Lift Engineering drive-tension station.Counterweight at the bottom station.Top terminal inside a snowshed.Unloading ramp and return bullwheel.Towers 13 and 14.View down the lift line.Upper section of the line.Lower half of the line.Height adjustable bottom terminal and tower 1.Lift overview.
We have blueprints of that comfort bar, despite no longer having anything they’ll fit on. I would hazard a really strong guess that Alpine has those same blueprints, and got a local fab shop to build them.
We just bought 400 of these for our three Yan doubles- two with the square-tube (DB-76) carriers and one with these (DB-78). They came from Pearson Parts, which holds many of Lift Engineering’s former patents. The rubber ‘football’ bumpers even have the L/E logo on them. So my original guess wan’t far off- Pearson is located in Carson City where Yan was, and isn’t far from Tahoe.
Hopefully they move the hotwheels triple to this, but with a slightly different alignment to the peak, removing the need for the hike and providing easier access to the bowls on the backside.
In addition to moving the top terminal, it would be nice if they moved the bottom terminal downhill as well to allow intermediates to access the lift from Treeline Cirque.
Yes, the traverse from High Yellow is kind of awkward also. I think they put the base there because of avalanche paths further down coming off of High Yellow. The top on the ridge could have a terminal like chair 23 at Mammoth, but the road cut going across from Summit could be problematic, as skiers would plop down into it and it is needed for the Summit Lift skiers coming across.
I think this lift should be taken out. It rarely operates, and it isn’t needed since everything accessible from it is accessible from summit, which is a high speed chair. This chair has zero justification to still be here in my opinion. Plus, with the connecting gondola, tree line cirque and red dog lift replacement, this is where they could move that capacity. And why would u move it to top of high traverse when the purpose of tree line cirque was to create easier access to Sherwood?
Even though it’s an old, slow, fixed grip, when there’s a big line on Summit, it provides access to East and West Palisades, Keyhole, High Yellow, and several backside runs without having to wait for Summit. That is, IF IT’S ACTUALLY RUNNING.
us alpine faithful are praying for AB chair to reopen. all we are getting from the resort is “there is a part that is very difficult to source.” its been closed all winter….HELP US
Given the age of the lift, and the fact that manufacturing does lag behind these days, I’d cut AB some slack. I ordered some motor belts in September and got them two weeks ago.
Got stuck on this relic for 90 min this past Saturday. They couldn’t get the aux power connected. Safety patrol skied over and were ready to evacuate but they eventually got it going at a snails pace to unload everyone. Free vouchers which was a nice gesture. Last time I’ll be taking this chair!
Lift Blog 
Who made those new safety bars? They look exactly like Yan’s Design, you wouldn’t even know they were new!
LikeLike
Alpine has appeared to have installed these same safety bars on all of their fixed grip lifts.
LikeLike
Yes, same with squaw. I’m just wondering where they got these from and who manufactures them, they look just like Yan’s design
LikeLike
We have blueprints of that comfort bar, despite no longer having anything they’ll fit on. I would hazard a really strong guess that Alpine has those same blueprints, and got a local fab shop to build them.
LikeLike
We just bought 400 of these for our three Yan doubles- two with the square-tube (DB-76) carriers and one with these (DB-78). They came from Pearson Parts, which holds many of Lift Engineering’s former patents. The rubber ‘football’ bumpers even have the L/E logo on them. So my original guess wan’t far off- Pearson is located in Carson City where Yan was, and isn’t far from Tahoe.
LikeLike
Hopefully they move the hotwheels triple to this, but with a slightly different alignment to the peak, removing the need for the hike and providing easier access to the bowls on the backside.
LikeLike
In addition to moving the top terminal, it would be nice if they moved the bottom terminal downhill as well to allow intermediates to access the lift from Treeline Cirque.
LikeLike
Yes, the traverse from High Yellow is kind of awkward also. I think they put the base there because of avalanche paths further down coming off of High Yellow. The top on the ridge could have a terminal like chair 23 at Mammoth, but the road cut going across from Summit could be problematic, as skiers would plop down into it and it is needed for the Summit Lift skiers coming across.
LikeLike
I feel like the old red dog would be better suited because I am not entirely sure they could properly route power up there for a top drive lift.
LikeLike
It is possible to convert a top drive lift to bottom drive and vice-versa. (See: Crystal Ridge Express, Polar Peak, etc.)
LikeLike
the thing is that that tensioning terminal is quite large and would probably not fit on the peak of the mountain.
LikeLike
I think this lift should be taken out. It rarely operates, and it isn’t needed since everything accessible from it is accessible from summit, which is a high speed chair. This chair has zero justification to still be here in my opinion. Plus, with the connecting gondola, tree line cirque and red dog lift replacement, this is where they could move that capacity. And why would u move it to top of high traverse when the purpose of tree line cirque was to create easier access to Sherwood?
LikeLike
In high winds this lift is able to operate when Summit and other upper lifts are all closed. That’s its main value as far as I can tell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It should operate more, but is useful. It allows shorter laps without taking the (long and flat) runout to the base.
High Traverse is the only access to a bunch of the back bowls. Sherwood/Treeline Cirque don’t access a lot of them.
LikeLike
Even though it’s an old, slow, fixed grip, when there’s a big line on Summit, it provides access to East and West Palisades, Keyhole, High Yellow, and several backside runs without having to wait for Summit. That is, IF IT’S ACTUALLY RUNNING.
LikeLike
us alpine faithful are praying for AB chair to reopen. all we are getting from the resort is “there is a part that is very difficult to source.” its been closed all winter….HELP US
LikeLike
Given the age of the lift, and the fact that manufacturing does lag behind these days, I’d cut AB some slack. I ordered some motor belts in September and got them two weeks ago.
LikeLike
Got stuck on this relic for 90 min this past Saturday. They couldn’t get the aux power connected. Safety patrol skied over and were ready to evacuate but they eventually got it going at a snails pace to unload everyone. Free vouchers which was a nice gesture. Last time I’ll be taking this chair!
LikeLike
90 min? Seems a bit too long to wait before starting an evac. That had to hurt the back and legs to be sitting that long like that.
LikeLike