33 replies to this topic

[SuperRat]

We had the cylindrical "lap-map" on The Kancamagus Quad at Loon the winter of 1996-97. I think they were in development, we installed two failed models before we removed them. The plastic cracked and scratched and the maps faded. I remember staying late one night, cutting them from the bars with utility knives.

[egieszl]

Snowmass Ski Area has them on Village Express, Coney Glade, Sam's Knob, Big Burn, Sheer Bliss, Alpine Springs, Elk Camp Quad, and Two Creeks.

Aspen Highlands- Exhbition, Loge Peak. They may also be on Cloud 9, but I can't recall.

Aspen Mountain- AJAX Express

Buttermilk- Summit Express, Tiehack Express and West Buttermilk Express

[DonaldMReif]

I'm aware that Aspen-Snowmass has them on almost every detachable. Cloud Nine probably has them.

I'm aware Telluride has them on the Village Express, Polar Queen Express and possibly the Sunshine Express. They don't have them on the Ute Park Express, Gold Hill Express or Prospect Express lift.

[DonaldMReif]

I want to make a correction: safety bar maps have shown up on the Independence SuperChair and the Rocky Mountain SuperChair. Seems like the only Breck lifts to not have map displays are now the Falcon SuperChair, Mercury SuperChair, Imperial Express SuperChair, and Kensho SuperChair.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 05 January 2015 - 09:59 AM

[Peter]

DonaldMReif, on 09 December 2014 - 04:40 PM, said:

I want to make a correction: safety bar maps have shown up on the Independence SuperChair. Seems like the Kensho SuperChair is the sole six pack to not feature safety bar maps.

Probably wind-related. Kensho is more exposed than the others.

[DonaldMReif]

Plus the Kensho SuperChair doesn't start at a base area.

[DonaldMReif]

I was at Vail yesterday and they've added the plastic map things to the Pete's Express, and appeared to be starting to install them on the Orient Express lift (maybe seven or eight of the Orient Express lift's chairs had them).

I don't really mind them, but I do question why Vail mountain management chose to put the plastimaps on the Pete's Express when I think they'd be more appropriate on the Skyline Express lift (the Skyline Express is the only way to enter Blue Sky Basin; the Pete's Express only serves its own pod of four trails on the east side of Blue Sky Basin).

[DonaldMReif]

Update: the map displays have also appeared on the Highline Express lift.

[NHskier13]

It seems to me like trail maps on safety bars is mostly a western ski area thing. None up near me, to my knowledge.
I do remember one time I rode a cabin on the Chondola (Sunday River) and someone tacked a trail map up. But that doesn't really count.

[SkiDaBird]

Bird moved the maps from Peruvian to Gad 2 this year. Wind was causing the bars to fall on the upper section.

[DonaldMReif]

Interestingly, I know Crested Butte had the map displays on all four of its high speed quads for a few years. However, I think around 2010, they removed the displays from the Paradise Express and East River Express lifts.

[DonaldMReif]

In light of recent evidence that the Mercury SuperChair received the displays sometime in the past month, I do want to ask: how long does it take to install one of the Maplink displays on an individual chair? Obviously, it looks like you have to do it one at a time, so the process of fitting the displays on every chair of a long high speed quad or six pack probably takes a couple of hours.

The only thing I've ever disliked about Maplink displays is that on quads, their positioning usually means you have to use the handles to raise or lower the bar (I don't have this problem on six packs, since their Maplink displays are the same size as the ones that quads use, meaning you can push on part of the bar to raise it if you're seated on the far edge of the chair), and I'm sort of so accustomed to them that it's almost hard to remember a time when that lift did not use Maplink displays, especially ones that have used them for years, like the Beaver Run SuperChair or the Colorado SuperChair (the original quad had them for five seasons - 2009 through its replacement in 2014).

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 08 February 2015 - 03:25 PM

[liftmech]

The maplink guys have this down. I set the lift speed to around 300 FPM, one guy puts the clamps on, another holds the display while a third sits backwards on the carrier runing the bolts in with a cordless drill. A fourth guy steps in as necessary so as to keep stops at a minimum. The whole process takes around an hour on the Flyer with 203 carriers.

[DonaldMReif]

I keep wanting to say Maplink is a trend that really came into play around 2006. I believe that was when American Flyer and American Eagle first started using them. I believe that Winter Park put Maplink on the Zephyr Express and Gemini Express in 2007.

Skiing at Vail, Breck, and Keystone, I've seen how the number of lifts with Maplink at each place has changed over the years since 2009 when they first appeared:

Keystone:
The Peru Express and Summit Express lifts got the displays in 2009. The Montezuma Express came online with Maplink in 2010. The Ruby Express, Santiago Express and Outback Express have never used Maplink.

Breckenridge
The Beaver Run SuperChair and Colorado SuperChair were the first lifts to get Maplink in 2009. Maplink expanded to the Peak 8 SuperConnect in 2010, to Quicksilver Super6 in 2012, to the Rocky Mountain SuperChair and Independence SuperChair in November and December 2014, and to the Mercury SuperChair in January 2015 (I've seen some Facebook photos on Breck's page as proof). In all honesty, for consistency, I think Maplink should be added to the Falcon SuperChair so that all of the below-timberline superchairs have the displays, but it's an experts-only lift so there's probably no good reason to, plus there's a lot of wind on the Peak 10 ridge. It will probably never appear on either the Imperial Express SuperChair or the Kensho SuperChair in the near-future, as those are the two superchairs that service the bowls, and I've been up both lifts enough times to confirm that the winds up there probably keep Maplink from being added to them (given the earlier post about how Snowbird took Maplink off Peruvian and put it on Gad 2 instead because the displays hampered safe operation of the lift in high winds).

Vail:
The Vista Bahn Express and Born Free Express lifts were the first to have Maplink displays in 2009. The original Mountaintop Express got the displays in 2010. The original Avanti Express lift got them in 2011. The High Noon Express got Maplink in 2013, and the current Mountaintop Express got it at construction. The Highline Express, Pete's Express, and Orient Express lifts got it in 2014, for certain (photos and personal experience). Not sure about the Teacup Express lift or Skyline Express lift and whether or not they've been Maplinked, although I know they didn't have the displays in December. The upgraded Avanti Express lift will more than likely feature Maplink from the get-go in fall 2015, since the original lift uses it.

This post has been edited by DonaldMReif: 08 February 2015 - 07:14 PM