“Pancake” style return terminal.This lift appears to have been built in Wolfurt rather than St. Jerome, Canada.Looking down the line.Arriving at the top.Top station from the Champagne Express.Lift overview.Compact bottom terminal.Lift line.Lower section of the lift.Another view of the drive station.
The bottom terminal looks so much like Yan. Too bad the original appearance of the Yan detachables couldn’t have been preserved more during the modifications.
I imagine the guts of this is the same as every other Uni, just without the “spaceship” skin on the outside. Looking at the supports for the terminals it looks like they are the same as every other Uni. Its just odd how only ONE semi random resort in British Columbia got this design while everyone else got the old chain contour CLD or whatever its called. I bet PBRopetech would have something to say.
At this time, Doppelmayr was just starting to experiment with tire turnarounds and would’ve been experimenting with new terminal designs to accommodate the new technology. Basically, it’s a prototype from the design phase of the UNI. It’s clearly not a CLD-260 as those always had a chain system. 1989 was the first year for the production UNI, and one last CLD-260 was installed at Vail that year which was Avanti which has since been removed and scrapped.
A similar timeline occurred when the UNI-Spacejet and UNI-G were introduced. The prototypes were installed in one year (1994 with the UNI-Spacejet and 2000 with the UNI-G) with the first production models the following year (1995 and 2001 respectively). That same year, the last lifts with the outgoing terminal design were installed. I could go further into detail with mid-generation updates, which have happened with all of Doppelmayr’s terminal designs. It’s a very similar cycle to how auto manufacturers design and update their vehicles.
Nippon cable has always been behind on Doppelmayr’s designs, they also used DS grips until the 2000s, so it makes sense they still made CLD-260 models in the 90s.
Mile 1’s design is more akin to that of Leitner’s minimalist design, when you compare it to Leitner high speed quads like the Quickdraw lift at Granby, or the Northstar Express at Kimberley.
You can also see its grounds as the prototype for the UNI terminal design, especially when you compare the bottom terminal design on Mile 1 to that of say, the Peru Express and Outback Express lifts at Keystone.
It is. I rode it earlier this season, and they still run it full speed. As to a replacement, I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon. This lift is a solid piece of machinery. It may need a new coat of paint, but it still runs beautifully.
I would LOVE to see this lift stay as it is so cool. Although it has super high hours and is the main out of base lift, Panorama rarely gets super busy and mechanically, they could just overhaul it. If they replace it, they could do another HSQ or a 6-CLD.
How come manufacturers stopped making pancake return terminals in North america? They are somewhat common in Europe, but the only pancake terminals you see in North America are older lifts that are considered outdated. I personally really like them, I wish they where more common over here.
Check out Quicksilver gondola at Park city and Outlaw @Sundance Utah for some Uni G mid stations with a pancake style.
Mountain high express at mt high CA and other early uni stations feature a similar design
Some Leitner detachables used a pancake design such as QuickDraw at Grandby ranch CO
At mont Ste-Marie in Quebec Poma built 2 interesting Quads in 1989.
With the MND lift At Waterville valley that you mentioned it seems like all manufacturers have at some point experimented with the pancake design. Closest Garaventa or CTEC got was the Bear mountain express in California.
I believe the reason why we don’t see many being built is that it must be a pain to maintain compared to regular terminals due to lack of space and shelter. Imagine being on top of one doing maintenance in a storm!
You are correct. I’d rather have a large enclosed space than a cramped tunnel- or worse, one of those where you are outside on a walkway and lift up a cover over a tire bank….
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The bottom terminal looks so much like Yan. Too bad the original appearance of the Yan detachables couldn’t have been preserved more during the modifications.
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Yeah, I also think this lift’s return looks like a YAN detachable return. Resemblance:
YAN:
This lift:
I wonder if Doppelmayr was copying YAN’s design when they built this lift.
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I imagine the guts of this is the same as every other Uni, just without the “spaceship” skin on the outside. Looking at the supports for the terminals it looks like they are the same as every other Uni. Its just odd how only ONE semi random resort in British Columbia got this design while everyone else got the old chain contour CLD or whatever its called. I bet PBRopetech would have something to say.
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What model are the terminals? Even the drive looks pretty unique.
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At this time, Doppelmayr was just starting to experiment with tire turnarounds and would’ve been experimenting with new terminal designs to accommodate the new technology. Basically, it’s a prototype from the design phase of the UNI. It’s clearly not a CLD-260 as those always had a chain system. 1989 was the first year for the production UNI, and one last CLD-260 was installed at Vail that year which was Avanti which has since been removed and scrapped.
