This lift missed becoming the longest high speed quad by 20 feet and one year. It is 20 feet shorter and one year newer than the Slide Brook Express in Vermont.The lift line.The quad replaced two consecutive 5,000 foot Riblet triples, which themselves replaced a PHB gondola.The bottom terminal and operator house.Another view of the bottom terminal.Looking up from the base area.Tower 1.Riding up the line.View back down the line.Last section of the line.Depression tower 26.Looking back down the line.Breakover towers.Arriving at the drive.Unloading area and operator house.View up at tower 23.Much of the lift line is quite flat.Tower 20.Riding up at tower 11.View down from the summit.
It never made off the dock. It was purchased and the the original ownership filed bankruptcy. The first lifts connecting front and back basins were the end to end ’79 Riblet Triples. They were replaced by this lift in 96
Killington does not have a lift called South Face. Their Skyeship Gondola is rated for and sometimes runs 1200. Okemo’s South Face Express can operate at a top speed of 1100 feet per minute.
I’m very intrigued by how they put the tower number plates on the catwalks on the uphill side rather than on the lifting frames here for most of the towers. Interesting choice.
Although this lift isn’t the longest, it has another claim to fame: longest chairlift going from the bottom of a ski run to the top; Slide Brook is a connector lift between two mountains.
@Chairliftworld1989 That’s not actually true. Angel Fire’s 2 original Riblet triples had completely different terminals and towers than the one at Castle does. Castle’s was relocated by Mad River Lifts, who most likely used many different parts from different lifts to put Castle’s Riblet triple together.
Here’s the video showing Angel Fire’s original Riblet triples (skip to 12:20)
In the picture of tower 26, it appears that the uphill and downhill sheaves are on different levels, with the uphill sheaves being higher than the downhill ones. Is this just an optical illusion, or are they actually like that? If they are actually like that, what is the reason?
Definitely an optical illusion. If you look close enough, it is seen where they are level with the other side.
It almost looks as if extra sheave assembly holders were used on the light side. Actually, they were not used. Such an angle can make things look different in height.
Lift Blog 
Why was the gondola replaced?
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It never made off the dock. It was purchased and the the original ownership filed bankruptcy. The first lifts connecting front and back basins were the end to end ’79 Riblet Triples. They were replaced by this lift in 96
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So then where did the gondola go?
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Is this the only Poma high-speed quad that runs at 1200 fpm?
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Snowmass’s run at 1,100 fpm.
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I don’t know. That is what it was spec’d at. Like all of them we don’t spin at full gas much.
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If I owned Angel Fire I would run this 1000 FPM midweek and 1200 only when crowds pick up.
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Good idea Teddy. It seems that what the skiers want and what the resort wants are often quite different.
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Sheer Bliss at Snowmass and Shooting Star and Vista at Mount Hood Meadows are also 1200.
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South Face at Killington has run at 1,200 (it’s just a year or so newer than Chile Express).
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Killington does not have a lift called South Face. Their Skyeship Gondola is rated for and sometimes runs 1200. Okemo’s South Face Express can operate at a top speed of 1100 feet per minute.
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Shooting Star runs at about 900 fpm and Vista runs at about 700.
I’ve never seen them run any faster.
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At Big Sky, Swift current six runs at 2200
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*I meant South Face, not South Ridge. The names can blur so easily.
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I’m very intrigued by how they put the tower number plates on the catwalks on the uphill side rather than on the lifting frames here for most of the towers. Interesting choice.
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Note those people riding down in pic 12
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Although this lift isn’t the longest, it has another claim to fame: longest chairlift going from the bottom of a ski run to the top; Slide Brook is a connector lift between two mountains.
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Were the tandem Riblets relocated? If so, where are they now?
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I sold them through Ellis Engineering to Boyne
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One of them was relocated to Castle Mountain in Canada
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@Chairliftworld1989 That’s not actually true. Angel Fire’s 2 original Riblet triples had completely different terminals and towers than the one at Castle does. Castle’s was relocated by Mad River Lifts, who most likely used many different parts from different lifts to put Castle’s Riblet triple together.
Here’s the video showing Angel Fire’s original Riblet triples (skip to 12:20)
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In the picture of tower 26, it appears that the uphill and downhill sheaves are on different levels, with the uphill sheaves being higher than the downhill ones. Is this just an optical illusion, or are they actually like that? If they are actually like that, what is the reason?
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Definitely an optical illusion. If you look close enough, it is seen where they are level with the other side.
It almost looks as if extra sheave assembly holders were used on the light side. Actually, they were not used. Such an angle can make things look different in height.
Millennium, on the other hand:
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Definitely an optical illusion for sure.
Not this one though.
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Two 5,000 foot riblets? Holy moly. I don’t mind fixed grip lifts, but that sounds terrible. It would probably take a half hour to ride both lifts.
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