38 replies to this topic

[liftmech]

Whistler, on Mar 16 2004, 06:04 PM, said:

A little off topic, but here is a pic of the Murray Latta blue chair at Manning park. Note the sag, seems to be a Murray Latta thing.

I think you're right about that. Old C-4 at Baker and C-1 at Hyak both had quite a bit of sag, which I believe is related to the tower spans. I haven't been to Manning Park yet (driven by it on the Crowsnest)- does the Blue Chair have long tower spans?

[liftmech]

Simplicity is good. It's a shame there will be no more Riblets built. We just got a letter from Spokane stating that Riblet is just about done. They are finishing up making their last parts orders, and then all their tooling, jigs, parts inventories, etc., will be sold to a company called Tram Support Incorporated. Supposedly TSI will be making new Riblet parts such as clips and sheaves, and will provide technical support for existing Riblet installations. At least areas will be able to maintain their Riblets, especially those who built new ones in the last few years.

[KZ]

That is pretty sad. I really like riblets, by far my favorite for fixed lifts

[Snoqualmie guy]

That was the first chairlift I ever rode. over on Holiday at Snoq summit. looks like it'd been painted four times. Those good old doubles

[Limelight]

I love Riblets. I learned to ski on double center pole Riblets on Snoqualmie, Steven's, Crystal and Sun Valley (back when they had them). I operated Riblets while going to CWU at Snoqualmie each day after class. I love the sound of Riblets, the squeaking noise the sheaves make as you approach and pass each tower. And I love the way the look (especially the center pole doubles!). Simple yet rustic design that blends well with the mountain atmosphere. Todays modern lifts with the HUGE space age looking terminals just don't blend well with the natural settings of the mountains like the older double Riblets did with the bull wheel, little shack and a tower.

[Callao]

So why is Riblet done now? What happened?

[SkiBachelor]

It continued to loose market share and in 2003, it wasn't financially viable to continue operations. Doppelmayr CTEC and Leitner-POMA were offering more products and options at a better value than Riblet.

Partek was hit by these problems.

[Snoqualmie guy]

Does anyone know how many Riblet lifts were installed total?
They seem to last the longest at ski areas compared to triples or quads. Most of the doubles at Snoqualmie areas are from the '70s and continue to run daily.

[SkiBachelor]

Riblet installed a total of 503 lifts.

http://skilifts.org/install_survey.htm

[Snoqualmie guy]

But... How many were doubles? also how many were center bars???

[SkiBachelor]

I'm sorry, but we don't have that statistical information.

[Snoqualmie guy]

No problem. Just wondering.

Did Riblet make any singles or tows?

[SkiBachelor]

Mammoth Mountain at one time had a Riblet t-bar and there were a few Riblet single lifts built. It also built a detachable double at Mt. Spokane back in the day.

[Snoqualmie guy]

Wow, I thought they were only fixed grip makers. Was it high-speed or what?

[SkiBachelor]

I presume it's line speed was about 500 FPM.

[FSJ]

No marketing = No sales

[Snoqualmie guy]

Thats true for all sellers. But Riblet did seem to have a time where they ruled the market.