18 replies to this topic

[poloxskier]

Here are some pictures from my trip that I took at Hesperus.

The return Bullwheel and counterweight
 IMAG0070.JPG (438.58K)
Number of downloads: 47

The top station
 IMAG0071.JPG (326.72K)
Number of downloads: 31

The midway station
 IMAG0073.JPG (563.41K)
Number of downloads: 57

Looking down the line
 IMAG0076.JPG (517.35K)
Number of downloads: 35  IMAG0080.JPG (419.97K)
Number of downloads: 32

The east part of the mountain
 IMAG0072.JPG (541.79K)
Number of downloads: 30

The "new" lift
 IMAG0081.JPG (342.06K)
Number of downloads: 46  IMAG0082.JPG (295.7K)
Number of downloads: 29  IMAG0086.JPG (344.41K)
Number of downloads: 34nt]  IMAG0088.JPG (507.08K)
Number of downloads: 36

[poloxskier]

The information I was able to get on the new chair is that they have had the chair in the parking lot for a few years and it will be installed as soon as they have enough money to pay for the install. It is a riblet double with the standard outside pole carriers. The chair came from Aspen Highlands but no one knew which lift it is.

[caroth]

Great pictures Bryan! It should be mentioned that the lift on the ground is to be installed on the east side of the mountain along the far run in the picture above. It will only go up 3/4 up the mountain.

I have some additional pictures of the base drive unit I will upload when I get back home.

[poloxskier]

Great thanks, I forgot to mention the line te new lift will run. That would be great to have some drive terminal pics since the batteries died in my camera(as they do about twice a day )

[Duck]

That is so odd that the turnaround on that first one is so high up!

-Iain

[poloxskier]

Maybe where the lift came from there was high snow pack levels where the return was located. Maybe someone can clarify where it actualy came from, I have heard Bachelor, and somewhere in Montana. Anyone know?
Also does anyone know what lift the one in the parking lot was at Highlands?

This post has been edited by poloxskier: 18 March 2005 - 07:04 PM

[poloxskier]

There were also Riblet tower placards showing tower number and advertising it as a riblet. Does anyone know of any other lifts with these signs? In my experience I haven't run across any.

[SkiBachelor]

I presume the lift that is waiting to be installed in the Riblet double that was installed in 1985 at Highlands. It wasn't very long and was the last Riblet to be installed there.

[caroth]

Ski Hesperus is closed for the season...thats ok, the snow sucked, it was about 2 inches of crust and then and nice stuff was underneath. They had a week of 60s two weeks ago, and now it cooled back down.

Ok, I talked to the owner, Jim Pitcher, for about 90 minutes today. Nice guy, he is a friend of the family. The lift on the ground is from Aspen Highlands he does not know what it was called. But HE removed it from Aspen Highlands himself. The riblet on the ground only has 3 towers with it, so that might help with your search.

Jim has a lot of history, he installed the first chairs at Keystone and before that ran Mt Lemmon in AZ for years. I would say he is in his late 50s and is ready to sell. Sell real bad. $400k and it is yours!

I did not ask him where the current Riblet came from, I thought it was Mt. Bachelor, Oregon. I will try and call him tomorrow and ask. I know it has 15 towers not including the top and bottom structures. I have some additional pictures that will be added early next week. Dialup sucks.

[caroth]

Before I forget, the ride from bottom to midway is 3 minutes. The ride from bottom to top is 7 minutes.

[poloxskier]

I noticed that it was being run really slow or is that normal?

[caroth]

That is pretty normal. I think the reason is that the lift is old and he really caters to the beginners.

I was told that the lift is really low maintenance, he replaces about 6 tower wheels per season, mainly from the rubber worn off. If you noticed there were solid and spoked wheels on the towers. He also mentioned he needs to move the chairs on the cable every few years, that doesn't sound like fun.

[poloxskier]

That lift really seems to be in very good shape.

[Kicking Horse]

not sure where i saw this but i thought every summer they had to remove the chairs and put them back on in a different spot on the cable. (does that make sense)?

[Allan]

Insert type grips are every two years (maybe 3, depending on hours run per year) I believe. Clamp type grips must be moved every year. And yes - that terminal is very high in the air!! It seems kind of odd that they have the stop gate way up there and not further back by the unload.

[liftmech]

A couple Riblet items:
That is an old lift- the tower caps are fixed/welded and not the newer clamp-style. Back then all the return terminals were way off the ground regardless of how much snow was expected.
The stop gate was usually fixed to the front leg of those terminals; I don't know why but all the Riblets of that age I've operated/maintained were set up that way.
Many of the older Riblets up at Snoqualmie Pass/Ski Acres/Alpental/Hyak had tower numbers with Riblet's logo on them. We had that option at Baker but we went with the steel numbers instead- you can paint them and still see what number you're at.
As Allan said, you have to move clips and grips every so often, usually annually but on a lift with less hours every other year. This is to prevent wearing the haul rope at the same spot all the time.

[caroth]

More pictures:

Base drive unit
 RIMG0001.JPG (308.4K)
Number of downloads: 36

Base loading station:
 RIMG0002.JPG (250.09K)
Number of downloads: 30

Typical tower, notice the different wheels (15 towers not includeing top and bottom)
 RIMG0003.JPG (195K)
Number of downloads: 45

Lift line just past mid unloading
 RIMG0004.JPG (223.97K)
Number of downloads: 28

Top unload and return bullwheel
 RIMG0005.JPG (178.32K)
Number of downloads: 19  RIMG0008.JPG (170.26K)
Number of downloads: 26

Midway unload
 RIMG0009.JPG (216.66K)
Number of downloads: 21  RIMG0010.JPG (179.03K)
Number of downloads: 24

I forgot to mention that the Riblet on the ground was estimated to cost $100k to install. $50k for engineering and $50 for concrete and install. This estimate is by the current owner.

[liftmech]

Everyone keeps mentioning the different sheaves- those are actually the same sheave but over the years there were four different hubs available. The original was spoked; it was made of cast iron for a while but for obvious reasons was later cast of aluminum. Then came the solid hub with smaller spokes, then a heavier spokeless solid hub which had either the older open bearings or a new sealed bearing unit. The last two are found mainly on lifts build after '88, but can be seen on retrofitted older lifts.

[poloxskier]

I also noticed that this chair it has the shorter hanger arms and it really seems like you are going to hit your head on the halos since on some of the towers you are really close to them.