VonRoll built the Jay Peak tram in 1966 but it received new cabins in 2000 and many more upgrades by Garaventa in 2017.Tower 1 with completely new saddles.The lower terminal building.Tower one is located just uphill of the drive station.Very tall lattice tower.Drive bullwheel.Tower 2 upgraded with new saddles.Upgrade stats.The top terminal building/castle.View down line from the summit.Tram dock.The upper terminal building.View down at tower 2.Tower saddles.Another look at the upper station.The span between towers 1 and 2.
I think the reason it looks so monstrous is simply because of how short the trees are at the summit. (It’s like the forced perspective Disneyland uses to make the Matterhorn Bobsleds look taller than they really are)
and especially considering it is the flagship lift of the mountain! The Tram at Cannon has a capacity of 700/hr, which is still low, but at least most people don’t lap that because it is so far out of the way
When this lift is eventually replaced in the future, they may need to consider a funitel because of the wind. Hopefully the new owners have deep pockets!
By its nature (2 cars) a tram is low capacity. But with 2/3 cables it has better wind resistance than monocable systems. Yes, funitels and 3S systems are very expensive, while giving much higher capacity. I saw one manufacturer promoting the old over/under system. I think this was first Lion’s Head gondola at Vail. The carry rope is above with the haul rope below with cabins suspended below those. These are less complicated but give wind resistant with carry capacity of regular gondolas.
I know they mentioned it on a podcast. The new owner (might be a potential buyer, I’m not updated on the whole Ariel Quiros sh*tshow) said that a tram as the only lift accessing the summit isn’t his ideal resort, but he said it’s the cards he’s been dealt. He did bring up the idea of a redundancy lift to the summit, but cited the lack of space at the summit as a complication.
And there’s no need to. The summit… Is kind of a gimmick. The HSQ is on a more lapable slope, and so is Jet. Even staring down a 1966 VonRoll tram, replacing Jet with a HSQ would do more for a day of skiing at Jay.
The Face Chutes are over my head. I have had fun on Valhalla. But otherwise not much is missed, or better, there’s plenty of other skiing if you don’t ride the tram. If they still plan to replace Bonaventure with a HSS, that would be a good next lift update/replacement.
I don’t think a replacement with a 3S is financially practical, but this thing’s capacity is still hilariously insufficient. Jay needs another lift up to the summit. Why they removed the double that did exactly that is a mystery.
Double probably removed shortly after the Tram was completed because of Rime Ice formation at the Summit. Riding a Double at the summit at Jay Peak would have been a very cold experience.
The Poma Line trail doesn’t go near the summit but was there ever a Poma lift? Peter’s stats say Skyline opened in 1965. The closing date isn’t given. The tram opened in 1966. The rime frost on Skyline is ominous. NewEnglandSkiHistory has photos of Skyline during tram construction. It says, it was probably removed after the ‘69/70 season. The length was 1200’. The Jay Peak map (sketch) in my 1969 ski atlas seems to show the lift. Two double chairs are listed at 6000’ and 1200’. It must have been tuff to keep running. A surface lift would have to cross the Norway trail. There isn’t much non-expert skiing off the summit. Rather than trying to get another lift to the summit, replace Bonaventure with a HSS. Bring that up the power line and higher up (as planned). Put a bubble on that and the Flyer. Keep the tram as is to give them maximum vertical. That would give better real skiing.
There was a poma lift there but only for a few years, it was the original lift relocated after the Jet T-Bar was installed on Little Jay. Not sure I can properly document but that poma, Jay Peak’s very first lift is still alive and hopefully kicking in the 2021-2022 season. It was according to all accounts relocated to Ski Hickory in upstate NY and continues to provide “air time” on demand.
The poma lift that the Poma Line trail is named for was not where the Skyline double was located. Rather, it was to the west/skiers left of the upper section of Ullr’s Dream, terminating at Northway.
If Skyline was ever meaningfully used after ‘66-67 install of Tran, it was very limited. It was intended as a way to get summit from Bonaventure, and was mainly for “spring” skiing and for Walter Foeger’s hope that the summit to Northway route might someday be a decent Downhill run, but Northway was not steep enough, even though it had great optics as a potential Downhill run. Walter was gone ‘68 in any event.
Wow this brings back memories. Used to spend a week here every summer in the early 2000s. Seeing these photos brought back memories I’d forgotten. Wow. Thanks for keeping an archive.
Lift Blog 
That’s all the photos you were able to get?
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The tram only has 2 towers. Shorter lift: Less photos
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Most of the lifts were closed the day I visited including the tram. I will return to get the rest when I can.
