The North Creek Ski Bowl reopened in 2007 on the grounds of a former ski area. The Hudson chair connected it with Gore Mountain in 2010.Both lifts at the Ski Bowl are Partek triples.Lower terminal with drive and tensioning.Side view of the Partek drive.View down at T16.Tower 17 and the top station.Borvig-style “snowflake” bullwheel.Fixed return unit.The steep middle part of the line.
So what exactly is partek? I’ve been to their website and seen their lifts, but I am quite unclear. How long have they been around? Are they just in the northeast? Are they like the last bastion of the period in the 20th century with the menagerie of different, semi-local manufacturers?
Partek is descended from Borvig and based in Pine Island, New York. Borvig and Partek lifts are mostly found in the Northeast and Midwest but made it as far as Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Washington. Partek builds a lift or two a year these days and supports the hundreds of Borvig lifts still operating with parts and service.
After Borvig went bankrupt, I think Partek was a new company that started in 1996(?). While building some new lifts, they mostly serviced older Borvig lifts by selling parts for them, and they still do to this day.
According to a former Borvig employee, Borvig was based out of Pine Island NY from 1963 to 1993. In the mid-1980s, Borvig began an informal partnership with Leitner. From that point forward, most if not all new Borvigs featured different degrees of Leitner components, the most common being the Leitner sheaves. Towards the end the Borvig lifts featured an awful lot more Leitner components than just that, including gear-boxes, electronics, hanger arms, even grips and chairs. Borvig also built two detachable quads with Leitner in the 1980s. Fast forward to the early 1990s (or possibly late 1980s), apparently Leitner was bidding for Borvig projects like crazy (hence all of the Borvigs in Eastern Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the newer Borvigs out west), and were pretty much overworking Borvig as a manufacturing facility to the point that they couldn’t keep up.
Eventually they (Leitner) told Gary Schulz (founder and owner of Borvig) to sell out to Leitner or else they would put him out of business; instead of selling out Gary Schulz closed up shop and that was the end of Borvig. Leitner later formally entered the North American market when they bought out Blue Mountain Lifts of southeastern Canada (essentially screwing them over the same way they screwed Borvig).
Then in 1996 Gary Schulz’s son Hagen stated Partek, and used an awful lot of his father’s designs (including the Borvig spoked sheaves, grips, crossarms and lifting frames, sheave assemblies, return terminals, among others). Partek was also based out of Pine Island (and still is to this day). Apparently it is pretty much the same company under a new name (and without any shenanigans from Leitner). Then in 2005 after 24 installations, Partek “sold out” to Doppelmayr CTEC. Partek was trying to come up with its own detachable systems, but Hagen Schulz felt that it would have only harmed the company and decided to sell.
HOWEVER… this is the part that I still can’t figure out: in 2010, brand new Parteks started to show up again and at least one new Partek has been built almost every year since.
What I think happened was that from 2005 to 2010 Partek had an agreement that they couldn’t build completely new lifts but they could still build lifts, but they had to use some used Borvig parts. In 2010 I think that agreement expired so they can build brand new lifts now.
I’ve been on the Spirt Express at Spirt MT, I remember it having the haul rope going behind the bottom terminal, it has been replaced by a Leiner Poma high speed quad
2009 was the first year they could build new lifts again. They built two doubles at Ski Big Bear, PA. Before then, “new” Partek lifts were built I believe every summer since the purchase.
In 2005 it was a triple at Ski Ward, MA. In 2006 it was the Hailey’s Comet Double at Mount Peter. In 2007 it was the Village Triple at Gore. I’m not sure what they built in 2008, if they built anything. Maybe someone else knows.
After the T-bar was removed, I worked with the lift engineer doing the fieldwork to determine this lift’s profile and tower locations. Hagan did indeed build it There was also a new Partek fixed grip triple put in at Mt. Southington in CT at about the same time.
Lift Blog 
So what exactly is partek? I’ve been to their website and seen their lifts, but I am quite unclear. How long have they been around? Are they just in the northeast? Are they like the last bastion of the period in the 20th century with the menagerie of different, semi-local manufacturers?
