Caribou Express – Lutsen Mountains, MN

This Leitner-Poma six-pack effectively replaced two double chairs – Bull and Caribou.
Loading area.
Leaving the return terminal.
Riding up the lift line.
LPA grip.
Tower 13.
Unloading ramp.
LPA top terminal and Omega chairs.
View down from the summit.
Middle lift line.
Upper part of the lift.
Side view of the return station and towers 1-2.
Lower station.
Side view of the return.
Sheave assemblies and trumpet.
The drive station.

10 thoughts on “Caribou Express – Lutsen Mountains, MN

  1. Collin Parsons's avatar Collin Parsons April 5, 2019 / 12:30 am

    Pretty cool how you can see Lake Superior in the background. The resort is pretty much right on the lake.

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  2. Connor's avatar Connor March 21, 2020 / 4:43 pm

    Weird mix of LPA and Leitner Poma equipment. Some sheaves are LPA and some are LP. Chairs are oddly Omegas, not Leitners, strange considering that this was built in 2013.

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    • Bryan Webber's avatar Bryan Webber May 2, 2020 / 10:07 pm

      Dude. Yer thinkin too hard. Schred, bro. Schred.

      Liked by 1 person

      • themav's avatar themav May 2, 2020 / 11:21 pm

        If you look closely, there is a mixture of older Poma sheaves and newer LPOA sheaves. Second to last picture gives a good look at both.

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        • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech November 13, 2023 / 2:50 pm

          I wouldn’t say they’re LPA or LPOA sheaves, as opposed to Poma. The stuff supplied on the newer lifts is merely the latest version of the same Poma 450 mm sheave introduced in ’85 or ’86. When they introduce a new grip they slightly modify the sheave so it’ll work with them. We tried to put one of my ’86 sheaves on E-lift, but the outer flange was too tall for the Omega grip. The second version, however, worked fine on the Flyer. It appears it also works with the newish LPA grip, and I’d bet the latest model would also work fine on a TB-supplied lift.

          As for why there’s a mix on the pictured assembly- It’s possible Lutsen ordered spares because they didn’t have any (we had to do that with chair 5) and the second model was what GJ had in the warehouse.

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  3. schwie's avatar schwie January 26, 2025 / 4:27 pm

    Bad news for Caribou Express and skiers on board today. Shortly after noon CST, the lift stopped with skiers occupying many chairs. Ski patrols reported that the lift’s drive shaft broke. Skiers in chairs were manually evacuated, some folks were up there over 3 hours. If there’s any plus side, the weather was mostly sunny with temps in the 20’s (degrees F). Many thanks to Lutsen’s ski patrols for their valiant rescue efforts.

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    • Kensington's avatar Kensington January 26, 2025 / 8:46 pm

      My family and I were two groups away from boarding at the bottom terminal when the lift stopped. We were told that the brake at the top of the lift had seized (due to the drive shaft fracture?). It was quite busy at the time and most chairs had 4-6 skiers. We hiked uphill back to Eagle Mountain/Bridge Run via Moose Access. Lutsen eventually provided a shuttle service to get others back to Eagle Mountain. Hats off to the Lutsen Ski Patrol. It was interesting day to say the least.

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      • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech January 27, 2025 / 9:46 am

        From what I’ve been reading, the bottom operator was telling folks the ‘brake had seized’ and that they ‘couldn’t pump it up’. I’m guessing, knowing how the maintenance-to-operations game of telephone works, that because the drive shaft had sheared the operators were told they were not allowed to pump up the brake or touch the controls while the rope evac was ongoing.

        Bad day for my counterparts but glad the evac went well. Strong work to LMSP.

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        • schwie's avatar schwie February 1, 2025 / 10:57 am

          Any reports on the lift’s repair?

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        • Ryan G.'s avatar Ryan G. February 1, 2025 / 2:04 pm

          They show it back up and running.

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