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Glad you were able to go back and get more photos besides the first two. Never realized how monstrous that top terminal is.
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I think the reason it looks so monstrous is simply because of how short the trees are at the summit. (It’s like the forced perspective Disneyland uses to make the Matterhorn Bobsleds look taller than they really are)
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How does that work?
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The capacity on this lift is laughable, especially considering that a single chair has a higher capacity than it.
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and especially considering it is the flagship lift of the mountain! The Tram at Cannon has a capacity of 700/hr, which is still low, but at least most people don’t lap that because it is so far out of the way
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Should this be listed as ‘tram 45’ based on the “upgrade stats” picture?
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When this lift is eventually replaced in the future, they may need to consider a funitel because of the wind. Hopefully the new owners have deep pockets!
LikeLike
By its nature (2 cars) a tram is low capacity. But with 2/3 cables it has better wind resistance than monocable systems. Yes, funitels and 3S systems are very expensive, while giving much higher capacity. I saw one manufacturer promoting the old over/under system. I think this was first Lion’s Head gondola at Vail. The carry rope is above with the haul rope below with cabins suspended below those. These are less complicated but give wind resistant with carry capacity of regular gondolas.
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They might eventually have to put the skyline chair back in, but I do not see the Tram ever getting replaced
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I know they mentioned it on a podcast. The new owner (might be a potential buyer, I’m not updated on the whole Ariel Quiros sh*tshow) said that a tram as the only lift accessing the summit isn’t his ideal resort, but he said it’s the cards he’s been dealt. He did bring up the idea of a redundancy lift to the summit, but cited the lack of space at the summit as a complication.
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And there’s no need to. The summit… Is kind of a gimmick. The HSQ is on a more lapable slope, and so is Jet. Even staring down a 1966 VonRoll tram, replacing Jet with a HSQ would do more for a day of skiing at Jay.
LikeLike
The Face Chutes are over my head. I have had fun on Valhalla. But otherwise not much is missed, or better, there’s plenty of other skiing if you don’t ride the tram. If they still plan to replace Bonaventure with a HSS, that would be a good next lift update/replacement.
LikeLike
I don’t think a replacement with a 3S is financially practical, but this thing’s capacity is still hilariously insufficient. Jay needs another lift up to the summit. Why they removed the double that did exactly that is a mystery.
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Double probably removed shortly after the Tram was completed because of Rime Ice formation at the Summit. Riding a Double at the summit at Jay Peak would have been a very cold experience.
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Just to give an idea of what it was like (Actual pics of Skyline in the winter)
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The Poma Line trail doesn’t go near the summit but was there ever a Poma lift? Peter’s stats say Skyline opened in 1965. The closing date isn’t given. The tram opened in 1966. The rime frost on Skyline is ominous. NewEnglandSkiHistory has photos of Skyline during tram construction. It says, it was probably removed after the ‘69/70 season. The length was 1200’. The Jay Peak map (sketch) in my 1969 ski atlas seems to show the lift. Two double chairs are listed at 6000’ and 1200’. It must have been tuff to keep running. A surface lift would have to cross the Norway trail. There isn’t much non-expert skiing off the summit. Rather than trying to get another lift to the summit, replace Bonaventure with a HSS. Bring that up the power line and higher up (as planned). Put a bubble on that and the Flyer. Keep the tram as is to give them maximum vertical. That would give better real skiing.
LikeLike
There was a poma lift there but only for a few years, it was the original lift relocated after the Jet T-Bar was installed on Little Jay. Not sure I can properly document but that poma, Jay Peak’s very first lift is still alive and hopefully kicking in the 2021-2022 season. It was according to all accounts relocated to Ski Hickory in upstate NY and continues to provide “air time” on demand.
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Poma lift https://www.newenglandskihistory.com/lifts/viewlift.php?id=50
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The poma lift that the Poma Line trail is named for was not where the Skyline double was located. Rather, it was to the west/skiers left of the upper section of Ullr’s Dream, terminating at Northway.
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If Skyline was ever meaningfully used after ‘66-67 install of Tran, it was very limited. It was intended as a way to get summit from Bonaventure, and was mainly for “spring” skiing and for Walter Foeger’s hope that the summit to Northway route might someday be a decent Downhill run, but Northway was not steep enough, even though it had great optics as a potential Downhill run. Walter was gone ‘68 in any event.
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Wow this brings back memories. Used to spend a week here every summer in the early 2000s. Seeing these photos brought back memories I’d forgotten. Wow. Thanks for keeping an archive.
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