Big Creek Express #7 – Whitefish, MT

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Top drive terminal with parking rail.
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Top terminal and unloading area.
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Tower 24 from above.
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View down the line.
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Tower 21 with depression sheaves.
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View up the line.
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Tower 14.
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Another view up the line.
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Lower return station.
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Garaventa CTEC tower head.
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Riding up.
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Arriving at the drive station.
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Bottom station departure side.
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Loading area.
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Top station and tower 26.

8 thoughts on “Big Creek Express #7 – Whitefish, MT

  1. Dan Garland's avatar Dan Garland January 21, 2023 / 2:26 am

    Uncomfortable, bumpy ride due to a number of depression sheaves and the bulky type of detachable chair grips in use. Possibly hardened sheave rubber as well.

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    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech January 21, 2023 / 6:45 pm

      Odd, I’ve never thought of the AKs as especially bulky. The liners could be harder than others; different manufacturers spec different rubber compounds. I remember re-lining Riblet sheaves by hand because the rubber was so soft. I also remember replacing many more sheaves than other manufacturers because the soft liners wore out faster.

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      • Joe Blake's avatar Joe Blake January 21, 2023 / 7:54 pm

        RATTLE GUN YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH. Sorry. Got excited. Re-lined a bunch of sheaves for Bob one June. Way back when. Long enough back when that you were still in Whatcom County.

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      • SilverSubaru's avatar julestheshiba February 16, 2023 / 7:19 pm

        I noticed those old Yan aluminum sheaves are really smooth, I was riding on Mayflower at Deer Valley

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        • ryand1407's avatar ryand1407 August 20, 2024 / 11:37 pm

          i always notice chairs 23 and 25 at Mammoth are unusually smooth for their age. But 21, 12, 13, 14 (slightly older to much older yans) are all much more bumpy like most older fixed grips that aren’t well maintained riblets.

          If yan would have stuck to fixed grip and been the original Skytrac or Partek they could have really lasted, their designs were great. Execution and manufacturing quality… Not so much in the end.

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    • Dopp's avatar Dopp April 4, 2023 / 8:45 am

      I mean it’s not as smooth as a new Doppelmayr lift, but I find the Stealth II and III’s to be quite comfortable relative to new LPA lifts they’re putting out on the market like the snow ghost express, that somehow manage to look older than the Stealth lifts put in over 20 years ago. I showed a picture of both the LPA terminal and the Stealth terminals to my friends and asked what one looked newer, and 5 out of 6 of them said the Stealth looked more modern

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      • SilverSubaru's avatar julestheshiba April 4, 2023 / 3:09 pm

        I still think the Stealth series lifts were some of the best in terms of their looks and maintenance space. Compared to the older Dopp spacejets you can clearly see that there is an outer maintenance walkway. I only with the late 90s early 2000s swoopy designs would come back someday.

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  2. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif February 9, 2023 / 9:38 am

    This is one lift that could accurately be described as a roller coaster lift due to the profile of the upper leg.

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