This is one of those rare cases where a fixed grip lift replaced a detachable.The new lift services a shortened alignment.Tower 12 and the top terminal.View down the line with the namesake lake in the background.The old lift started further down.Galvanized tower with combination assemblies.View up the lift line.Tower 1.Alpen-Star drive station with loading carpet and gates.Departing the bottom station.View up the line.The top of tower 6.Nearing the summit.Fixed top bullwheel.Another look at the lift line.Lower part of the line.Upper lift line.Another view of the drive terminal.Lift line.Lift overview.View down at tower 11.Arriving at the return.
Really seems like a bummer that a detachable quad got replaced by a fixed grip chairlift. But I suppose, with the original lift being the first of its kind in aerial ropeway history, it also was probably very unreliable and costly to operate, especially considering its age. It’s like Mission Ridge in Washington replacing their Liberator Express with another detachable quad because the first one was originally built in 1985, and even with electronic upgrades it was too unreliable.
But I guess Owl’s Head must run a pretty tight budget operation if they had to opt for a fixed grip to replace a detachable chairlift?
This new lift really isn’t a downgrade at all. It can run almost as fast as the old lift did, because of it’s loading conveyor, the chairs are comfortable, and the ride is less than 7 minutes overall.
To add to that, being an early detachable, Du Lac could only run to about 700 fpm, the new quad isn’t much slower (loading conveyor), and the shortened alignment makes the ride time almost the same.
Besides the old lift, Beech Mountain’s HSQ, and the Shortened White Peeks express at Waterville Valley, I know of 2 other Resorts with Fixed Grip Replacements for detachables
these are Yabuhara Kogen, Replaced Leitner Bubble with Double, and Palcall, Replaced Yan Quad with Double, Both are in Japan
1. de Pincerie at Les Sept-Laux in France, Replaced Super Early Ancient Poma Triple with Delta Drive with Doppelmayr Quad
2. Edelweiss Ski Resort Japan, Replaced Taihei High Speed Quad with Nippon Cable FG Quad reusing terminal enclosures
3. Sky Valley Japan, Replaced Girak Quad with Nippon Cable FG Triple reusing Terminal enclosures and Towers
Interesting- I knew about Nippon Cable/Doppelmayr but not the others you mention. Seems it’s the thing in Japan to partner a domestic manufacturer with a foreign designer?
these are the only pictures I can find anywhere of one of these Mitsubishi Yan lifts. Kinda fits Mitsubishi partnering with Renault to make their modern cars and promptly both of them loose money because they cant design good products.
“Seems it’s the thing in Japan to partner a domestic manufacturer with a foreign designer?” A lot of places do this but Japanese companies, which are usually known for producing durable and reliable products seem to for some reason always choose the worst partners. Honda partnering with the manufacture renowned for reliability, Range Rover, to make their new SUV. Mitsubishi partnering with a lift manufacture known for reliable and durable lifts with no issues… right?
Just finished a 2.5-hour rabbit hole researching the grips that the old HSQ had.
There are some pictures of that lift’s grips on its Remontees-mecaniques page. I believe it worked by having the movable jaw attached to a roller on the underside of the grip, which was pushed upwards by a rail to open the grip.
A few comments on the page for the Summit Express at Mt. Bachelor (which replaced an early Doppelmayr detachable triple with the same grips) mention that they are most likely a design from a company called Schweiger. Doppelmayr developed their own detachable grip design, the DS (Doppelmayr System), which first appeared on chairlifts in Europe in 1984 and in North America in 1985.
As a side note, it looks like from 1981 to 1984 there were two grip models used on Doppelmayr detachable gondolas: either the Von Roll VR102 or a double-grip early prototype version of the DS grip. By 1985, all Doppelmayr installations worldwide were using some variant of the production version of the DS.
Here are all the other chairlifts I could find with Schweiger grips. They are all high speed triples except for the Blue Bullet which is a quad:
I wonder if the other grip you were seeing in the pictures was a tandem VH400. They were used in the single and tandem configuration. If you haven’t already stumbled across them, look up the VH400 light. Aside from Poma, it’s really the only other detach retrofit I’ve heard of.
RM.net just published a report showcasing the former Europa chair at Åre, Sweeden – another example of a very early Doppelmayr detachable (installed in 1983, relocated to Finland in 2006). It now operates at Ylläs, Finland as the Aurinko Express. The lift, especially the grips, looks relatively the same as it did in Sweeden.
Lift Blog 
Doesn’t look much shorter when one consults the trail map.
High speed quad:
Fixed grip quad:
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The starting location for Lake seems to be about between towers 4 and 5 of the predecessor:
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Really seems like a bummer that a detachable quad got replaced by a fixed grip chairlift. But I suppose, with the original lift being the first of its kind in aerial ropeway history, it also was probably very unreliable and costly to operate, especially considering its age. It’s like Mission Ridge in Washington replacing their Liberator Express with another detachable quad because the first one was originally built in 1985, and even with electronic upgrades it was too unreliable.
But I guess Owl’s Head must run a pretty tight budget operation if they had to opt for a fixed grip to replace a detachable chairlift?
