Max Pass Weekend

Benny Profane wrote

I fear you may reach your goal as some sort of ski industry big guy without actually learning how to ski. But, that's ok, I know that Vail us run by people like that, and ORDA, probably. If so, study real estate and golf course development.

I'm predicting here and now that Sno's gonna be a teacher

Ugh

Do you ever have anything positive to say?

You asked something about lifts and I answered.  Checking out the lifts is always part of the fun in skiing a new mountain.

snoloco wrote

Ugh

Do you ever have anything positive to say?

Yeah, man. I told you to drop everything and get your butt to Big Sky right now. Trust me, if you are of the right mind, you'd thank me. If not, go on talking about lifts. If that's what really turns you on.

Oh drop out of college and spend all my savings to go there?  Get real

I will get back out west eventually and Big Sky and Jackson Hole are on the top of my list for that.

CONTENTS DELETED

OH well then. Excuse me. Bellayre is your mountain. Enjoy that new car smell in the gondola.

snoloco wrote

The summit lift is a tram, not a gondola.  Get your facts right.

They had a 1970's Poma gondola next to the Swift Current chair that was removed and scrapped in 2008 after a major deropement.  They have plans to build an new one.

Same difference.. You get in a box and go up the mountain..

Brownski wrote

Benny Profane wrote

I fear you may reach your goal as some sort of ski industry big guy without actually learning how to ski. But, that's ok, I know that Vail us run by people like that, and ORDA, probably. If so, study real estate and golf course development.

I'm predicting here and now that Sno's gonna be a teacher

That is a kick in the balls to every teacher out there!

snoloco wrote

The summit lift is a tram, not a gondola.  Get your facts right.

What's the diff?  A tram has two support ropes and a haul rope vs. a gondola with just a haul rope?

Belleayre still without power as of 7:30pm.  Windham may be the choice for the Max Passers tomorrow.  

A gondola is a continuously circulating system, and as that suggests, it runs continuously and cabins arrive and depart at a set interval.  A tram is a jig-back or reversible system where the system has only two carriers with one staying on it's side of the towers at all times.  The entire system comes to a complete stop when both cabins are at the ends, and then reverses direction for the next trip.

Most trams are tri-cable systems with two stationary track ropes and a moving haulrope in between and below the track ropes.  This allows them to handle terrain and winds that would not be possible for a monocable system.  However, the Big Sky tram, and a similar one at Snowbasin are only 15 passenger models and use only one cable just like a regular chairlift or gondola.  So it's a gondola sized system that functions as a tram.  This was done as the spans were short enough and carrier weight was low enough that track ropes were unnecessary, but they didn't need more capacity than a reversible system could handle.

The capacity problem with even large trams was solved by the 3s gondola system.  There you have the tram sized system that functions as a gondola.  It has 2 track ropes and a haulrope, but is operated as a continuously circulating system.  The cabins are large, but not quite as large as on trams.  I believe the Peak2Peak at Whistler has 28 passenger cabins.  You really can't go above 15 on a monocable system.  The 3s system is quite possibly the most capable ropeway system ever built, providing unmatched capacity, yet being able to handle terrain and weather environments that would not be practical for a monocable system to operate in.

Belleayre says that they currently plan on operating tomorrow.  But unless power is restored they will only be able to run the gondola as it's the only lift with two backup drive systems.  The primary drive is a 600hp electric motor which can move the lift at 1000 fpm.  It is run on this under all normal circumstances.  In the event of a power failure they have a 600hp Cummins diesel engine that allows for a speed of up to 800 fpm.  If that fails there is a 130hp Cummins diesel engine that can run the lift at 200 fpm to unload all the passengers before the lift is shut down.

The other lifts have only one diesel engine.  That means that if the electric fails, you can't load anymore passengers and can only use the diesel to unload and close the lift.  The rule is that you must have one additional functional backup drive available to load passengers onto the lift.  Reason for this is to minimize the chance of a rope-evac.  If you don't have a backup drive available, you would be roping people down if one small problem occurred with the drive and that is unacceptable.

Usually it's detachables that have the two backup diesels.  Both gondolas at Gore and Whiteface have double backups, but it's a different system than Belleayre where there's two equally sized diesel engines where you can run the lift on both and run at a reasonable (but not full) speed and continue to load passengers, or you can run very slowly off of just one to unload and close the lift.

Facelift, ADK Express, and Burnt Ridge I think have the same system as Belleayre with the big and small diesels.  The other Catskill detachables have only the small diesel and must be unloaded and closed in the event of a power failure.

The only lift open most of the morning today was the gondola at Belleayre. It was running on diesel power. At 10:35 we got on it and didn't get to the first tower before it stopped. The diesel started and stopped many times and when we finally started going super slow I didn't hear the diesel but maybe it was the second backup sno was talking about. We were last car up and they closed it.

That said, the snow was great. Going to sleep now tomorrow will be great if there's power 👍. If not, Platty will be busy.

It probably was the small diesel if it was going that slow.  I hope Doppelmayr comes and checks it out the big diesel because it's a brand new lift and should not be breaking down, especially when the lift isn't run very often on diesel power.

Hopefully they found a way to fix the big diesel or the power is back on to run on electric tomorrow.  They can still load as long as one of the diesels is operational.

Sigh.

Shiny new bubble 8 pack chair with heated seats coming to Big Sky next season.  Replacing Ramcharger which will be relocated to replace Shedhorn.

The new lift will be the first Doppelmayr D-Line model to open in North America.  The first D-Line to be announced is the gondola being installed at Disneyworld but it is such a huge project that it's actually going to open later than Big Sky's lift.

I think I'm going to have to go out there and check it out on my Ikon Pass.

Yeah. Perfect reason to travel a few thousand miles to a western ski hill. To marvel at the new lifts.

You should start a travel club of fellow lift nerds.

As backcountry skiers always say, "The up is part of the fun".  Same for lift nerds like myself, although we like to ascend the mountain in a faster and more comfortable way.

There's no travel club, but there's a whole community of lift nerds at liftblog.com

Omg.

I’m with Benny Sno. If your reason to get toBig Sky is because of a lift and not the skiing you’re blowing it dude.

I’m half kidding. If that’s your thing than ok. I guess.....