A similar timeline occurred when the UNI-Spacejet and UNI-G were introduced. The prototypes were installed in one year (1994 with the UNI-Spacejet and 2000 with the UNI-G) with the first production models the following year (1995 and 2001 respectively). That same year, the last lifts with the outgoing terminal design were installed. I could go further into detail with mid-generation updates, which have happened with all of Doppelmayr’s terminal designs. It’s a very similar cycle to how auto manufacturers design and update their vehicles.
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Nippon cable, a Japanese company that makes licensed Doppelmayr designs, continued to make CLD-260’s until 1992:
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-hanazono-n2-nippon-cable-5439.html
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4-n6-nippon-cable-6909.html
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Nippon cable has always been behind on Doppelmayr’s designs, they also used DS grips until the 2000s, so it makes sense they still made CLD-260 models in the 90s.
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Stoneham QC also has a 1988 Doppelmayr High Speed Quad with very similar terminals.
.JPG)
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Stoneham’s is a CLD-260, though, with a custom skin.
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Ah, makes sense. I wasn’t sure with the Stoneham hsq, because both the bottom and top terminals had the same skin.
https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tsd4b-h-doppelmayr-4480.html
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Mile 1’s design is more akin to that of Leitner’s minimalist design, when you compare it to Leitner high speed quads like the Quickdraw lift at Granby, or the Northstar Express at Kimberley.
You can also see its grounds as the prototype for the UNI terminal design, especially when you compare the bottom terminal design on Mile 1 to that of say, the Peru Express and Outback Express lifts at Keystone.
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So is Mile 1 the first doppelmayr with tire drive terminals, or was their already a doppelmayr with a tire turnaround?
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I have the same question. Does anybody know what HSQ was the first to use a tire turn around? Or what company experimented with it first?
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Yan used it in their detachable quads. Poma was one of the last to catch on.
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I think J6 at June was the first tire driven detachable, this was the first Doppelmayr tire driven detach.
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I wonder when and what this will get replaced with. Anyone know if it is still operating at 1000 FPM?
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It is. I rode it earlier this season, and they still run it full speed. As to a replacement, I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon. This lift is a solid piece of machinery. It may need a new coat of paint, but it still runs beautifully.
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Good to see a relatively old lift holding up so well!
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I would LOVE to see this lift stay as it is so cool. Although it has super high hours and is the main out of base lift, Panorama rarely gets super busy and mechanically, they could just overhaul it. If they replace it, they could do another HSQ or a 6-CLD.
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How about a gondola replacement for Mile 1 Express? A two-stage gondola with a mid-station at the top of the existing lift? Then go up to the summit?
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The design of these chairs oddly feels reminiscent of Leitner-Poma’s current LPA quad chair model.
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I kind of like the slated Doppelmayr chairs with footrests like on this and Deer at Fernie.
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Here’s a photo from when this lift was installed. It really looks like YAN.
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these old chairs are so strange
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Video:
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How long will this last. Its almost 40
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Since it has high hours from night skiing, and summer plus winter ops, it racks up a ton of hours.
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Looks like it’s down again…..
https://www.panoramaresort.com/planning/updates
over 40 years old and desperately in need of replacement, major choke point……
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How come manufacturers stopped making pancake return terminals in North america? They are somewhat common in Europe, but the only pancake terminals you see in North America are older lifts that are considered outdated. I personally really like them, I wish they where more common over here.
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The Only modern pancake terminal i know of in north America is the Tecumseh express at Waterville valley
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Check out Quicksilver gondola at Park city and Outlaw @Sundance Utah for some Uni G mid stations with a pancake style.
Mountain high express at mt high CA and other early uni stations feature a similar design
Some Leitner detachables used a pancake design such as QuickDraw at Grandby ranch CO
At mont Ste-Marie in Quebec Poma built 2 interesting Quads in 1989.
With the MND lift At Waterville valley that you mentioned it seems like all manufacturers have at some point experimented with the pancake design. Closest Garaventa or CTEC got was the Bear mountain express in California.
I believe the reason why we don’t see many being built is that it must be a pain to maintain compared to regular terminals due to lack of space and shelter. Imagine being on top of one doing maintenance in a storm!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are correct. I’d rather have a large enclosed space than a cramped tunnel- or worse, one of those where you are outside on a walkway and lift up a cover over a tire bank….
LikeLiked by 1 person