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Partek is descended from Borvig and based in Pine Island, New York. Borvig and Partek lifts are mostly found in the Northeast and Midwest but made it as far as Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Washington. Partek builds a lift or two a year these days and supports the hundreds of Borvig lifts still operating with parts and service.
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After Borvig went bankrupt, I think Partek was a new company that started in 1996(?). While building some new lifts, they mostly serviced older Borvig lifts by selling parts for them, and they still do to this day.
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Borvig didn’t go bankrupt; Gary Schulz closed up shop because he was being screwed by Leitner.
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Then I must be thinking of Partek that went bankrupt.
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They didn’t. Neither of them went bankrupt. Borvig closed, Partek “sold out” to Doppelmayr CTEC, and now somehow Partek is back.
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I think Partek purchased Borvig in 1996
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Here’s the story:
According to a former Borvig employee, Borvig was based out of Pine Island NY from 1963 to 1993. In the mid-1980s, Borvig began an informal partnership with Leitner. From that point forward, most if not all new Borvigs featured different degrees of Leitner components, the most common being the Leitner sheaves. Towards the end the Borvig lifts featured an awful lot more Leitner components than just that, including gear-boxes, electronics, hanger arms, even grips and chairs. Borvig also built two detachable quads with Leitner in the 1980s. Fast forward to the early 1990s (or possibly late 1980s), apparently Leitner was bidding for Borvig projects like crazy (hence all of the Borvigs in Eastern Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the newer Borvigs out west), and were pretty much overworking Borvig as a manufacturing facility to the point that they couldn’t keep up.
Eventually they (Leitner) told Gary Schulz (founder and owner of Borvig) to sell out to Leitner or else they would put him out of business; instead of selling out Gary Schulz closed up shop and that was the end of Borvig. Leitner later formally entered the North American market when they bought out Blue Mountain Lifts of southeastern Canada (essentially screwing them over the same way they screwed Borvig).
Then in 1996 Gary Schulz’s son Hagen stated Partek, and used an awful lot of his father’s designs (including the Borvig spoked sheaves, grips, crossarms and lifting frames, sheave assemblies, return terminals, among others). Partek was also based out of Pine Island (and still is to this day). Apparently it is pretty much the same company under a new name (and without any shenanigans from Leitner). Then in 2005 after 24 installations, Partek “sold out” to Doppelmayr CTEC. Partek was trying to come up with its own detachable systems, but Hagen Schulz felt that it would have only harmed the company and decided to sell.
HOWEVER… this is the part that I still can’t figure out: in 2010, brand new Parteks started to show up again and at least one new Partek has been built almost every year since.
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What I think happened was that from 2005 to 2010 Partek had an agreement that they couldn’t build completely new lifts but they could still build lifts, but they had to use some used Borvig parts. In 2010 I think that agreement expired so they can build brand new lifts now.
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“Borvig also built two detachable quads with Leitner in the 1980s.”
Interesting, where are these located?
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I’;m aware of one- Spirit Mountain, MN in 1986. I’d also like to know where the 2nd one was built.
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I’ve been on the Spirt Express at Spirt MT, I remember it having the haul rope going behind the bottom terminal, it has been replaced by a Leiner Poma high speed quad
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2009 was the first year they could build new lifts again. They built two doubles at Ski Big Bear, PA. Before then, “new” Partek lifts were built I believe every summer since the purchase.
In 2005 it was a triple at Ski Ward, MA. In 2006 it was the Hailey’s Comet Double at Mount Peter. In 2007 it was the Village Triple at Gore. I’m not sure what they built in 2008, if they built anything. Maybe someone else knows.
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The Ski Ward triple has towers that are part Mueller lattice and part Partek tubular. So glad Partek is back!!
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Is the Hudson chair used? If so, where did it come from?
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After the T-bar was removed, I worked with the lift engineer doing the fieldwork to determine this lift’s profile and tower locations. Hagan did indeed build it There was also a new Partek fixed grip triple put in at Mt. Southington in CT at about the same time.
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