7th Heaven is one of three high speed quads that provide access from Whistler Village to the Blackcomb Glacier in the summertime.View of the line.Riding back down.Lower lift line.Bottom return station with parking rail.Lift line from the base.Chain-driven return terminal.The first few towers.The lower half of the line sits in the trees while the upper half is above treeline.Middle portion of the lift line.Riding up the treeless section.Custom Doppelmayr chair with racks for the former glacier skiing operation.Big breakover with four towers.Arriving at the top terminal.Drive terminal equipment.Upper station overview.Top turnaround area.Side view of the breakover.View down from the summit.Another view of the line.Upper line.The previous 7th Heaven lift had a midstation in this area.Looking up the line.Side view of the bottom terminal.Another view of the summit drive station.Lift line seen from Blackcomb Mountain
Pretty sure they’re just EJs. If you look at some old Doppelmayr quad videos, you’ll notice that the purpose of the racks on the back is to put your skis, and you ride up without them on. Pretty sure the headrests were just there for additional comfort. Wizard and Solar coaster both had them, and as I remember correctly, they worked well if you were wearing a helmet.
One of the main problems with the headrests is the vibrations. That can make them pretty uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as my friend described them to be.
If the EXIF data is to be believed, then it was taken in 2006. It would make sense that the downhill capacity rating was downgraded, rather than upgraded.
I believe this is one of the oldest photos on Liftblog along with Worth Mountain at Middlebury. One of the other ways that you can tell that this is old is the fact that they had the ambulance cabin on the line. Now it is on a parking rail next to the return terminal.
Can’t remember the dates exactly, but 7th was originally 100% download, I think we may have lowered it in 2001 when the new drive and motor went in and we removed towers 16 and 17. Subsequent to that, in the 2000’s we lowered to 50% because we were still having trouble achieving downhill stop times/distances.
The drive was changed because we discovered the motor was undersized. We put in a bigger motor, and then needed to put in a bigger drive to match. It was a good upgrade as we got rid of an old analog drive and replaced with a digital DCS500.
There was a mid station. It was towers 16 and 17. One was a support and one was a hold down. The hold down was able to be lowered with hydraulics run from a snowcat. The idea was on avalanche control days you could run the lift as a fixed grip to that point, then open it to the top once A/C was complete. It turned out to be a major PITA to to use so I think the whole concept was dropped pretty quickly.
I agree it could use an upgrade. In addition to its age, it often gets long lines, so a six (or maybe eight?) pack would be warranted. Whistler’s last master plan was updated in 2013 and it did not have 7th Heaven being upgraded. However, the plan was pre-Vail, and Vail has not followed the plan with some decisions (Blackcomb Gondola) and followed the plan for others (Catskinner and Emerald upgrades), so perhaps they will deviate once again for this.
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What kind of chairs are those with the headrests?
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Pretty sure they’re just EJs. If you look at some old Doppelmayr quad videos, you’ll notice that the purpose of the racks on the back is to put your skis, and you ride up without them on. Pretty sure the headrests were just there for additional comfort. Wizard and Solar coaster both had them, and as I remember correctly, they worked well if you were wearing a helmet.
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One of the main problems with the headrests is the vibrations. That can make them pretty uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as my friend described them to be.
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When was the last picture taken? It says 75% download capacity and I know for sure it was 50% in 2009 on remotees mecaniques.
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If the EXIF data is to be believed, then it was taken in 2006. It would make sense that the downhill capacity rating was downgraded, rather than upgraded.
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I believe this is one of the oldest photos on Liftblog along with Worth Mountain at Middlebury. One of the other ways that you can tell that this is old is the fact that they had the ambulance cabin on the line. Now it is on a parking rail next to the return terminal.
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If you have an iPhone you can save the image and it will tell you the date. It was taken on November 24, 2006.
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I wouldn’t call that an indicator. The ambulance cabin can be removed or installed whenever they need it.
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Can’t remember the dates exactly, but 7th was originally 100% download, I think we may have lowered it in 2001 when the new drive and motor went in and we removed towers 16 and 17. Subsequent to that, in the 2000’s we lowered to 50% because we were still having trouble achieving downhill stop times/distances.
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That’s interesting. Why were the towers removed? And were they replaced? And why was the drive changed?
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The drive was changed because we discovered the motor was undersized. We put in a bigger motor, and then needed to put in a bigger drive to match. It was a good upgrade as we got rid of an old analog drive and replaced with a digital DCS500.
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Wasn’t there like an old half-midstation there (like on Screamin’ Eagle at Grouse)?
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Are there any pictures of this midstation?
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There was a mid station. It was towers 16 and 17. One was a support and one was a hold down. The hold down was able to be lowered with hydraulics run from a snowcat. The idea was on avalanche control days you could run the lift as a fixed grip to that point, then open it to the top once A/C was complete. It turned out to be a major PITA to to use so I think the whole concept was dropped pretty quickly.
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What terminals are these? CLD 260?
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Interesting fact is that this lift is named after the 7th Heaven chairlift at Stevens Pass! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijGkQHVznno
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Old 7th Heaven T-Bar:
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Why was this lift only around for a year?
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The owners got a capital infusion: https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/cover-stories/building-a-mountain-3159396
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Does Vail have any plans to replace this lift soon? It’s pretty old and year-round so I assume it’s starting to show its age.
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I agree it could use an upgrade. In addition to its age, it often gets long lines, so a six (or maybe eight?) pack would be warranted. Whistler’s last master plan was updated in 2013 and it did not have 7th Heaven being upgraded. However, the plan was pre-Vail, and Vail has not followed the plan with some decisions (Blackcomb Gondola) and followed the plan for others (Catskinner and Emerald upgrades), so perhaps they will deviate once again for this.
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What kind of terminal is this?
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It looks like any other CLD-260.
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I can’t help but notice how the Blackcomb CLD-260s have/had longer hanger arms on their chairs compared to other CLD-260s of this vintage.
By contrast:
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Is there a reason why the hanger arms are longer?
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This is kind of a weird question, but were there any CLD-260s built with gondola cabins?
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Looks gondola
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*Loon
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As well as the old Horse Hill express at Mt. Buller (was built as a chondola, now it operates as a chairlift under the name Northside)
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