54 replies to this topic

[Yooper Skier]

South Ridge Express at Sunday River rolled over 32k just before closing this season...1992 Poma detach. SuperRat, how many are on the GoGo? Last I knew, it turned over 60,000.

[SuperRat]

Yooper, Its closing in on 63,000 hrs. We have a special presents picked out for its 26th birthday: a new haul rope.

This post has been edited by SuperRat: 05 May 2014 - 05:08 PM

[SkiDaBird]

The Telluride gondola will have a ton for a 96 since it runs 17 hr days almost all year.

[teachme]

How many hours (typical) is a haul rope good for? If not hour dependent, what is the main factor dictating a replacement for a typical haul rope (i.e. assume not damaged in any way, just run 'normally'). Does it depend on FG vs. HS?

On a funny note, calculated that at 3000 hours a year (1000 f/m) the Whistler Village Gondola does the earth-moon distance every 7 years :) At 25 years old it is on its way back from its second trip to the moon!

(OK, fixed the math! - I think)

[skierdude9450]

9 years later where are the Flyer and Eagle?

[iceberg210]

One of the biggest determinations of haul rope life is length of lift. The most wear happens when you turn the rope around at the bullwheels, so the shorter the lift the more cycles the haul rope has and thus the shorter it's life span.

[DonaldMReif]

By that logic, I guess when comparing similar types of lifts that that should theoretically mean that the haul rope life span of the Mercury SuperChair (7,450 feet long) or the Beaver Run SuperChair (8,904 feet long) is longer than the rope lifespan for the Imperial Express SuperChair (2,600 feet long), even though their build years differ (the Beaver Run SuperChair dates to 1990, the Mercury SuperChair to 1997, and the Imperial Express SuperChair to 2005).

[ccslider]

The Mountain Village Gondola has over 85,000 hours. It opened for the public in December 1996 and runs about 5,000 hours each year.

[snoloco]

The South Peak Express at Mountain Creek had some work done on the haul rope back in November of 2011. https://www.youtube....h?v=R7tHT3_Mys0. I don't think it was a full replacement since there were chairs on the line when they took this video. The Cabriolet had its gearbox redone in October of 2013. These are both 1998 detaches. I wonder if they either of them have had a full replacement yet.

[CH3skier]

snoloco, on 06 May 2014 - 12:02 PM, said:

The South Peak Express at Mountain Creek had some work done on the haul rope back in November of 2011. https://www.youtube....h?v=R7tHT3_Mys0. I don't think it was a full replacement since there were chairs on the line when they took this video. The Cabriolet had its gearbox redone in October of 2013. These are both 1998 detaches. I wonder if they either of them have had a full replacement yet.

So after watching this video, it sounds like lifts may have multiple splices? I can see a new splice if the cable stretches, but didn’t think they would only replace a section of cable.

[liftmech]

skierdude9450, on 06 May 2014 - 12:28 AM, said:

9 years later where are the Flyer and Eagle?

Not sure about the Eagle, guessing around 38,000. The Flyer is just shy of 36,000. Perhaps someone from Steamboat can confirm but their gondola has around 80,000 this season.

[liftmech]

CH3skier, on 06 May 2014 - 12:16 PM, said:

So after watching this video, it sounds like lifts may have multiple splices? I can see a new splice if the cable stretches, but didn’t think they would only replace a section of cable.

Sometimes a section of rope is damaged enough to replace, if it's long enough i.e. there needs to be room between the splices. Or if someone didn't order enough rope in the first place

[Aussierob]

So here is the nine year update from my original post.
Upper Village gondola 88032
Wizard chair 67275

[Backbowlsbilly]

I have to think that the Twilight Double at Durango has a ton of hours, a 1976 Riblet double that is usually the first lift to open and it runs in the summer as well.

[Liftkid99]

Though this topic hasn't been added to in a while Id like to add to the list
Both Skyrides at Grouse (Red and Blue) have well over 100,000 hours each, I forgot the exact numbers but Blue is from '65 and Red is '76, they both run year round and anywhere from 7am until 11 pm on average days. There have been nights where they don't shut down until 2am so I'm sure they have quite the number of hours that they've operated .

[teachme]

The thing with the Grouse trams are that they run for 3 minutes then wait 7 before going again. Also, Red is used for people and blue normally only for staff and freight (unless windy as the windows open). So, for the red tram:

18 minutes an hour
14 hours a day = 4.2 hours a day
11 months a year = 1432 hours a year
39 years = 55856 total hours

Too many assumptions here but kind of an idea.

TME

[2milehi]

Keystone
Outpost Gondola 61265
A-51 (Pac II) 53250
Peru 43123

I’ll try to find the hours for the Von Roll Gondola.

[Liftkid99]

teachme, on 25 May 2015 - 10:56 PM, said:

The thing with the Grouse trams are that they run for 3 minutes then wait 7 before going again. Also, Red is used for people and blue normally only for staff and freight (unless windy as the windows open). So, for the red tram:

18 minutes an hour
14 hours a day = 4.2 hours a day
11 months a year = 1432 hours a year
39 years = 55856 total hours

Too many assumptions here but kind of an idea.

TME

Oooh right I forgot about that. Smart idea. And yes the blue tram will run for the public if it is windy since the cabins are much heavier and with the windows open also during fall or spring (mostly fall) red tram maintenance periods to bring people up.

[llamborghinii]

Is it standard operating procedure to remove all the chairs from the haul rope each season (even fixed grip) and move them slightly down the rope to ensure even wear? I've seen some ski areas mention this on facebook, so not sure if all do it. I see many lifts have spray paint on the rope, I'm assuming that's the reason why.

[liftmech]

Yes and no.
It is procedure to move the carriers back a foot or so, a lay length, something like that. However, one does not have to remove the chairs from the rope to do so. The grips can be opened just enough to slide. As for detaches, they only make half a trip in the same spot so relocation criteria obviously don't apply.