41 replies to this topic

[afski722]

I got into a discussion about lift mfg's the other day and we were wondering about some things.

-Who made the first double & quad with an exterior carrier? (Obviously there wasn't ever a centerpole triple - or was there?)
-When did mfg phase out their center-pole designs (e.g, when did Riblet, Borvig, etc. switch over)
-Did Hall ever produce any center poles?
-How difficult is it to convert a center-pole to a exterior carrier? (I only know of a handful of Riblets ever converted)

Discuss - thanks

This post has been edited by afski722: 12 April 2007 - 06:15 AM

[Peter]

-Who made the first double & quad with an exterior carrier? (Obviously there wasn't ever a centerpole triple - or was there?
----I presume you mean bail chair? I am not sure but Riblet made bail chairs as early as 1963.
-When did mfg phase out their center-pole designs (e.g, when did Riblet, Borvig, etc. switch over)
----The last Riblet center pole I can think of was built in 1982
-Did Hall ever produce any center poles?
----Yes, lots
-How difficult is it to convert a center-pole to a exterior carrier? (I only know of a handful of Riblets ever converted)
----Buy new chairs.

[afski722]

You're right, duh I forgot I've ridden a decent number of Hall center pole doubles. Was there ever a Hall center-pole quad?

As for converting, I know that in some instances, like when Nubs converted a Riblet center pole quad to a bail, they had to replace the cross arms to improve hanger clearance and remove the halo's. Didn't know if that was necessary for the doubles either.

[skier2]

The green chair at Nubs got basically a total redesign. But the newer riblet towers would have been able to accommodate the wider width of the bail chairs, its just that that was an older center pole.

This post has been edited by skier2: 12 April 2007 - 01:38 PM

[Lift Kid]

-How difficult is it to convert a center-pole to a exterior carrier? (I only know of a handful of Riblets ever converted)
To convert a center pole chairlift to a bail chairlift, you have to redo the clearance on the towers so that the chairs will pass with enough space.

[boardski]

The former Slaughterhouse lift at Park West (now The Canyons), UT was a hall center bar double. Ski areas in Utah also has quite a few center-bar Yan double chairs while ski areas in Colorado has only the bail style Yan double chairs and most of them were built similar years. What is the deciding factor that makes a ski area choose center-bar vs bail style and vice versa?

[floridaskier]

Center pole chairs were probably cheaper. Why aren't they made any more?
Also why would the towers need to be redone when center pole chairs are replaced with bail chairs? The chair is just about the same width, and the part of the chair that touches Riblet halos looks the same on their bail and center pole chairs.

Where was the Slaughterhouse lift at Park West?

[afski722]

Here are some sample pics: There is a picture of the Green lift when it was a center pole, a un-modified centerpole Ribet at Boyne Mt, plus the Green lift with bail chairs, and the Red chair a new built Riblet with bails.

With the center pole, the chair hangs pretty much straight below, where as the bail is cantilevered out some, hence why chair/tower clearance can be an issue, although adding catwalks and gantries could be a major reason for replacing the cross arms too.

Attached File(s)

•  RibletQuadCenterPole.JPG (87.01K)
  Number of downloads: 75
•  RibletQuadCenterPole1.jpg (32.45K)
  Number of downloads: 66
•  RibletQuadBail.JPG (30.97K)
  Number of downloads: 57
•  RibletQuadBail2.JPG (43.51K)
  Number of downloads: 47

This post has been edited by afski722: 12 April 2007 - 10:46 PM

[boardski]

floridaskier, on Apr 12 2007, 07:40 PM, said:

Center pole chairs were probably cheaper. Why aren't they made any more?
Also why would the towers need to be redone when center pole chairs are replaced with bail chairs? The chair is just about the same width, and the part of the chair that touches Riblet halos looks the same on their bail and center pole chairs.

Where was the Slaughterhouse lift at Park West?

The Slaughterhouse run at Park West, I think is now the run "Diablo" at the Canyons. The Slaughterhouse lift crossed over that run and started on the "Willowcreek draw" where the road flattens out on the bottom when you are skiing the run-out down to the current Golden Eagle. I think more trees may have been cleared out because I remember the bottom of Slaughterhouse chair being a dead end and the terrain the loading station was located in being flat. The current Golden Eagle, which was then called "Tomahawk" and had center bar chairs on it also, orignated on the opposite side of the ridge from Slaughterhouse. The top of Slaughter house was just below Lookout ridge. Another center bar Riblet called "Short Swing" ran from near the bottom of the current Sun Peak chair to the top of Lookout ridge. The one time I skied Park West, I remember riding Slaughterhouse chair a lot. There was very nice advanced terrain served by that lift. The powder they had helped too. I also got my ticket that day for $15 with my "Ski Americard" (anyone remember that?).

[skierdude9450]

There are cp triples in Europe. This one's detachable.

 bernkogelbahn_2.jpg (38.59K)
Number of downloads: 93

I'm pretty sure that this is the only H-P center pole double.

 peachtree.jpg (28.9K)
Number of downloads: 88

[SkiBachelor]

There were a few other Heron-POMA center pole doubles, but they have since been replaced/removed.

Geneva Basin at one time had one or two center pole H-P doubles.

[coskibum]

were they officially H-P or just Heron?

[SkiBachelor]

Heron I believe, but I don't recall POMA having that much influence on Heron's lifts.

[liftmech]

Only one example but you can switch out the older Riblet centre-pole hangers with the bails with no modification. The bails were designed to work with the halos, and the baskets (seats) are attached with the same four bolts.
Crystal's chair 6 is a Hall centre-pole.

[Snoqualmie guy]

Why were lifts converted from center bars to normal type bars on both sides? Was Riblet the only maker to make these?

[Limelight]

Riblet, Heron, Hall, Thiokol and Murray-Latta all made center pole chairs.

[Peter]

See: http://www.skiliftfo...?showtopic=5477

Please use the search function before starting repetitive topics

[Allan]

Threads merged... Mueller also made centre pole carriers.

[mikest2]

Doppelmayr as well, I'm still running one.

[dh_lift_op]

In the Midwest the most common center poles are Halls and Riblets. A lot of them are still running today.