Towers 1 and 2.Bottom terminal building.View up towards Gold Coast.Tower 1.T2.Terminal closed up for the summer.Tower 3.Turntable at the turnaround allowing cabins to be parked in the middle of the terminal.Arrival side of the top station.Each hanger features four detachable grips.Top station turnaround.Top terminal building at Gold Coast.Tower and cabin.Downhill side of the top station.Cabins passing.Gold Coast building.Middle part of the line.Protect Our Winters livery.Cabins inside the top station.Side parking area.Toyota cabin livery.T10.Upper part of the line over Big Blue.Arrival side at the top.Breakover towers.Tower 9.A tower from above.Cabins pass tower 6.Tall tower.View down the lift line.Lower portion of the line.T3.A huge section of rock had to be blasted away to make room for such a large lift.View up the line with cabins out.POW and Toyota liveries.Cabin departing the bottom station.Acceleration equipment.
42 thoughts on “Gold Coast Funitel – Palisades Tahoe, CA”
Duncan N.March 22, 2018 / 11:40 am
Since the hangar was completely free standing in the terminals, how did they insure alignment when it entered into the acceleration setup? And if this worked, why do modern terminals suspend the cabins instead of using this tech? As a side question, how do double grips work? It seems like there would be a lot of conflict in the acceleration/deceleration portions when one grip is being driven by a tire running at a different speed from the other.
If you notice, one of the photos shows a single traction plate in the centre of the four-grip suspension platform. The tyres drive this and not the grips as a single detach grip normally is driven.
I’ve always thought that was a terrible design. On Doppelmayr Funitels, the cabins have two hangers, each with the grips on the outside and the rollers on the inside, so it’s fully suspended in the terminal. Of course, Funitels have been more or less superseded by 3S’s anyway.
I work on this machine. This is a Garaventa Funitel, which is owned by Doppelmayr, and was at the very cutting edge when it was built over 20 years ago…
Drive and control replacement. DC Drive to AC Drive, electric motor replacement, electronics etc.
All the accelerators, decelerators and carrier transport are electrically driven and controlled. Using separate Drive and control systems for each.
The accelerators and decelerators are not driven off the haulrope like on conventional detachable lifts.
In some funitels, like the Gletscherbus 3 at Hintertux, all tires run at the same speed and a motor makes all tires accelerate together. To get the grips back on the rails correctly first the traction plate moving against the tires moves the cabin left or right to the correct spot, and then the wheels on the grips go on the rails and lifts the cabin slightly, like how any detach grip goes into the station.
A small correction- when the grips meet the rope, if everything is set up correctly, there should be no lifting of the cabin (or chair). If this is the case the sheaves are out of alignment re: the principal rails. If the cabin lifts up when it attaches to the rope there will be wear on the grip. We spend a fair amount of time every off-season making sure the rope-to-rail alignment is correct. The traction plate’s sole purpose in life is to move the carrier from the arrival side of the terminal to the departure.
Does this system use only a single splice? Basically, is the haul rope one long continuous piece that snakes it’s way up and down the mountain twice? Thanks.
I think that it is a single splice with a unique bullwheel configuration that creates the parallel ropes running at the same speed. The link below is a report about the system shortly after it opened (click on “Download/View” after heading to the link) with a nice diagram of the haul rope setup on page 4, as well as plenty of other information about the system. Hope that helps.
Best I could tell it looks like the drive station has a double-grooved bullwheel. The tension return station has a couple of bullwheels, and it looks like the rope crosses over itself; outside to inside, inside to outside. What a monster lift.
They do tend to fill the cabins to the max on weekends and I feel like there have been days where there are 28 people in those cabins, but normally they fit around 20 people
I wonder if Peter can go back to get some pictures of the drive and machinery on this lift because on some days they have the door to the lower drive room open and you can see the bullwheel setup.
Remontees-Mecaniques just updated their report on this lift and they got a technical tour so if you would like to see the mechanical set up etc tri there.
YAN built a Quad Mono Cable (similar to a funitel) at June Mountain in the 80’s. It didn’t survive long due to mechanical issues and has long been removed. Each cabin had 4 type-7 grips and the whole machine looked about as prototype as they get. Peter is showing it operated for 10 years but I’ve heard it was less than half that (it may have been standing for 10).
There is some side chatter in the J1 thread under June Mountain about the old QMC and the concrete from the top terminal still exists and can be seen in background of J1’s top return picture.
Its haul rope configuration was different than the typical single strand, dual loop configuration seen on most funitels.
The top and bottom concrete stations are still there. The top houses the lift maint shop, lift crew room, and Ski Patrol room. The bottom has the ticket office and storage area. After Mammoth purchased June Mtn Yan proposed building the prototype QMC there at abt a third of the cost of a proven system. This was to do away with the the bottleneck problem of the fixed grip double chair being the only access to the June Chalet (Cafe, ski school, rental repair, lockers, etc). Depending on the snow conditions the chair was the only way up and down. Dave McCoy took a chance.
