Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

after browsing through the lift info for various resorts, it sure seems like that at some of the resorts out west, mainly OR and WA, they like to let their old lifts just sit and rot or they take them down and do not bother having them scrapped or removed off the property, just sit and rust. I noted several Ribs and Yan's in particular. Really ticks me off! not very dignified of them to treat a previous $$$ generator for the mountain like that!
Anyone else feel this way too?

Ok so I am over sensitive. Brought a tear to my eye reading about that lift test they did on the Rib at Winter Park.
This post has been edited by JustJeepIt: 14 June 2007 - 11:55 PM

I agree--especially when there's other resorts who could certainly use the parts. It's like letting an old car sit in the yard and rot.

What resorts in Oregon are you referring? Hoodoo is the only ski area to my knowledge who has an old Riblet tension terminal standing.

The lift destruction test is no different than a brand new car being destroyed for a safety test (you know those side, front and rear test they do). The test was done to better understand what would happen in case something like this would happen. If you feel the Eskimo lift could have been sold or used for parts, most of the Riblet lifts that come down today are scrapped. I think it would be cool if another lift destruction test was conducted, just using a different type of lift.

SkiBachelor, on Jun 15 2007, 10:24 AM, said:

Yep. Better to do a test than find out the hard way!

you named one, I also saw Summit at Willamette Pass.

in WA, I saw

LSA at Stevens
Dinosaur at Summit
Thunderbird at Summit
Beaver Lake
Big Bill
360 Bowl


Rendezvous at Crystal

Chair 2&3 at White Pass

Chair 2 at Mission Ridge



I am hoping that the photos are all old and that the areas have been cleaned of the previous lifts but maybe a few of you who frequent those areas could share some more insight???
This post has been edited by JustJeepIt: 15 June 2007 - 09:40 AM

Rendezvous at Crystal is now up and running at Big Sky as the Cascade lift.

Chair 2 at Mission Ridge is gone. I took those photos when the Liberator Express was being built and the drive terminal was being removed the fallowing day.

In Vancouver, BC, we have two abandonned lifts, the old chair up Hollyburn and the old chair up Grouse. Both were built at the end of the 1940s-early 50s

here is something we just dragged out of the trees; the old BW and drive shaft from our old single riblet that was removed in 1965 the bearings are still free!  lowerbowlsinglebw.jpg (37.86K)
Number of downloads: 44

Dinosaur at Summit- The lift is there and rusting
Thunderbird at Summit- nothing but a few old towers
Beaver Lake- two shacks and a tower
Big Bill- A shack. Used for ski patrol?
360 Bowl- Just towers

What bugs me is a few lifts at West and Central are used maybe four times a year then left. These include: Reggies Chair, Easy Rider and some others that are used a little more is Easy Street and Gallery. It seems to me that if you have a lift it should be used or give it to a ski area who could use it!

Snoqualmie guy, on Jun 17 2007, 04:10 PM, said:

Remember, it costs 60 to 100,000 dollars to remove a lift and with code upgrades, re-engineering, etc it costs somewhere in the neighbourhood of a million to re-install the same lift.

A million seems quite steep Allan. Kendall Mountain installed its for $50,000 I believe.

Clearly it depends on the lift. Kendall's is really short and fixed grip. Big Mountain is spending around a million to relocate their High Speed Quad.

SkiBachelor, on Jun 17 2007, 05:42 PM, said:

A million may be a little high, but 50k is way low, and it does depend a lot on the lift.
The earthwork for our new lift is already higher than $50k, there's lots of other costs too..
Electrical engineering, structural engineering, electrical service, etc, etc.. Code updates can be quite expensive as well, if the towers don't have lifting frames, those will have to be added, brakes may need upgrading, additional towers (last quote I saw for a sheave assy was about $1000 a sheave).

SkiBachelor, on Jun 17 2007, 05:42 PM, said:

Depending on how you place your concrete, you can be looking at over $1000 a metre. 5 metres a tower footing, 10-15 a station (FG) it adds up quick. Need a rollback brake ? A 50kN will set you back close to $20000. Better look at that gearbox !! How about that used haul rope ? How about the wear on the grips, how many years they got left? What about the chair frames and hangers. Most of these things will have performed more cycles in actual use than were ever done on the shaker. There is not a huge amount of money to be saved by recycling old lifts. They are a great stop gap measure, but they will cost you money on a steeper curve than a new lift for maintenance. Believe me, I didn't just pull this out of my hat, I've got a couple.

Allan............that would do two if you were lucky and frugal !
This post has been edited by mikest2: 17 June 2007 - 05:37 PM

I know most lift installations are well over $50,000, but I was just saying that some resorts can install a lift for much less, aka Kendall. I mentioned Kendall since Snoqualmie's lifts are super short, nothing long like at Big White or Red.

SkiBachelor, on Jun 17 2007, 06:44 PM, said:

Cameron, I think the important thing is what you want to do with the lift, We invested heavily in the Telus for example. We bought new carriers, grips, some assemblies, all the yokes were fitted with lifting frames and platforms, rebuilt all the remaining assemblies, the haul rope was two years old, the gearbox was just rebuilt, a new rollback brake was integrated, not a bearing wasn't changed. We should get a lot of years out of it. We now have a lift that is close to new, but it didn't come cheap. It is dependable and up to standard. We may put a smarter (newer) drive in it in the next couple of years, but We're still enjoying learning about the Asea Tyrect B.
I guess you only reap what you sow.

Telus Park was the old Horizon chair from Panorama right? What about Falcon, it was installed used right? Where did it come from?

Skier, on Jun 17 2007, 08:23 PM, said:

Telus = Horizon
Falcon was our Ridge Chair removed 1989, installed in 1992 with complete overhaul, new grips, rope, rollback, rebuilds.

Thanks for the info.