This is the world’s longest eight seater chair and replaced a Garaventa CTEC six pack in 2024.Like Ramcharger 8 and several D-Lines at Boyne-owned Sunday River, each station is enclosed from the elements.Steep climb out from the Madison base.View riding up at tower 7.The previous lift included a line turn due to property boundaries but the new one runs straight from station to station.Middle section of the line.Tower 12, one of several towers with combination assemblies along the undulating lift line.A support tower on the upper half of the line.Tower 15.Tower 18.View out of the top station bulding.Upper terminus in the same location as the previous six pack.Each station can accommodate 40 chairs when the lift is parked.Breakover towers at the summit.Upper station with closeable doors.View down at tower 23. The original tower head was dropped from a helicopter during construction and had to be replaced.View down the long, wide lift corridor.Side view of a tower.Upper lift line.Looking down the line at tower 18.Lift line crossing a ski run.Much of the alignment is relatively low angle.Chairs passing a tower along the line.Each chair features a unique back graphic with a wildlife theme.Unskiable section of the lift line.Bottom station slightly uphill of the previous lift’s load.Double hold down towers.Bubble chair with auto lowering and locking restraint bar.Tower 8.This lift can be upgraded to higher capacity with more chairs and tighter spacing.Short tower 11.Riding up the upper part of the line.The final two towers.Arriving at the drive terminal.Full chair with open bubble.Lift seen from the Headwaters.Upper station overview.Top bullwheel with Doppelmayr Direct Drive.Evacuation diesel engine.Four ring direct drive.Wide turnaround area.Each station is quite long to accommodate in-terminal parking and auto closing/opening restraint bars.Operator house controls.Low voltage controls.Doppelmayr Connect touch screen.Unloading ramp.Lower part of the line near Madison base.View up the line.Middle section of the line.View up the line at tower 8.View down at tower 7.The first few towers.Tower 3.Work chair.D5000 grip.Inside the return station.Tension rams.Return bullwheel.Long station building.Turnaround at the bottom.Outside operator controls at the return.Raisable loading conveyor.Lower station overview.
Since this lift has all new foundations it did not require any extra work aside from some tree clearing on the lookers right side. In the photos towards the top you can see the old Six Shooter tower foundations about 30-50 feet lookers left of the new lift. This illustrates pretty well how much the lift actually bent.
Both, we learned from experience with Jordan that terminal parking is a better solution as the footprint is significantly reduced and it is just as effective. This was the primary reason to go with an 8 seater on this lift. It reduced the chair count enough to allow terminal parking for such a long lift while maintaining the target capacity.
Unfortunately it doesn’t work for the upcoming gondola as each cabin takes up as much room as ~3 chairs, so a parking facility is needed. The gondolas is buried which reduces the impact and it has a snowmelt deck on top.
I think the enclosed terminals look pretty sleek, and I’m assuming we’ll get more of them from you guys! Thanks for the insight into what went into the decision-making process for this beautiful lift.
What are the steel pieces on tower 12 on the top of the cross arm that come down and line up with the haul rope? I assume something for alignment or in case of a de-ropement off of the sheave train?
Does anyone know the max capacity / chair count is?
2770 seems really low, but I am one of the fortunate to never really have skied this lift with much of a line (Seen photos of how bad it can get though)
2770 is the final capacity. The current capacity is actually 2400 pph. Six shooter had a design capacity of 1800 pph but ran so slow its actual typical capacity was more like 1100-1200 pph, which is less than the Explorer double.
Thus the new lift is effectively double the capacity of the old lift and can be even more in the future.
I recently got the chance to ride this lift over spring break and let me say, it is a masterpiece. The speed and comfort are unmatched on any other lift. I love the D line terminals and the terrain it serves. Favorite lift I’ve ever rode.
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Beautiful piece of engineering. How much of the previous lift line needed to be redone to avoid having that turn anymore?
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Since this lift has all new foundations it did not require any extra work aside from some tree clearing on the lookers right side. In the photos towards the top you can see the old Six Shooter tower foundations about 30-50 feet lookers left of the new lift. This illustrates pretty well how much the lift actually bent.
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Was the decision to have enclosed terminals due to saving money or not having enough room to build a chair barn like swifty and ramcharger?
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Both, we learned from experience with Jordan that terminal parking is a better solution as the footprint is significantly reduced and it is just as effective. This was the primary reason to go with an 8 seater on this lift. It reduced the chair count enough to allow terminal parking for such a long lift while maintaining the target capacity.
Unfortunately it doesn’t work for the upcoming gondola as each cabin takes up as much room as ~3 chairs, so a parking facility is needed. The gondolas is buried which reduces the impact and it has a snowmelt deck on top.
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I think the enclosed terminals look pretty sleek, and I’m assuming we’ll get more of them from you guys! Thanks for the insight into what went into the decision-making process for this beautiful lift.
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Super cool, i hope Vail starts to invest in more advanced lifts the way Boyne has been doing.
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love the speed
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nice lift
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What are the steel pieces on tower 12 on the top of the cross arm that come down and line up with the haul rope? I assume something for alignment or in case of a de-ropement off of the sheave train?
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The second. They are cable catchers in the event of a deropement, yes.
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Does anyone know the max capacity / chair count is?
2770 seems really low, but I am one of the fortunate to never really have skied this lift with much of a line (Seen photos of how bad it can get though)
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2770 is the final capacity. The current capacity is actually 2400 pph. Six shooter had a design capacity of 1800 pph but ran so slow its actual typical capacity was more like 1100-1200 pph, which is less than the Explorer double.
Thus the new lift is effectively double the capacity of the old lift and can be even more in the future.
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So far the most I have ever waited in line this season is around 5 minutes and that was a full maze so it’s doing the job.
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The inside of these giant D Line stations are just so cool, speaking as someone whose been in one myself
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Vail, take notes. This is a masterpiece of a lift.
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I recently got the chance to ride this lift over spring break and let me say, it is a masterpiece. The speed and comfort are unmatched on any other lift. I love the D line terminals and the terrain it serves. Favorite lift I’ve ever rode.
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In one of the pictures, the caption says Ramcharger 8 has an enclosed terminal. I don’t think it does.
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Do D-Lines have a grounding rod? You can usually see them on LP lifts but I haven’t seen one on a newer Doppelmayr
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They indeed do, it’s just stored away inside the terminal when the lift is in operation.
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