139 replies to this topic

[sheave]

I'm currently traveling through the United States from West to East to visit old/rare ski lifts or interesting lost ski areas. Over the last ten years I've already seen quite a few interesting lifts (list is not complete):

- Pipestem gondola (Mueller)
- Hawks Nest aerial tram (Hall)
- Mt. Eyak single (AS&W)
- Copper Peak double (Miner-Denver)
- Mt. Lemmon double (Heron)
- Chairs at Taos (Staedeli)
- Coffee Mill (Cosmos)
- Lutsen mountain gondola (PHB)
- Sugar pine chair at Mt. Baldy (?)
- Chairs in Gatlinburg and Maggie Valley, NC (C&S and Partek?)
- Von Roll gondolas and Yan/Lift Engineering chairs all over the country...
- Lost ski areas like Maple Valley, VT

Some places I have already on my list to visit this year are:
- Wallowa Lake Tramway
- Sun Valley's single chair
- Devils Nest, NE
- Mad River Glen
- Lost ski areas in New England (already been to a few)

There are some manufacturers that I haven't had the chance to ride so far: SLI, Thiokol, Murray-Latta, Borvig and Roebling (not sure if there are any lifts left for Roebling). This time I will also not make it to states like California and Colorado so I will again miss the Heron gondola at Monarch Crest - not sure if it still operating?

Do I miss some special areas or lifts? Any idea is highly appreciated!

[Sacdelic_Skier]

there's an old robeling double at sunapee nh

[Smacpats]

SLI's are getting rare. and there are two stadelis at Snowbasin.

LE chairs aren't hard to find. Go to loveland, Alta, lots of other Utah places, Killington, Sunday River.

Dopplemayr 60s and 70s center poles are getting harder to find. The only I can think of are Mid-Gad and Wilbere at snowbird, and there days are numbered. IMO, Just put two "Half Midstations" (Pictures below) on Gadzoom where the mid-gad midstation is and were mid-gad ends and call it a day, and for Wilbere buy something used like sunnyside from Alta and make it go higher.

Here are some Half Midstations:

This post has been edited by Smacpats: 08 May 2016 - 06:52 AM

[Sacdelic_Skier]

stadelis are pretty common here in NE. You can ride a bail and a centerpole SLI at catamount mass/NY. AT catamount, they also have a ctec that pretty much is a thiokol based on the chairs. Oh ya, Borvigs are wicked common up in maine

[NHskier13]

I know of some thiokols that are/were at Crystal, WA
there's also a thiokol at Nashoba Valley, MA but it was half installed at Berkshire East, not sure how much of it is thiokol (If I recall, CTEC was founded by former thiokol employees) but it has some parts that look CTEC so I'm not too sure on that.

There are a few stadeli built lifts at Waterville Valley, NH, most on the upper mountain (High Country, Northside, Sunnyside) and a couple at the base (World Cup, doppelmayr repaired it after a lightning strike though, and Lower Meadows) but I think there is a few in other areas - Sawduster at Sugarloaf (ME) and I think one at Sugarbush (VT) as well?

Sunday River, ME,has a couple Borvig built lifts (Spruce Triple, Locke Mtn. Triple) and I think their Quantum leap chair has a borvig bottom drive. Sugarloaf, ME, has a lot of Borvig lifts (one, after an accident last year, has a doppelmayr built drive now though) there are a few others scattered around New England, some I know are Hurricane at Pats Peak, NH, Pinnacle "Express" at Granite Gorge, NH, Double-Double 4&5 at Attitash, NH, Kachina at Attitash, NH, and some in other states I bet.