Unfortunately, yes. Theres the Peak to Peak 3s in British Columbia, buts its lower capacity, and in my opinion, having one haul rope and two support ropes, is less technically impressive compared to having two seperate haul ropes that the cabins attach too. Im probably in the minority in this opinion but I find Funitels far cooler and advanced in comparison to 3s systems, which are basically regular monocable gondolas with two fixed support ropes to increase wind resistance
when they eventually replace this lift, it would be cool if they tried to opt for one of those Leitner 2S systems, for the wind stability, and just cuz’ they look really cool. So jealous the Europe gets the Pinafara terminal design but not us over here across the pond.
the tram services the purpose that this lift would in the summer, there is not nearly enough people coming from water skiing or whatever they plan on doing from the lake to Olympic valley to warrant it.
Same as a conventional detachable chairlift. The grips appear to be a Garaventa reimagining of the Doppelmayr DS, with coil springs instead of Bellville washers and single- rather than dual-position geometry. It’s entertaining being around the terminal when a cabin approaches the acceleration bank- you hear the motor driving the tires kick in to bring the cabin up to rope speed. Once it exits the terminal the motor shuts off until the next cabin.
There are four grips on the cabin. They operate the same as the older Doppelmayr DS grips where the upper lever pulls the grip open against a spring until it’s on the rope, then lets it close until it’s clamped tight on the rope. There are definite differences between the two but the operating geometry is the same. Single-position means that the grip opens and then closes purely on spring pressure. Dual-position means that the grip locks open once it’s off the rope and only closes as it leaves the terminal. Also, rather than accelerating like a conventional single-grip chair does in a terminal, the tires here are all accelerated together by a motor until the cabin reaches rope speed and the attach point.
Do they ever run this at full capacity? All the videos I can find online have roughly 30 seconds between cabins which would only give a capacity of 3360. Do they just usually not put all the cabins on the line?
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Since the hangar was completely free standing in the terminals, how did they insure alignment when it entered into the acceleration setup? And if this worked, why do modern terminals suspend the cabins instead of using this tech? As a side question, how do double grips work? It seems like there would be a lot of conflict in the acceleration/deceleration portions when one grip is being driven by a tire running at a different speed from the other.
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I don’t know, but it’s pretty cool to have the grips be free standing like that.
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If you notice, one of the photos shows a single traction plate in the centre of the four-grip suspension platform. The tyres drive this and not the grips as a single detach grip normally is driven.
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I’ve always thought that was a terrible design. On Doppelmayr Funitels, the cabins have two hangers, each with the grips on the outside and the rollers on the inside, so it’s fully suspended in the terminal. Of course, Funitels have been more or less superseded by 3S’s anyway.
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I work on this machine. This is a Garaventa Funitel, which is owned by Doppelmayr, and was at the very cutting edge when it was built over 20 years ago…
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What are the upgrades planned for the Funitel this summer?
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Drive and control replacement. DC Drive to AC Drive, electric motor replacement, electronics etc.
All the accelerators, decelerators and carrier transport are electrically driven and controlled. Using separate Drive and control systems for each.
The accelerators and decelerators are not driven off the haulrope like on conventional detachable lifts.
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It does seem to do a lot for wind vulnerability though, which is definitely needed in this case.
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In some funitels, like the Gletscherbus 3 at Hintertux, all tires run at the same speed and a motor makes all tires accelerate together. To get the grips back on the rails correctly first the traction plate moving against the tires moves the cabin left or right to the correct spot, and then the wheels on the grips go on the rails and lifts the cabin slightly, like how any detach grip goes into the station.
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A small correction- when the grips meet the rope, if everything is set up correctly, there should be no lifting of the cabin (or chair). If this is the case the sheaves are out of alignment re: the principal rails. If the cabin lifts up when it attaches to the rope there will be wear on the grip. We spend a fair amount of time every off-season making sure the rope-to-rail alignment is correct. The traction plate’s sole purpose in life is to move the carrier from the arrival side of the terminal to the departure.
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The tires actually all accelerate in unison.
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sorry, I didn’t see tijsen’s comment
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Does this system use only a single splice? Basically, is the haul rope one long continuous piece that snakes it’s way up and down the mountain twice? Thanks.
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I think that it is a single splice with a unique bullwheel configuration that creates the parallel ropes running at the same speed. The link below is a report about the system shortly after it opened (click on “Download/View” after heading to the link) with a nice diagram of the haul rope setup on page 4, as well as plenty of other information about the system. Hope that helps.
1. https://mountainscholar.org/handle/11124/70548
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Thanks for that, very helpful!
Best I could tell it looks like the drive station has a double-grooved bullwheel. The tension return station has a couple of bullwheels, and it looks like the rope crosses over itself; outside to inside, inside to outside. What a monster lift.
