12 replies to this topic

[who's your daffy]

Hi,
Im researching a project about ski lifts? I'm looking for an historical lift, that has had lives at more than one resort, preferabely at last three. For example, I know Silvertone bought their chair from PArch City. But I'd love to find a chair that's spun at a few places in North America and then migrated to South America?

Does anyone have any ideas or resources?

Thanks!

[liftmech]

I assume you mean Silverton and Park City. Actually, that lift came from Mammoth, but either way. There are more reincarnated lifts than you might think. A few never leave their home mountain, they just travel to the parking lot and go back up in a different spot. 15 at Vail, 4 and 6 at Copper, Eagle Wind at Winter Park, 14 at Beaver Creek come to mind. Others travel to different states, like the aforementioned Silverton lift. WP's old Summit lift is now at Mission Ridge, WA. Echo Basin's lift also came from Mammoth. Our (Copper's) old Highpoint lift is even now on its way to 49 Degrees North, WA. The only lift I can think of that's been at more than three different mountains is WP's former Timberline lift, which began life at the now-defunct Stagecoach ski area outside of Steamboat. It was sold to a place down New Mexico way, then went back to Colorado. (I think it's been scrapped, so no more travelling there).

If you search the site, you'll find threads on this topic. We may even have a list of what you're after.

[hyak.net]

A Crystal Mtn fixed quad made its way to Loup Loup, and the defunct Yodelin ski area had some double chairs that made their way in the early 70's to both Crystal Mtn and Stevens Pass. I don't remember the specific names of those lifts at the moment...

[boardski]

Winter Park's original Yan triple Zephyr lift is probably not historic since it was originally installed in 1983 but has been through some interesting changes. It ran 1983-1990 as the Zephyr lift, 1990-1999 as the Eskimo triple chair at the same area, spent some time in a field in Wyoming and has been the Sweetwater lift at Jackson Hole since 2005. Many new parts were acquired such as the Poma chairs along the way. The original tower uprights are now part of the Zephyr quad at Winter Park.

[Lift Dinosaur]

liftmech, on 20 June 2011 - 05:17 AM, said:

I assume you mean Silverton and Park City. Actually, that lift came from Mammoth, but either way. There are more reincarnated lifts than you might think. A few never leave their home mountain, they just travel to the parking lot and go back up in a different spot. 15 at Vail, 4 and 6 at Copper, Eagle Wind at Winter Park, 14 at Beaver Creek come to mind. Others travel to different states, like the aforementioned Silverton lift. WP's old Summit lift is now at Mission Ridge, WA. Echo Basin's lift also came from Mammoth. Our (Copper's) old Highpoint lift is even now on its way to 49 Degrees North, WA. The only lift I can think of that's been at more than three different mountains is WP's former Timberline lift, which began life at the now-defunct Stagecoach ski area outside of Steamboat. It was sold to a place down New Mexico way, then went back to Colorado. (I think it's been scrapped, so no more travelling there).

If you search the site, you'll find threads on this topic. We may even have a list of what you're after.

I believe the track for Timberline at WP was Stagecoach-> Silver Creek, CO (now Sol Vista Basin)-> Winter Park.
Dino

[boardski]

For historic, how about Segundo lift at Sunlight, CO. Originally lift #3 at Aspen Mountain installed in 1954, reinstalled at Sunlight in 1973 where it still turns. Heron with Riblet chairs and other miscellaneous parts installed through the years. The oldest operating lift in Colorado.

[Bogong]

For what it's worth, there is a 50 year old Mueller operating at one major resort in Australia and a 48 year old Riblet running at another. Both are about a mile long and operate on their original sites.

We also have a 1953 Hamilton lift that originally ran at a major resort, that now operates at a club field. I don't think there can be too many 58 year old lifts that are still running.

[Richardo]

Bogong, on 21 June 2011 - 07:35 AM, said:

For what it's worth, there is a 50 year old Mueller operating at one major resort in Australia and a 48 year old Riblet running at another. Both are about a mile long and operate on their original sites.

We also have a 1953 Hamilton lift that originally ran at a major resort, that now operates at a club field. I don't think there can be too many 58 year old lifts that are still running.

Is the 48 year old Riblet the Merritts chair at Thredbo? The folks at Thredbo told me a year back that both Merritts and Ramshead are Riblet, though I can't remember which was installed first. Merritts is unusual for a Riblet as it has lattice towers rather than centre pole; everything else looks pure Riblet now (except for tower 1 now which is very definitely a Dopp!)