There is in fact a Roebling left that I know of, but I don't think it will see many more days. That would be the duckling double at Sunapee, NH. I haven't been there on a day it has been running for four years, but it is a really nice lift. I'll attach some images for you to look at ;
2015
 SAM_1584.JPG (1.52MB)
Number of downloads: 66  SAM_1585.JPG (1.5MB)
Number of downloads: 85
 SAM_3701.JPG (1.53MB)
Number of downloads: 81  SAM_3702.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 80  SAM_3703.JPG (1.55MB)
Number of downloads: 72  SAM_3705.JPG (1.53MB)
Number of downloads: 80  SAM_3706.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 87  SAM_3707.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 77  SAM_3710.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 65  SAM_3699.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 70
2016
 SAM_4451.JPG (1.52MB)
Number of downloads: 73  SAM_4452.JPG (1.55MB)
Number of downloads: 74  SAM_4454.JPG (1.51MB)
Number of downloads: 73  SAM_4502.JPG (1.54MB)
Number of downloads: 71  SAM_4507.JPG (1.55MB)
Number of downloads: 62  SAM_4508.JPG (1.52MB)
Number of downloads: 79

Conrad from these forums went to the top of Duckling, by the way ;  IMG_3262 (1).JPG (1.82MB)
Number of downloads: 81


Pats Peak, NH has two Meullers standing right now. One had it's center pole chairs replaced with a different model (still technically pure meuller, since the replacements were also Meuller) the other has CTEC chairs now. I think they might have new drives, not sure.

Also if you're interested in tramways, Cannon, NH has a Nuova-Aguido 70 passenger tram and Jay Peak, VT, has a Von Roll 50 person tram from 1966. The old cars for both stand near the newer operating tramways. If you visit Jay Peak in the winter by the way, it's a beautiful mountain for skiing.

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 08 May 2016 - 07:21 AM

[Smacpats]

Sacdelic_Skier, on 08 May 2016 - 06:54 AM, said:

stadelis are pretty common here in NE. You can ride a bail and a centerpole SLI at catamount mass/NY. AT catamount, they also have a ctec that pretty much is a thiokol based on the chairs. Oh ya, Borvigs are wicked common up in maine

SLI's are getting scrapped by the day though. Telluride announced a few months ago they are replacing there last two SLI's. I hope somebody buys them to give them a second life, possibly as a beginner lift/terrain park lift.

Stratton has a 1976 Borvig double that got triple chairs the next year (Talk about planning ahead...) and never has people on it. I question why they even bothered. It is stratton's only (Public, the private race training poma is a 77') lift that isn't 85 or beyond.

[Allan]

We've got a Thiokol!

[julestheshiba]

NHskier13, on 08 May 2016 - 07:15 AM, said:

I know of some thiokols that are/were at Crystal, WA
there's also a thiokol at Nashoba Valley, MA but it was half installed at Berkshire East, not sure how much of it is thiokol (If I recall, CTEC was founded by former thiokol employees) but it has some parts that look CTEC so I'm not too sure on that.

There are a few stadeli built lifts at Waterville Valley, NH, most on the upper mountain (High Country, Northside, Sunnyside) and a couple at the base (World Cup, doppelmayr repaired it after a lightning strike though, and Lower Meadows) but I think there is a few in other areas - Sawduster at Sugarloaf (ME) and I think one at Sugarbush (VT) as well?

Sunday River, ME,has a couple Borvig built lifts (Spruce Triple, Locke Mtn. Triple) and I think their Quantum leap chair has a borvig bottom drive. Sugarloaf, ME, has a lot of Borvig lifts (one, after an accident last year, has a doppelmayr built drive now though) there are a few others scattered around New England, some I know are Hurricane at Pats Peak, NH, Pinnacle "Express" at Granite Gorge, NH, Double-Double 4&5 at Attitash, NH, Kachina at Attitash, NH, and some in other states I bet.

There is in fact a Roebling left that I know of, but I don't think it will see many more days. That would be the duckling double at Sunapee, NH. I haven't been there on a day it has been running for four years, but it is a really nice lift. I'll attach some images for you to look at ;
2015
SAM_1584.JPG SAM_1585.JPG
SAM_3701.JPG SAM_3702.JPG SAM_3703.JPG SAM_3705.JPG SAM_3706.JPG SAM_3707.JPG SAM_3710.JPG SAM_3699.JPG
2016
SAM_4451.JPG SAM_4452.JPG SAM_4454.JPG SAM_4502.JPG SAM_4507.JPG SAM_4508.JPG

Conrad from these forums went to the top of Duckling, by the way ; IMG_3262 (1).JPG


Pats Peak, NH has two Meullers standing right now. One had it's center pole chairs replaced with a different model (still technically pure meuller, since the replacements were also Meuller) the other has CTEC chairs now. I think they might have new drives, not sure.

