Bottom station adjacent to the base lodge.Loading area.View back down the lift line.Crossing over Lift 6.New unloading area, this was formerly a mid-station unload.View down the lift line.Lower lift line.Drive station.
I haven’t heard of Yan fixed grips having any dangerous issues, but I do know a lot of resorts that still run Yan/LE fixed grips have had them retrofitted by Doppelmayr or Poma with their grips…
Upon closer examination of picture No. 5, these look like they are Type-6 grips. They are attached to the hanger arm the same way shown in the drawing, and the two bolts on the bottom of the grip (which I assume would tighten it) are clearly visible. They are also clearly identical in every way to the 1998 Yan Quad (linked above) which has Type-6 grips.
This lift has the Type 6 Grips, the issue with this generation Yan FG was the cast aluminum sheave assemblies not the grip. There was an issue with assemblies suffering from catastrophic cracking causing them to literally fall apart. The assemblies require an intensive inspection schedule which involves inspecting a small dimple ground into the assembly for cracks, if any appear the assembly is retired. My understanding is the wrong Aluminum alloy was used in certain production runs of these assemblies. These assemblies are only compatible with the type 6 grip and the Yan detachable grips.
I believe that isn’t entirely true because Mount Snow’s Challenger triple has these same assemblies that were relocated from Grand Summit Express/ Yankee Clipper. when they were replaced by the Poma retrofit, they went to Challenger whose chairs do not have the type 6 grips.
No, he means the plastic chairs. I have one in my yard. They were so light that they caused problems in the wind. Our S-lift had them, but we replaced them with the all-steel version. When we replaced the carriers on R and S Loveland bought them, refurbished them, and put them on their chair 2.
Rendezvous and Sierra. Upper Mountain at Copper, Flyer side. It’s always easier as a liftie or patroller or mechanic (John) or crotchety local (me) to refer to chairs as numbers and letters. Especially if there’s wind and radios involved. Plus, marketing departments and execs with less working knowledge name the things, and the names are often, um, silly. Forest Queen at Crystal, for example. Ptarmigan, though, I dig. I’m at peace with my hypocrisy.
There was a transition period in the last few years of the lift running all the way to the top of Ptarmigan where there was both a mid-unload and mid-load. For the longest time, there was just a mid-load there, which was towers 14-16: http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/co-loveland/2/midstation2.jpg
Then around 2011 or 2012 (someone get me more exact dates?), Loveland decided to put in a midway unload here but keep the midway load. They did so by having Doppelmayr install a pair of half towers in between tower 13 and the existing mid-load:
There was the complication, though, of having two unload points, two load points, and nothing really being done to ensure that empty chairs were set aside for the midway load (a gate system like the Peak 8 SuperConnect’s would’ve been most ideal here). So this was often possible:
Thus in 2015, Lift 2 was cut back to end at the midway-unload while Ptarmigan was built to replace the upper half, starting at the bottom of the old Pomalift and ending where Lift 2 used to have its return station.
And when on the lift, it is pretty easy to see that this lift originally traveled higher up because of the way the lift profile descends into the midstation.
By correlation of that tree, I’d say that when the lift was shortened, the unload was placed at about where the mid-load was.
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When they replaced the back rests Where did the yan metal ones come from?
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Never mind, found they are from copper
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Why are the grips on this lift so dangerous?
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They weren’t. Yans fixed grips were fine. Yan’s detachable grips were the dangerous ones because of poor design and insufficient clamping force.
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I remember reading on Skilifts.org that chair 2 at Loveland is the only remaining lift with this type of Yan fixed grip, and that it is dangerous.
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Though rare, I’m confident the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board wouldn’t allow the Yan Type 6 grip in Colorado if thought to be unsafe.
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I haven’t heard of Yan fixed grips having any dangerous issues, but I do know a lot of resorts that still run Yan/LE fixed grips have had them retrofitted by Doppelmayr or Poma with their grips…
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The director of lifts there works for the Tramway safety board, so I am sure there is not type 6 grips
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This lift was from 1985, so it’s from the right era.
