Blue – Ober Mountain, TN

This lift parallels the longer scenic double chair.
Riblet drive terminal with tensioning by counterweight.
Loading area and motor room.
The line towers and chairs are SLI.
Bottom station uphill end.
This lift services the alpine slide but only for the sleds. Riders go up the yellow lift.
The top of tower 2.
Lift crossing over the slide.
Upper part of the line.
Tower 4.
Nearing the summit.
Sleds come off a few towers before the summit.
Top station by Riblet.
View down the line.
The last two towers.
Loading area.
Side view of the top bullwheel.
Skiers unload above where alpine slide sleds come off.

15 thoughts on “Blue – Ober Mountain, TN

  1. John Tate's avatar John Tate October 20, 2020 / 6:30 pm

    The towers and chairs look like riblet parts to me

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    • skier72's avatar skier72 October 20, 2020 / 9:17 pm

      No, chairs are definitely SLI. Riblet bail style chairs were more square looking, SLI chairs are very round. The towers “might” be Riblet, but they look more SLI than Riblet. Line gear (sheaves) are definitely SLI. This lift was built during the time where SLI and Riblet were merging, so there were differing lift parts all around. (Take 1A at Aspen Mtn).

      Liked by 1 person

      • Utah Lost Ski Area Project's avatar Utah Powder Skier October 21, 2020 / 8:19 am

        The grips are also Riblet.

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  2. Tyler Baroody's avatar Tyler Baroody November 23, 2020 / 3:07 pm

    Riblet and SLI merged? When?

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    • Utah Lost Ski Area Project's avatar Utah Powder Skier November 23, 2020 / 4:45 pm

      I’m pretty sure Riblet bought SLI in 1974. After buying SLI, Riblet made some lifts with SLI towers, chairs, and sheaves with Riblet grips and terminals.

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      • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech November 24, 2020 / 12:05 pm

        That’s a new one. Riblet definitely retrofitted SLIs with their clips, as the original Schneider grips were prone to cracking, but I’ve never heard anything about Riblet buying the entire company.

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      • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech January 25, 2021 / 11:33 am

        I recently read more on this. Riblet bought SLI’s leftover inventory after the company shut down. They then built some hybrids until they ran out of parts.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. bskier23's avatar bskier23 July 5, 2023 / 12:33 pm

    Maybe mistaken but I thought years back blue carried riders and sleds, looks like it is setup for foot passengers if needed.

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    • John Tate's avatar John Tate June 1, 2024 / 7:05 pm

      If I remember correctly, they used to sell multi ride tickets for the alpine slide, and they used the blue lift to get back up.

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  4. SkiLucas's avatar SkiLucas May 5, 2024 / 3:30 pm

    What I think they should do is replace both Blue and Scenic with a detachable quad with a mid-station where this unloads and make trails off the top.

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    • bskier23's avatar bskier23 August 6, 2024 / 9:52 am

      Looks like that’s exactly what they are doing. Blue is gone, and they are building the full length new Scenic Lift using the blue lift line. This should mean very little to no downtime to switch over to the new lift before removing the current scenic lift.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. skibum's avatar skibum December 2, 2024 / 5:57 pm

    The 24-25 trail map is showing Blue lift having been removed and the new Sky Village fixed grip quad on the same alignment as the old Scenic Lift, however, it’s not showing a mid-station on Sky Village nor is it showing ski access from the top making Alpine Way inaccessible to skiers. Very strange.

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