Great Bear Express – Fernie, BC

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Upper lift line
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View down from the top.
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Return terminal.
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Drive terminal.
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Top station from below.
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Lower lift line.
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Another view of the bottom station.
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Loading area and lift line.
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Support tower 3.
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Riding up.
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View back down.
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Nearing the summit.
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Drive station and operator house.
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Another view of the drive terminal.

18 thoughts on “Great Bear Express – Fernie, BC

  1. Raj Thorp's avatar Raj Thorp February 29, 2020 / 10:02 pm

    Interesting to have a line speed of 1102? Very fast, but that is weird

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    • Michael's avatar Michael March 1, 2020 / 9:06 am

      It’s because of the speed conversion from feet per minute (fpm) and meters per second (m/s). We commonly use 5 m/s for 1000 fpm and 5.6 m/s for 1100 fpm where the actual conversion is 5.08 m/s = 1000 fpm and 5.588m/s = 1100 fpm. That is why you will also see lifts listed at 984 fpm (5.0 m/s) and 1102 fpm (5.6 m/s).
      If only we all used the metric system…

      Liked by 3 people

      • Raj Thorp's avatar Raj Thorp February 24, 2021 / 10:25 am

        Yes metric is better. Makes sense, but I’ve also seen some Garaventa CTEC detachables have a speed of 1070

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        • skier72's avatar skier72 February 28, 2021 / 11:13 am

          This lift is extremely speedy.

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  2. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif February 24, 2021 / 11:51 am

    This belongs in that rare club of detachable chairlifts only accessible by fixed grip lift, since you can’t reach this from Timber Bowl.

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    • pnwrider's avatar pnwrider August 14, 2021 / 5:51 pm

      Other lifts that come to mind are the Wenatchee Express at Mission Ridge, Washington, where that high speed quad can only be accessed by some old school fixed grip Riblet doubles, and pretty much every lift at June Mountain California can only be accessed by their old Riblet fixed grip double out of the parking lot, J1.

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    • Liam's avatar Liam December 19, 2022 / 3:17 am

      You can get to it from the timber chair. I have not tried it though.

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      • Max V.'s avatar Max V. April 26, 2023 / 10:43 am

        I don’t think you can without hiking a little bit. (Again, I haven’t tried it either.)

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. September 23, 2024 / 7:35 pm

          You can, but that requires taking the Bootleg Glades, a double black and a significant amount of traversing, faster to use Deer (or Elk).

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  3. SilverSubaru's avatar julestheshiba February 24, 2021 / 11:54 am

    Is it just me or do these Letiner grips look almost identical to the Garaventa AK-6 grips like on Far East at Squaw?

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    • Billuh's avatar Billuh August 15, 2021 / 4:29 pm

      Looks ain’t everything, but they do indeed look a very mucho alike.

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  4. SkiLucas's avatar SkiLucas May 13, 2024 / 9:56 am

    I just love Leitner detachables. The terminal design looks so good to me. I wish they sold their lifts in North America.

    Like

    • Liam's avatar liam May 13, 2024 / 9:44 pm

      Me too. They are simply the best old terminals around. The ones at Kimberley are my favourite. Fixed grip chairs and the Timber Chair are the worst Leitner chairs.

      liftblog.com/northstar-e

      Liked by 1 person

      • Liam's avatar liam May 14, 2024 / 10:27 pm

        Too bad Leitner lift designs weren’t kept when Poma bought them. Skytrac, also part of Leitner-Poma, kept their designs and they are still being used today.

        Liked by 1 person

      • WH2Oshredder's avatar WH2Oshredder May 15, 2024 / 8:25 pm

        Yeah, old Leitner terminals are the best, The Leitner terminals in Europe are more modern, but keep the same feel, Northstar (Kimberley), Glacier (Lake Louise), Quickdraw (Granby Ranch) and this are the best ones.

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 10, 2024 / 12:46 pm

          As well as Jay Peak’s Flyer.

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        • WH2OSHREDDER.'s avatar WH2OSHREDDER. November 12, 2024 / 11:33 am

          Yeah, I forgot to mention Jay Peak’s Green Mountain Flyer and Big White’s Lara’s Gondola

          https://liftblog.com/green-mountain-flyer-jay-peak-vt/

          https://liftblog.com/laras-gondola-big-white-bc/

          Also, the Timber chair is in perfectly good condition, with the 2019 electrical upgrades, this lift will be running for a long time. The “rust” you are seeing on the towers is from the haul rope’s core when it rains in lower elevations, it leaks out on the sheaves and towers, giving them a rusty colour. You can also see that happen on Deer, Elk, Boomerang, and the lower half of Bear.

          Northstar doesn’t “keep failing”, it’s only because of that fire and vandalism (Kimberley really needs another out-of-base lift tho).

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