View up the lift line.Lower lift line view.Drive station with Yan operator house.Top bullwheel.Another view down line.Riblet towers and chairs.Lower station.Hydraulic tensioning.Tower 2 looking up.Another view of the bottom terminal.
This lift was actually retrofitted in 1994 from a Riblet double to a triple. The top motorhouse was originally a vault drive. In 1994 much of the old Dipper Riblet triple was moved over to North Bowl, original towers were retained and they used Dippers’ chairs, crossarms and motor house.
I can’t believe this lift is being replaced and vail is going to spend some money in California! RT were you around when Olympic HSQ was constructed. I recall it was originally set to be a replacement for both Northbowl and Olympic with an angle mid station at the bottom of the current Olympic Chair, but the realigned lower portion (replacing Northbowl) would have required removal of old growth trees and TRPA nixed the idea after initially approving it (or something like that) I recall the former president of heavenly, Blaise, and was pretty pissed.
Blaise had a little problem during his tenure at Heavenly. His big idea was a zip line right next to the Tamarack chairlift which was an unsafe hazard with two lifts so close to each other. One day the zip line snapped and recoiled around one of the chairs on the Tamarack lift causing a chairlift rider to fall to his death on the granite rocks below. Very sad and very avoidable had they not installed the zip line in an unsafe location. Now the zip line towers sit unused as a reminder to promotion overtaking reason.
The death was a tragic event, if I recall they were either newly married couple or about to get married. The zip line was reinstalled a few years later, I believe in the same alignment and has been up and running ever sense. I am not sure if it was necessarily a management decision error or construction / installation defect. Either way tragic nonetheless.
Oh please. It couldn’t have been a management failure. It must have been an underling. My friend, they put the zip line in the wrong place. It resulted in the death of a chairlift rider. And to this day you are denying the obvious truth. Please get your head in the right place.
Whatever, if you post something technical and your totally wrong on the cause, expect some feedback. The actual conventional portion of the Zip line had nothing to do with the accident.
I appreciate the feedback and said so. The substance of my comments is correct, the zip line malfunctioned causing the death of a chairlift rider. I’m sure there many technicalities but that’s little comfort to the guy’s wife. I also said I’m not a fan of installing zip line courses near chairlifts (whether at Heavenly or Kirkwood). Too many moving parts in close proximity. And I like ziplining just not close to other complicating structures.
I doubt they remove it from service this year, as that would result in them isolating Boulder Lodge, and that does not make any sense. I know it has not run yet this season, but that is because Boulder has yet to open.
I am told the lift will be in the same alignment and top and bottom in the same location as the old Riblet.
Most likely due to the problem of being in the Tahoe basin, that killed the attempt to realign the lift many years ago.
You will still have to ride Boulder next year from the Boulder lot.
Correct, the new north bowl lift will be installed in the same alignment as the old. As of today most of the old lift has been removed to the Boulder parking lot. I believe they are awaiting delivery of the rest of the parts for the new lift. Skiers who park at Boulder will still have to initially take the ancient and slow Boulder lift then disembark to the new north bowl lift. Only at Tahoe
I think it’s great what they’re doing up there. If they’re’re going to keep costs low for the community, as a non-profit, unless they have a big angel donor… It seems to me like getting the terrain open with another second hand lift and building the tradition and the customer base and _then_ funding a state-of-the-art lift makes sense.
This is just my thoughts on what heavenly should have done if vail invested in them before north bowl. Sky and dipper would be hss old sky could replace north bowl. Dipper would be hss and old dipper would replace comet. This is a wild one but mott would become a quad and will have a different alignment to go to the elevation of were Killebrew gate A sits would be aligned to go up widow maker or hully gully in mott and would have a mid station at the top of gate 1
Lift Blog 
This lift was actually retrofitted in 1994 from a Riblet double to a triple. The top motorhouse was originally a vault drive. In 1994 much of the old Dipper Riblet triple was moved over to North Bowl, original towers were retained and they used Dippers’ chairs, crossarms and motor house.