Also if you're interested in tramways, Cannon, NH has a Nuova-Aguido 70 passenger tram and Jay Peak, VT, has a Von Roll 50 person tram from 1966. The old cars for both stand near the newer operating tramways. If you visit Jay Peak in the winter by the way, it's a beautiful mountain for skiing.

Try to contact sunapee about the duckling lift and tell them how rare it is and how much you and others like it. They just might listen.

[julestheshiba]

 IMG_2642.jpg (1.6MB)
Number of downloads: 87  lowerstation3.jpg (92.73K)
Number of downloads: 87Squaw has one of the few competition Poma express lifts. There are some similar to it like beaver run at Breckinridge but the back of the terminals are different.

[Conrad]

Here's what I can think of:
*edit* skip Colorado lifts

Estes Park Tram, Colorado (1955 Heron tram, might be only Heron tram left)

Funhouse Gondola at Water World park in Denver, CO (one of a kind Yan pulse gondola)

Monarch Crest Gondola, Colorado (fixed grip gondola (likely pulse), rare PHB ropeway still operating

The J-Bar at Black Mountain, NH (1935 with major rebuild in 1954)

Any Von Roll Skyride

There's only a few t-bars left built by the manufacturer Sneller (New York area). I can try to figure out where they are.

Hawk's Nest State Park in West Virginia has a low capacity tram that is at least 44 years old from what I can figure. Not sure the manufacturer.

If you are looking for some lifts that operate during the summer, I have a pretty good map going of summer ropeways that aren't necessarily rare.

This post has been edited by Conrad: 08 May 2016 - 08:50 AM

[sheave]

Conrad, on 08 May 2016 - 08:48 AM, said:

Here's what I can think of:
*edit* skip Colorado lifts

Estes Park Tram, Colorado (1955 Heron tram, might be only Heron tram left)

Funhouse Gondola at Water World park in Denver, CO (one of a kind Yan pulse gondola)

Monarch Crest Gondola, Colorado (fixed grip gondola (likely pulse), rare PHB ropeway still operating

The J-Bar at Black Mountain, NH (1935 with major rebuild in 1954)

Any Von Roll Skyride

There's only a few t-bars left built by the manufacturer Sneller (New York area). I can try to figure out where they are.

Hawk's Nest State Park in West Virginia has a low capacity tram that is at least 44 years old from what I can figure. Not sure the manufacturer.

If you are looking for some lifts that operate during the summer, I have a pretty good map going of summer ropeways that aren't necessarily rare.

We have been to Hawk's Nest and I think it is a Hall tram. I hope the Heron tram will have some more years to operate!

Allan, on 08 May 2016 - 07:50 AM, said:

We've got a Thiokol!

Where are you and can I ride it? :)

Smacpats, on 08 May 2016 - 07:20 AM, said:

SLI's are getting scrapped by the day though. Telluride announced a few months ago they are replacing there last two SLI's. I hope somebody buys them to give them a second life, possibly as a beginner lift/terrain park lift.

Stratton has a 1976 Borvig double that got triple chairs the next year (Talk about planning ahead...) and never has people on it. I question why they even bothered. It is stratton's only (Public, the private race training poma is a 77') lift that isn't 85 or beyond.

We skipped Telluride last year to ski Taos, so we missed the SLI's there. But there should be also some left in Idaho?

NHskier13, on 08 May 2016 - 07:15 AM, said:

There is in fact a Roebling left that I know of, but I don't think it will see many more days. That would be the duckling double at Sunapee, NH. I haven't been there on a day it has been running for four years, but it is a really nice lift. I'll attach some images for you to look at ;

The Roebling looks very interesting, any chance to see that running in the near future? I will also have a look at the other lifts if I come by.

