl and her dad were getting on to the lift, and the girl somehow tripped getting on the chair. The lifty imediately stopped the lift. Dont ask me how, but the dad was on the chair in front of Her, and jumped off to be with his daughter. All in all, the lift was stopped for a good ten minutes or so, and the maze was overflowing. So basically, youre wasting the money to install something that no one knows how to use correctly. I'm not saying it's better than not having one, but you get the point. If there was a second lifty that was telling people when and when not to go, that would be great. Also, for example, Mount Snow's Grand Summit Express has a loading carpet, too. But there is a huse issue with the size of the loading ramp, because when the loading carpet leaves you off, you have about three feet to sto yourself from falling of the platform. Not to mention the lift stops every two minutes because novice skiiers can't get used to it. Your'e better getting on the Bluebird Express, which almost never stops.

This post has been edited by theliftguy: 24 April 2016 - 02:06 PM