[Bogong]

No Ricardo. Merrit's was built in 1968, so it is a comparative youngster. But you are right, it's (mostly) Riblet. The 48 year old Riblet at Thredbo is the Ramshead chair. It's a fairly long lift and moves so slowly compared to the detachable quad it runs parallel to, so I have no idea why they go to the expense of maintaining it. But they sometimes fire it up on weekends and school holidays.

The 50 year old Mueller is the Mt Perisher double. It operates every day of the ski season, which is quite impressive for such an antique.

Finally, the 58 year old Hamilton nutcracker lift was originally on Bull Run at Mt Buller in Victoria, but after 2 years it was moved to the small "club field" at Mt St Bernard (near Hotham) where it has been operating ever since.

For some reason, there are a few geriatric chairlifts operating in New South Wales, but south of the border in Victoria every chairlift is under 30 years old.

See below for a link to my list of every Australian ski lift ever built. I've found a couple more, but WikiSki has been locked for a while, so I can't update it.
Let me know if I've got anything wrong or missed something. The information for 1950's Perisher lifts is a bit rough as no one has written much about the history of that resort.

[Bill]

Since we are on the topic of old lifts. Does anyone have any info on Chair 4 at Breckenridge? I had someone email me and they bought 2 chairs from that lift and wanted some history (when it was built, when it was removed, it specifications, etc.) I did not see an install survey for that lift, so I am hoping someone has a good memory.

[boardski]

Bill, on 28 June 2011 - 10:09 AM, said:

Since we are on the topic of old lifts. Does anyone have any info on Chair 4 at Breckenridge? I had someone email me and they bought 2 chairs from that lift and wanted some history (when it was built, when it was removed, it specifications, etc.) I did not see an install survey for that lift, so I am hoping someone has a good memory.

Did they purchase the center-bar chairs or bail style chairs? The bail-style chairs were on the lift for only 1 season before the lift was removed in 2002 to make way for the Peak 8 Superconnect. Some of the bail style chairs may have made their way over to Keystone to replace the Yan chairs on Checkerboard and A51 chairs. The former Yan grips were used with the Riblet replacement chairs at Keystone. As far as year built, 1978 seems to be the year that comes to mind for #4. I remember very long lines during the 80s at that lift. The Beaver Run chair eased some of that when it was installed in 1990. Good runs off of that chair though. The Peak 8 superconnect was definately a nice improvement although I have rarely ridden the full length as the midway reload is the same location as the former bottom station of lift 4.

This post has been edited by boardski: 28 June 2011 - 07:15 PM

[Diponza]

Bogong, on 27 June 2011 - 09:26 PM, said:

No Ricardo. Merrit's was built in 1968, so it is a comparative youngster. But you are right, it's (mostly) Riblet. The 48 year old Riblet at Thredbo is the Ramshead chair. It's a fairly long lift and moves so slowly compared to the detachable quad it runs parallel to, so I have no idea why they go to the expense of maintaining it. But they sometimes fire it up on weekends and school holidays.

The 50 year old Mueller is the Mt Perisher double. It operates every day of the ski season, which is quite impressive for such an antique.

Finally, the 58 year old Hamilton nutcracker lift was originally on Bull Run at Mt Buller in Victoria, but after 2 years it was moved to the small "club field" at Mt St Bernard (near Hotham) where it has been operating ever since.

For some reason, there are a few geriatric chairlifts operating in New South Wales, but south of the border in Victoria every chairlift is under 30 years old.

See below for a link to my list of every Australian ski lift ever built. I've found a couple more, but WikiSki has been locked for a while, so I can't update it.
Let me know if I've got anything wrong or missed something. The information for 1950's Perisher lifts is a bit rough as no one has written much about the history of that resort.

I've recently become interested in the Merritts Chairlift however there isn't much published information available about its history. It is widely accepted as being a Riblet however the lift towers don't look anything like the centre pole towers that Riblet was known for. Even though the lifts towers are a lattice frame construction, they don't even resemble the classic Mueller design. Instead they look more like the unique Transfield designed towers that were used for the Alpine Way to Charlotte Pass Chairlift. I would be grateful to anyone who could provide any additional information about this particular chairlift.

[Don Coyote®]

This link may be getting old to the regulars around here..... but here is MY little project in Michigan. (This lift has never been moved from resort to resort,..... but it IS rather antique and a part of the local area's history). The link leads to a 17-minute video documentary that you may find interesting.



http://miskireport.c...y/mt-mancelona/

This post has been edited by Don Coyote®: 11 October 2011 - 05:10 PM