What are the chances to ride lifts in summer that usually operate in winter only? Sometimes you can ride one if they do maintenance, sometimes if the mechanics are really nice (my experience).

[Smacpats]

sheave, on 08 May 2016 - 10:45 AM, said:

We have been to Hawk's Nest and I think it is a Hall tram. I hope the Heron tram will have some more years to operate!


Where are you and can I ride it? :)


We skipped Telluride last year to ski Taos, so we missed the SLI's there. But there should be also some left in Idaho?


The Roebling looks very interesting, any chance to see that running in the near future? I will also have a look at the other lifts if I come by.

What are the chances to ride lifts in summer that usually operate in winter only? Sometimes you can ride one if they do maintenance, sometimes if the mechanics are really nice (my experience).

Here is a list of every SLI lift still standing:
https://en.wikipedia..._still_standing

This post has been edited by Smacpats: 08 May 2016 - 11:54 AM

[Yooper Skier]

Sunday River, ME,has a couple Borvig built lifts (Spruce Triple, Locke Mtn. Triple) and I think their Quantum leap chair has a borvig bottom drive.

Quantum has nothing Borvig about it. She's a Hall with a Poma portal tower.

[NHskier13]

Oh.. I was going by this site lol

Attached File(s)

•  BorvigQuantum.png (183.7K)
  Number of downloads: 77

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 08 May 2016 - 04:29 PM

[julestheshiba]

Actually all websites about ski lifts say quantum leap was modified with a Borvig drive and housing. Note The Signature Borvig Drive. Also Peters website (https://liftblog.com/) says "Relocated from South Ridge, converted to a triple, and Borvig drive added". I always trust Peter.

[teachme]

Unless I am wrong, Manning Park (BC) has 2 Murray-Lattas still in normal winter operation.

[sheave]

Smacpats, on 08 May 2016 - 11:54 AM, said:

Here is a list of every SLI lift still standing:
https://en.wikipedia..._still_standing

I just found out that the C chair at Pomerelle has been removed... :( And what about the chairs at 49° North: according to this site they are all Riblets (http://www.skilifts.org/old/wa-49n.htm), but to me they look like SLI?

[RibStaThiok]

If you can get over to Snowbasin in Utah, you can take care of 1985/86 Stadeli (Porcupine & Becker) and a Thiokol (Wildcat) Though there are rumors that eventually Wildcat will be replaced with a HSQ, but nothing firm yet, just a strong interest in doing so by the new resort manager. Middlebowl at Snowbasin is a first gen CTEC triple as well, one of the first CTEC lifts installed. It's like riding the Thiokols in most regards.

Also don't forget the CTEC & VonRoll team-up on the classic Eagle Express over at Solitude in Utah as well.

[julestheshiba]

sheave, on 08 May 2016 - 07:46 PM, said:

I just found out that the C chair at Pomerelle has been removed... :( And what about the chairs at 49° North: according to this site they are all Riblets (http://www.skilifts.org/old/wa-49n.htm), but to me they look like SLI?

Go to http://www.remontees...-north-675.html those are SLIs

[NHskier13]

sheave, on 08 May 2016 - 10:45 AM, said:

The Roebling looks very interesting, any chance to see that running in the near future? I will also have a look at the other lifts if I come by.
What are the chances to ride lifts in summer that usually operate in winter only? Sometimes you can ride one if they do maintenance, sometimes if the mechanics are really nice (my experience).

That's a question I wouldn't know the answer to, Sunapee is a state owned area (hence why Cannon also had a couple roebling built chairs at that time period) If I had to take a guess for coming when maintenance is in progress, I'd have to say late summer / early fall, I know gunstock does theirs in late summer and that's the only time I have witnessed lift maintenance.

I wouldn't know about their maintenance staff letting you on the lift, maybe you'll be able to if you asked?
If you have questions for sunapee maybe you could try contacting them via email. That's the only information I have to offer.