Here are some official drawings of the Type-6 grips that I found a a few years ago:
( https://www.google.com/patents/US4658733?dq=ininventor:%22Jan+K.+Kunczynski%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVsai1tZXZAhVjpVkKHZ17Azw4ChDoAQgoMAA )
And here’s a 1988 Yan Quad that for sure has them: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsf4-quadruple-yan-lift-engineering-5351.html
Upon closer examination of picture No. 5, these look like they are Type-6 grips. They are attached to the hanger arm the same way shown in the drawing, and the two bolts on the bottom of the grip (which I assume would tighten it) are clearly visible. They are also clearly identical in every way to the 1998 Yan Quad (linked above) which has Type-6 grips.
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This lift has the Type 6 Grips, the issue with this generation Yan FG was the cast aluminum sheave assemblies not the grip. There was an issue with assemblies suffering from catastrophic cracking causing them to literally fall apart. The assemblies require an intensive inspection schedule which involves inspecting a small dimple ground into the assembly for cracks, if any appear the assembly is retired. My understanding is the wrong Aluminum alloy was used in certain production runs of these assemblies. These assemblies are only compatible with the type 6 grip and the Yan detachable grips.
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I believe that isn’t entirely true because Mount Snow’s Challenger triple has these same assemblies that were relocated from Grand Summit Express/ Yankee Clipper. when they were replaced by the Poma retrofit, they went to Challenger whose chairs do not have the type 6 grips.
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Also the Type 3s we used to have on E, R, and S.
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Why would anyone want to use type 6 grips. There is no point in Patenting them
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Why do you say that? There are any number of reasons Yan would have patented those grips, not least of which is he designed them.
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Why does everyone hate the plastic chairs if they are so rare now?
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What are the plastic chairs? Do you mean the Yan hubcap sheaves?
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No, he means the plastic chairs. I have one in my yard. They were so light that they caused problems in the wind. Our S-lift had them, but we replaced them with the all-steel version. When we replaced the carriers on R and S Loveland bought them, refurbished them, and put them on their chair 2.
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What is R and S?
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Rendezvous and Sierra. Upper Mountain at Copper, Flyer side. It’s always easier as a liftie or patroller or mechanic (John) or crotchety local (me) to refer to chairs as numbers and letters. Especially if there’s wind and radios involved. Plus, marketing departments and execs with less working knowledge name the things, and the names are often, um, silly. Forest Queen at Crystal, for example. Ptarmigan, though, I dig. I’m at peace with my hypocrisy.
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This lift used to run all the way to the top of Ptarmigan, above timberline.
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There was a transition period in the last few years of the lift running all the way to the top of Ptarmigan where there was both a mid-unload and mid-load. For the longest time, there was just a mid-load there, which was towers 14-16: http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/co-loveland/2/midstation2.jpg
Then around 2011 or 2012 (someone get me more exact dates?), Loveland decided to put in a midway unload here but keep the midway load. They did so by having Doppelmayr install a pair of half towers in between tower 13 and the existing mid-load:
There was the complication, though, of having two unload points, two load points, and nothing really being done to ensure that empty chairs were set aside for the midway load (a gate system like the Peak 8 SuperConnect’s would’ve been most ideal here). So this was often possible:
Thus in 2015, Lift 2 was cut back to end at the midway-unload while Ptarmigan was built to replace the upper half, starting at the bottom of the old Pomalift and ending where Lift 2 used to have its return station.
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This was what the midway area looked like when it had a mid-unload and mid-load:
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Reminds me of jupiter at park city. The light side flyover is HUGE.
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And when on the lift, it is pretty easy to see that this lift originally traveled higher up because of the way the lift profile descends into the midstation.
By correlation of that tree, I’d say that when the lift was shortened, the unload was placed at about where the mid-load was.
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I remember that. Caused an already long ride to be even longer due to the frequent number of stops
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This lift now has safety bars. I saw them in the latest picture on Lovelands facebook page.
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Video too:
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What are they gonna do with the shared tower with lift 6 since that lift is being replaced?
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They removed the sheave assemblies from it. Looks like that’s all they’re going to be doing.
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