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One 50 mm continues rope, 2 splices due to shipping. Approximately 36,300″ of rope.
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It’s a double splice. In the engine room, you can see three bowl wheels. The drive is double grooved. http://www.skilifts.org/old/images/resort_images/ca-squawvalley/funitel/funitel.htm look at picture #4.
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There is also a jig-back funitel in Quebec City.
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-fun-v-du-parc-de-montmorency-doppelmayr-4186.html
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Nice distant view of the Crystal Express at Diamond Peak there.
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These cabins look a lot smaller than 3S cabins which are almost always either 28 or 30 person cabins. Do these actually fit 28 people?
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They do tend to fill the cabins to the max on weekends and I feel like there have been days where there are 28 people in those cabins, but normally they fit around 20 people
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I wonder if Peter can go back to get some pictures of the drive and machinery on this lift because on some days they have the door to the lower drive room open and you can see the bullwheel setup.
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Remontees-Mecaniques just updated their report on this lift and they got a technical tour so if you would like to see the mechanical set up etc tri there.
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This has Stadeli clamps. Google it.
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Is this the only funitel in the US?
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YAN built a Quad Mono Cable (similar to a funitel) at June Mountain in the 80’s. It didn’t survive long due to mechanical issues and has long been removed. Each cabin had 4 type-7 grips and the whole machine looked about as prototype as they get. Peter is showing it operated for 10 years but I’ve heard it was less than half that (it may have been standing for 10).
There is some side chatter in the J1 thread under June Mountain about the old QMC and the concrete from the top terminal still exists and can be seen in background of J1’s top return picture.
Its haul rope configuration was different than the typical single strand, dual loop configuration seen on most funitels.
LikeLike
The top and bottom concrete stations are still there. The top houses the lift maint shop, lift crew room, and Ski Patrol room. The bottom has the ticket office and storage area. After Mammoth purchased June Mtn Yan proposed building the prototype QMC there at abt a third of the cost of a proven system. This was to do away with the the bottleneck problem of the fixed grip double chair being the only access to the June Chalet (Cafe, ski school, rental repair, lockers, etc). Depending on the snow conditions the chair was the only way up and down. Dave McCoy took a chance.
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Do you know if any more pictures of it exists while it was operational besides the ones on skilifts.org?
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Unfortunately, yes. Theres the Peak to Peak 3s in British Columbia, buts its lower capacity, and in my opinion, having one haul rope and two support ropes, is less technically impressive compared to having two seperate haul ropes that the cabins attach too. Im probably in the minority in this opinion but I find Funitels far cooler and advanced in comparison to 3s systems, which are basically regular monocable gondolas with two fixed support ropes to increase wind resistance
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I completely agree. Plus if Palisades knows anything about the past 3 cable tramway systems can derail in high winds with disasterous consequences.
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What did it look like fefore “The Rock” (I’m thinking of the meme) was blasted?
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when they eventually replace this lift, it would be cool if they tried to opt for one of those Leitner 2S systems, for the wind stability, and just cuz’ they look really cool. So jealous the Europe gets the Pinafara terminal design but not us over here across the pond.
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How does the grip system on this lift work?
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Also, why don’t they run this lift in the summer? It seems like they should.
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the tram services the purpose that this lift would in the summer, there is not nearly enough people coming from water skiing or whatever they plan on doing from the lake to Olympic valley to warrant it.
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Same as a conventional detachable chairlift. The grips appear to be a Garaventa reimagining of the Doppelmayr DS, with coil springs instead of Bellville washers and single- rather than dual-position geometry. It’s entertaining being around the terminal when a cabin approaches the acceleration bank- you hear the motor driving the tires kick in to bring the cabin up to rope speed. Once it exits the terminal the motor shuts off until the next cabin.
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Sorry, can you dumb that down a little?
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I’ll do my best :)
There are four grips on the cabin. They operate the same as the older Doppelmayr DS grips where the upper lever pulls the grip open against a spring until it’s on the rope, then lets it close until it’s clamped tight on the rope. There are definite differences between the two but the operating geometry is the same. Single-position means that the grip opens and then closes purely on spring pressure. Dual-position means that the grip locks open once it’s off the rope and only closes as it leaves the terminal. Also, rather than accelerating like a conventional single-grip chair does in a terminal, the tires here are all accelerated together by a motor until the cabin reaches rope speed and the attach point.
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Thanks!
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does anyone know what cabin model this lift has, I’m pretty sure CWA made them, but idk if there’s a more specific name for this type of cabin.
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Everywhere I look it seems this just gets referred to as the “CWA Funitel”, doesn’t seem like they call it anything special. Remontees has a very in depth look and they seem to say the same thing. https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-fun-d-gold-coast-garaventa-3988.html
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Do they ever run this at full capacity? All the videos I can find online have roughly 30 seconds between cabins which would only give a capacity of 3360. Do they just usually not put all the cabins on the line?
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