The coal chute chair was KB’s first chairlift, and it was a center pole style Stadeli double; a rarity in the US as only a few more exist that I know of. It had a drive/tension unit in a building at the bottom terminal, and a simple return station up top with bull wheel unloading which was definitely ahead of its time. I wonder if the bull wheel unloading is original, or the top terminal it was modified later on? The center pole chairs had spring loaded safety bars that looped to wrap around the center pole when in the up position. I got the pleasure of riding it a few times since the first time I ever skied at KB (when I was just 15!) was the last season before it was removed. For a few years after, the trail map said “future site of new lift” and then apparently this never happened and that was just removed entirely. As of the last time I was at KB a few years ago, the top terminal structure minus the bull wheel, as well as the bottom terminal building and the first tower (hold down at the load) are still standing.
one more interesting thing to note is the World chair, a similar Stadeli but with bail double chairs and tube towers, has the exact same style of safety bar minus the spring load, instead of the usual one with footrests. Not sure why it has those, but I can say for sure they did not come from Coal Chute because World still had those safety bars back when CC was still standing.
And yes, there is a short video of Coal Chute. I took it the second time I rode it because I was fascinated by the odd design of chair:
The Tanglwood chair was installed to replace The Dream double chair, but interestingly is actually installed along the lift line of a Hall T-bar (not listed on this website) that was removed after the Slalom Quad was installed in 1988. The lower terminal is slightly further up the hill than the T-bar but the upper terminal is in the same place as the T-bar. I have been told that it has never carried a passenger since being installed.
There are also two other T-Bars missing from the website. One was located to the left of the Slalom Quad the lift line is now labeled as a snowmobile access trail on the trail map. That T-bar was also a Hall and had a mid station and a place to ski through the lift line right where the North Shuttle meets Slalom. It too was removed when the Slalom Quad was installed.
There used to be maternal twin T-bars on Holly that were replaced by the Holly Triple. These T-Bars followed the same path as the Holly Triple, the only difference between the T-bars is the one furthest from the trees was slightly shorter, and you could only unload to the right. The one closest to the trees was longer and you could unload to the right or left.
A Few other notes. The South double was previously installed at the Concord Ski Club in Ellicottville. It was several hundred feet longer than the T-bar it replaced, so a largely flat extension to Shindig was cut to accommodate it. The Holly triple was originally the Tanenbaum triple at Holiday Valley, and the Slalom Quad originally had a mid station that was removed, (Probably due to it being pointless).
Lift Blog 
The coal chute chair was KB’s first chairlift, and it was a center pole style Stadeli double; a rarity in the US as only a few more exist that I know of. It had a drive/tension unit in a building at the bottom terminal, and a simple return station up top with bull wheel unloading which was definitely ahead of its time. I wonder if the bull wheel unloading is original, or the top terminal it was modified later on? The center pole chairs had spring loaded safety bars that looped to wrap around the center pole when in the up position. I got the pleasure of riding it a few times since the first time I ever skied at KB (when I was just 15!) was the last season before it was removed. For a few years after, the trail map said “future site of new lift” and then apparently this never happened and that was just removed entirely. As of the last time I was at KB a few years ago, the top terminal structure minus the bull wheel, as well as the bottom terminal building and the first tower (hold down at the load) are still standing.
one more interesting thing to note is the World chair, a similar Stadeli but with bail double chairs and tube towers, has the exact same style of safety bar minus the spring load, instead of the usual one with footrests. Not sure why it has those, but I can say for sure they did not come from Coal Chute because World still had those safety bars back when CC was still standing.
And yes, there is a short video of Coal Chute. I took it the second time I rode it because I was fascinated by the odd design of chair:
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Tanglwood chair was installed to replace The Dream double chair, but interestingly is actually installed along the lift line of a Hall T-bar (not listed on this website) that was removed after the Slalom Quad was installed in 1988. The lower terminal is slightly further up the hill than the T-bar but the upper terminal is in the same place as the T-bar. I have been told that it has never carried a passenger since being installed.
There are also two other T-Bars missing from the website. One was located to the left of the Slalom Quad the lift line is now labeled as a snowmobile access trail on the trail map. That T-bar was also a Hall and had a mid station and a place to ski through the lift line right where the North Shuttle meets Slalom. It too was removed when the Slalom Quad was installed.
There used to be maternal twin T-bars on Holly that were replaced by the Holly Triple. These T-Bars followed the same path as the Holly Triple, the only difference between the T-bars is the one furthest from the trees was slightly shorter, and you could only unload to the right. The one closest to the trees was longer and you could unload to the right or left.
A Few other notes. The South double was previously installed at the Concord Ski Club in Ellicottville. It was several hundred feet longer than the T-bar it replaced, so a largely flat extension to Shindig was cut to accommodate it. The Holly triple was originally the Tanenbaum triple at Holiday Valley, and the Slalom Quad originally had a mid station that was removed, (Probably due to it being pointless).
LikeLike