Some interesting lift history

Not sure if it's of any interest to anyone, but I just realized that the Freeway lift/race chair is the only remaining WF lift from the Olympic era in it's original state.  LWF has been heavily modified and I don't even consider it the same lift anymore.  Summit and Valley lifts have been replaced, and Gondola, Lookout, Bear, Mixing Bowl, and Kids Kampus lifts didn't exist at the time, and Mountain Run is just a bunch of Hall parts thrown together with CTEC parts to make another lift.

Kind of fitting that the lift that was used by the Olympic racers is now used by all the NYSEF racing that currently happens.  Even if all the terrain in that area is closed for racing, I like to ride that lift at least once every day it's open because I think the history of it is cool.

Found a couple of photos of the original summit chair at Whiteface:
(I think this chairlift was replaced about 1984 or 1985)

Interesting lift. It had a combination of lattice/pole towers? And, look at the size of that lattice tower snd sheave! Huge for just a double chair.

Hmm...

Kinda looks like the Lil' Whiteface Chair my sister (age 12) took me up when I was four years younger than she, and threatened to leave me to find my own way down.  That was soo long ago, I can now ski down all by myself!

The WF Valley Triple BTW, after 17 years of service was replaced by the Quad (1998?), refurbished and is currently the Topridge Triple at Gore.  An accountant would claim that as "New Money for an Old Rope".

The original Hall Double from Marble Mountain, WF's appropriately named predecessor, ended up at West Mountain, where it served from Opening day, 1964? till 2015.  Quite a run for rusty old iron, only fell off it twice, once pushed by another sister (eight years older then me) the other time getting knocked clear out of my skis as the centered mounted safety bar was down as I tried to load. "Oops" said the liftie, the bastard who had it in for me.

The best lift I rode ever is Poma #2 @ Hickory. Lift a 180LB man off the snow 6 inches, rocketing 10 feet uphill.  Kids could get airborne 2 feet up for forty feet, no doubt.  Not sure we'll be able to ride that one again, darn.

That's all for now, waiting on that beer from Snobro.

Wests chair was a Riblet

Marcski wrote

 And, look at the size of that lattice tower snd sheave! Huge for just a double chair.

Wonder if that's necessary due to total length/vert gain of the lift ? Snobro ?

That's gotta (?) be the LWF chair, which would be one long ride on a fixed grip. Any guesses ? 20+ mins ?

That picture is of the original LWF double chair, which was original to Whiteface as it exists today.  It was an early Riblet design, and I think they used similar towers on other installations.  There was another Riblet double installed where the Facelift is now at that time.

In 1978 in preparation for the Olympics, Hall replaced most of the lift.  A few towers were left, mostly near the mid station, but the rest was replaced.  The double where the Facelift is now was completely replaced by a Hall double-double in 1976.

In 1988, one side of the double-double was upgraded to a triple by CTEC.  The leftover Hall parts were used to graft the Mountain Run lift onto Little Whiteface in 1989.  CTEC tandem towers were installed, and they also replaced the chair frames, but not the seats.  Not sure if CTEC replaced the sheaves on side they upgraded to a triple or if they used the original Hall ones.  The Mountain Run lift has Hall sheaves.

In 2002, the entire tandem lift that's where the Facelift now was replaced.  The chairs and some other parts of the triple side became the Topridge Triple at Gore, paired with the original towers from the LWF double below midstation, or the towers from the Hall North Double at Gore.  The rest of the lift was likely scrapped, as most double-double's are upon replacement.

Doppelmayr has modified the LWF chair in 2011 and 2012 by replacing the towers above mid station, and replacing the sheaves on the existing towers below mid station.  These upgrades will help ensure that the lift will operate for many years to come.  However, I don't really even consider it the "same lift" anymore as there are more Doppelmayr and CTEC parts bolted onto the Hall frame than there are original Hall parts.  No Riblet parts remain.

Snowballs:  The current lift is about 4500 feet long and a 9 minute ride if you go all the way to the top.  The only way a fixed grip would've been a 20 minute ride is if it followed the gondola route all the way from the base, and NO lift followed that route until the gondola in 1999.

Found a few more pics of the old Whiteface double chairlift:

LITTLE WHITEFACE DOUBLE (RIBLET) - The current Little Whiteface Double now stands in place of this lift.

So the yellow lift is now LWF and the red one was the shuttle lift?  The uphill side differs on each chair.

Sno, this lift was ~ a 9 minute ride ? Perhaps it didn't start at the base lodge ? It looks like it follows the current Gondi line.

I'm gonna guess the size of the lattice tower/sheave is mandated by the angles needed to follow the slope. " Rounding off " a sharp corner, so to speak.

Big D wrote

Nope, that lift follows the LWF line.  Goes across the ridge just like it does now.  The final climb on the gondola is significantly steeper.

That lift follows the exact same line as the LWF Lift, and had approximately the same starting point as the LWF Lift currently does.

Here is a trail map from 1965:

HEY!!! That's the lift!! It's all coming back to me now. I thought it was a single but now I know it was that yellow chair in those pictures. I remember holding on to that damn center post with all my might. Holy shit that was one freaky ride back in those days. We all know how calm the wind is there and all

cool pic bro