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I can’t believe this lift is being replaced and vail is going to spend some money in California! RT were you around when Olympic HSQ was constructed. I recall it was originally set to be a replacement for both Northbowl and Olympic with an angle mid station at the bottom of the current Olympic Chair, but the realigned lower portion (replacing Northbowl) would have required removal of old growth trees and TRPA nixed the idea after initially approving it (or something like that) I recall the former president of heavenly, Blaise, and was pretty pissed.
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North Bowl is in NEVADA
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Blaise had a little problem during his tenure at Heavenly. His big idea was a zip line right next to the Tamarack chairlift which was an unsafe hazard with two lifts so close to each other. One day the zip line snapped and recoiled around one of the chairs on the Tamarack lift causing a chairlift rider to fall to his death on the granite rocks below. Very sad and very avoidable had they not installed the zip line in an unsafe location. Now the zip line towers sit unused as a reminder to promotion overtaking reason.
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The Zip Line did not snap!!!
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The death was a tragic event, if I recall they were either newly married couple or about to get married. The zip line was reinstalled a few years later, I believe in the same alignment and has been up and running ever sense. I am not sure if it was necessarily a management decision error or construction / installation defect. Either way tragic nonetheless.
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Oh please. It couldn’t have been a management failure. It must have been an underling. My friend, they put the zip line in the wrong place. It resulted in the death of a chairlift rider. And to this day you are denying the obvious truth. Please get your head in the right place.
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Thanks for the clarification. The zip line malfunctioned causing the death of a chairlift rider.
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I’m sure his family will be happy to know the distinction.
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Whatever, if you post something technical and your totally wrong on the cause, expect some feedback. The actual conventional portion of the Zip line had nothing to do with the accident.
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I appreciate the feedback and said so. The substance of my comments is correct, the zip line malfunctioned causing the death of a chairlift rider. I’m sure there many technicalities but that’s little comfort to the guy’s wife. I also said I’m not a fan of installing zip line courses near chairlifts (whether at Heavenly or Kirkwood). Too many moving parts in close proximity. And I like ziplining just not close to other complicating structures.
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I came looking for this lift. It’s not even showing up on the map right now. If they take it out while they upgrade it or is it running this year??
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Scheduled for replacement in 2022
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I doubt they remove it from service this year, as that would result in them isolating Boulder Lodge, and that does not make any sense. I know it has not run yet this season, but that is because Boulder has yet to open.
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I assume the new north bowl lift will start down near the parking lot so we don’t need to ride the builder chair up to it like now?
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I am told the lift will be in the same alignment and top and bottom in the same location as the old Riblet.
Most likely due to the problem of being in the Tahoe basin, that killed the attempt to realign the lift many years ago.
You will still have to ride Boulder next year from the Boulder lot.
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Correct, the new north bowl lift will be installed in the same alignment as the old. As of today most of the old lift has been removed to the Boulder parking lot. I believe they are awaiting delivery of the rest of the parts for the new lift. Skiers who park at Boulder will still have to initially take the ancient and slow Boulder lift then disembark to the new north bowl lift. Only at Tahoe
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If there is still life in this equipment Vail should donate it to Skeetawk.
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What would Skeetawk use it for though as they want the other lift out of base to be a detach. Maybe their Peak 4068 lift?
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I think it’s great what they’re doing up there. If they’re’re going to keep costs low for the community, as a non-profit, unless they have a big angel donor… It seems to me like getting the terrain open with another second hand lift and building the tradition and the customer base and _then_ funding a state-of-the-art lift makes sense.
LikeLike
This is just my thoughts on what heavenly should have done if vail invested in them before north bowl. Sky and dipper would be hss old sky could replace north bowl. Dipper would be hss and old dipper would replace comet. This is a wild one but mott would become a quad and will have a different alignment to go to the elevation of were Killebrew gate A sits would be aligned to go up widow maker or hully gully in mott and would have a mid station at the top of gate 1
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