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This new lift really isn’t a downgrade at all. It can run almost as fast as the old lift did, because of it’s loading conveyor, the chairs are comfortable, and the ride is less than 7 minutes overall.
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To add to that, being an early detachable, Du Lac could only run to about 700 fpm, the new quad isn’t much slower (loading conveyor), and the shortened alignment makes the ride time almost the same.
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Besides the old lift, Beech Mountain’s HSQ, and the Shortened White Peeks express at Waterville Valley, I know of 2 other Resorts with Fixed Grip Replacements for detachables
these are Yabuhara Kogen, Replaced Leitner Bubble with Double, and Palcall, Replaced Yan Quad with Double, Both are in Japan
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Found 3 More Examples of FG replacing HSQ
1. de Pincerie at Les Sept-Laux in France, Replaced Super Early Ancient Poma Triple with Delta Drive with Doppelmayr Quad
2. Edelweiss Ski Resort Japan, Replaced Taihei High Speed Quad with Nippon Cable FG Quad reusing terminal enclosures
3. Sky Valley Japan, Replaced Girak Quad with Nippon Cable FG Triple reusing Terminal enclosures and Towers
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If You don’t know about Leitner, Mitsubishi/Yan And Girak Quads in Japan
Leitner/Kashiyama made 10 Quads between 1992 and 2000
Mitsubishi Made 16 Quads, 6 as Yan Type and 10 as Garaventa Type
Girak/Kawazaki Made 7 Quads
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Interesting- I knew about Nippon Cable/Doppelmayr but not the others you mention. Seems it’s the thing in Japan to partner a domestic manufacturer with a foreign designer?
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Fun Fact: 6 of the Kashiyama Quads have safety bars that look like the BM Lifts/Canadian Leitner safety bars
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https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsf2-n-4-mitsubishi-yan-lift-engineering-354.html
these are the only pictures I can find anywhere of one of these Mitsubishi Yan lifts. Kinda fits Mitsubishi partnering with Renault to make their modern cars and promptly both of them loose money because they cant design good products.
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“Seems it’s the thing in Japan to partner a domestic manufacturer with a foreign designer?” A lot of places do this but Japanese companies, which are usually known for producing durable and reliable products seem to for some reason always choose the worst partners. Honda partnering with the manufacture renowned for reliability, Range Rover, to make their new SUV. Mitsubishi partnering with a lift manufacture known for reliable and durable lifts with no issues… right?
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Does anyone have more pics of the old Du Lac high speed quad ?
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Here you go! https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-du-lac-doppelmayr-4243.html
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Thank You ;) great pics from R.M. net.
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how did the pre DS grips work? Did the horizontal support get pushed in and pulled out like a VonRoll detachable chairlift?
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Just finished a 2.5-hour rabbit hole researching the grips that the old HSQ had.
There are some pictures of that lift’s grips on its Remontees-mecaniques page. I believe it worked by having the movable jaw attached to a roller on the underside of the grip, which was pushed upwards by a rail to open the grip.
A few comments on the page for the Summit Express at Mt. Bachelor (which replaced an early Doppelmayr detachable triple with the same grips) mention that they are most likely a design from a company called Schweiger. Doppelmayr developed their own detachable grip design, the DS (Doppelmayr System), which first appeared on chairlifts in Europe in 1984 and in North America in 1985.
As a side note, it looks like from 1981 to 1984 there were two grip models used on Doppelmayr detachable gondolas: either the Von Roll VR102 or a double-grip early prototype version of the DS grip. By 1985, all Doppelmayr installations worldwide were using some variant of the production version of the DS.
Here are all the other chairlifts I could find with Schweiger grips. They are all high speed triples except for the Blue Bullet which is a quad:
de l’Index (Brévent-Flégère, France; 1977-2005, built by Transtélé with licensed Doppelmayr designs): https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd6-de-l-index-poma-4857.html
Schindlergrat (St. Anton, Austria; 1981-2019): https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd3-schindlergrat-doppelmayr-1264.html
Kumme (Zermatt, Switzerland; 1982-2018, installed by Garaventa but with Doppelmayr stations and Schweiger grips): https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd3-kumme-garaventa-3279.html#
Silver Streak Express (Mt. Bachelor, Oregon; 1983-1997) (a few pictures in the comments for the Summit Express which replaced it)
Blue Bullet (Mt. Buller, Australia; 1984-2019): https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-blue-bullet-doppelmayr-303.html
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I wonder if the other grip you were seeing in the pictures was a tandem VH400. They were used in the single and tandem configuration. If you haven’t already stumbled across them, look up the VH400 light. Aside from Poma, it’s really the only other detach retrofit I’ve heard of.
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RM.net just published a report showcasing the former Europa chair at Åre, Sweeden – another example of a very early Doppelmayr detachable (installed in 1983, relocated to Finland in 2006). It now operates at Ylläs, Finland as the Aurinko Express. The lift, especially the grips, looks relatively the same as it did in Sweeden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMZMCzqW5Tc
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-aurinko-express-doppelmayr-9258.html
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