Elk – Fernie, BC

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The top terminal has an underground vault drive.
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Motor room below.
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Looking down the line.
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Upper lift line.
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Lower lift line.
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Bottom tension terminal and tower 1.
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Tension carriage.
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Lift overview.
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View back down the line.
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Tower 8.
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Tower 16.
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Doppelmayr tower head.
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Unload area and lift shack.

18 thoughts on “Elk – Fernie, BC

  1. skier72's avatar skier72 October 29, 2019 / 12:34 pm

    I would love to see this lift get upgraded to a high speed quad sometime. It is one of Fernie’s main lifts, and on busy days can get long lineups.

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    • Yair's avatar Yair December 30, 2022 / 10:40 pm

      I cannot agree more. This lift is THE reason I try to stay away from Fernie and always leave with a sour taste in my mouth. The terrain and snow at Fernie is super, now if only there where decent lifts.

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  2. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif February 24, 2021 / 11:17 am

    This is definitely a lift I would be considering for upgrading to a high speed quad, given it’s the central lift on the Lower Mountain area, which is very lacking in detachable lifts, and Deer is also the lift to use for access to the Lizard Bowl immediately above it, which does have detachable lift service from Great Bear.

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    • skier72's avatar skier72 February 24, 2021 / 12:54 pm

      Definitely. I almost think this should be a detach six, and Deer should be a detach four. On the day I visited, I waited 20 minutes in queuing lines for this lift. The staff did a good job queuing people, the problem tho is the slow lift. Beginners often have fails loading or unloading, which causes the lift to stop, causing the lineup to stop.

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      • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. September 23, 2024 / 7:31 pm

        RCR will never have the money to do two detaches at Fernie.

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  3. Steven's avatar Steven January 18, 2022 / 4:15 pm

    In the summer time when the snow is gone this lift is used to access hiking & biking trails to draw in tourists.

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  4. WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 17, 2024 / 9:14 pm

    Fun Fact: this lift is capable of running on diesel fuel as normal operation, so it can run on electric or diesel under normal operation, not only for evacuations.

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    • Liam's avatar Liam November 17, 2024 / 11:00 pm

      Cool! Most new lifts use diesel generators or electricity from power lines, not from diesel drives. Both Haul Back and Polar Peak uses diesel drives. Not sure which one this lift is.

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      • kiroro236's avatar kiroro236 November 18, 2024 / 11:49 am

        Polar Peak is Electric supplied to a diesel generator

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 18, 2024 / 5:03 pm

          You are right, Kiroro, Polar is electric supplied by diesel.

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        • Liam's avatar Liam November 18, 2024 / 11:02 pm

          The new Gold Chair is electric, so I should have known. The Haul Back and Easter both have diesel drives.

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 19, 2024 / 5:07 pm

          Easter as in Kimberley?

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      • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 18, 2024 / 5:02 pm

        It has an electric drive AND a diesel drive.

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    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech November 20, 2024 / 8:25 am

      Your statement is a bit confusing. Do you mean that the lift has an electric drive, powered by a generator, or that its diesel backup is capable of full normal operation, or that it has a primary diesel drive?

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      • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 20, 2024 / 4:53 pm

        There is no diesel backup, there are two motors, a diesel one and an electric one with the gearbox and drive shaft in between the two, both motors can be hooked up to the gearbox (independently) via a chain, each motor can power the whole lift by itself under regular operation. Hope that clears it up :)

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        • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech November 21, 2024 / 7:50 am

          Ah. It’s a pretty common setup then. The diesel *is* the backup but is capable of full operation if necessary. Many lifts are that way.

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 21, 2024 / 4:47 pm

          I believe it was originally on diesel, but an electric motor was added soon after construction.

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