View up the line from the base.Both terminals are completely unique in North America.Poma “pancake” style return.Lift line overview.Riding up the line.The breakover, towers 26-27.Overhead Alpha-style drive.This was one of the first overhead detachable drives built in North America.Top station from below.View down the lift line.Looking up towards the top.This lift has very consistent pitch along its entire length.Lower lift line.Bottom station from above.Contours are driven by shafts rather than PTO belts.Drive bullwheel and turnaround.
The terminal design looks like a prototype from when Poma was developing a replacement for the Alpha-Falcon. This is the first Poma detachable to have an overhead drive in North America. Everything else from 1987 and earlier has either a vault-drive or a separate Alpha drive. Eventually they settled on the 1988 style terminal with the full glass siding.
The detach mechanism from this era was called Performance, not Falcon. My prints from the old Flyer, if they referred to a model name at all besides ‘telesiege debrayable’, called it the Performant in French.
I think it was sold as “Falcon” in North America, same with the chairs which the official name was Arceaux in Europe. That’s what the Skilifts.org lift identification page calls them both.
Not sold as Falcon. I’m not sure where this came from, but someone back in the early days of skilifts.org referred to it that way (probably thinking of F-chair at Breck) and it erroneously stuck.
Max Hart, true, it’s not the same. I know POMA used many “Alpha Evolution” terminals in their European market. Big Burn is a truly unique lift, as it utilizes an Alpha Evolution return terminal (same design used in Europe), but has an overhead Alpha drive. POMA used overhead Alpha drives on some of there later model lifts, but none with the Alpha Evolution return terminals.
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The terminal design looks like a prototype from when Poma was developing a replacement for the Alpha-Falcon. This is the first Poma detachable to have an overhead drive in North America. Everything else from 1987 and earlier has either a vault-drive or a separate Alpha drive. Eventually they settled on the 1988 style terminal with the full glass siding.
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The one that only had three built?
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Yes. White Peaks at Waterville, Angel and Sunshine Village, and Rainier at Crystal Mtn. Replaced with the Competition terminal the next year.
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I believe it was called the Challenge terminal.
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Edit: My other reply was referring to the 1988 terminal, not the Competition.
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The 1988 terminal did not have a name. The Challengers first appeared in 1990 and were last built in 1998.
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Do you guys think that “Integrated Falcon” would be a good name to call this terminal?
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Reasonable.
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The detach mechanism from this era was called Performance, not Falcon. My prints from the old Flyer, if they referred to a model name at all besides ‘telesiege debrayable’, called it the Performant in French.
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I think it was sold as “Falcon” in North America, same with the chairs which the official name was Arceaux in Europe. That’s what the Skilifts.org lift identification page calls them both.
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Not sold as Falcon. I’m not sure where this came from, but someone back in the early days of skilifts.org referred to it that way (probably thinking of F-chair at Breck) and it erroneously stuck.
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Does anyone know when Snowmass plans to upgrade/replace Big Burn and Coney Glade? Both of those lifts are getting very old.
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Probably not for a while.
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Is it just me or does there seem to be less tension on this lift?
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“Both terminals are completely unique in North America.”
No, I believe this terminal was used on a few European detachables, this one for example:
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-de-beauregard-poma-4158.html
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That’s just an Alpha Evolution, which is not the same as Big Burn.
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Max Hart, true, it’s not the same. I know POMA used many “Alpha Evolution” terminals in their European market. Big Burn is a truly unique lift, as it utilizes an Alpha Evolution return terminal (same design used in Europe), but has an overhead Alpha drive. POMA used overhead Alpha drives on some of there later model lifts, but none with the Alpha Evolution return terminals.
Here’s a few examples:
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That’s just the same model as Cony Glade, not Big Burn
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R.I.P Burn lift.
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