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.
So the accident had nothing to do with the zip line course installation at Heavenly next to the Tamarack lift? Is that what you are saying? That’s not what I read in several sources. Come on now, let’s get to the bottom of this. Tell us exactly what happened. Let’s get to the bottom of this. We will all await your response because I am saying that the cause of the accident was a direct result of there being a zip line installation next to the chairlift.
Hmmm. I think you’re playing word games with us. The “conventional portion” of the zip line had nothing to do with the accident. What about the other portion of the zip line installation that killed the chairlift rider? Your word games sound like the same BS that we have heard from Heavenly management for 30 years. It is also dishonest. I’m glad I don’t have to play dishonest word games like you do.
How sad that your stupid zip line promotion ended the life of a skier on the chairlift. And even today you refuse to admit it and use word games to deflect responsibility. It is so typical of Heavenly
And just to be absolutely precise about what happened. The haul rope broke free and became entangled in the chairlift. The chairlift rider was thrown from his chair to rocks 40 feet below. The haul rope was an integral part of the zip line operation. Heavenly admitted to working on a redesign of the zip line operation. A zip line operation, which as I said before, should not be installed near a chairlift.
That’s funny. I asked you in a previous post to tell us all exactly what happened. You could have done that but you didn’t. You’re still playing word games I see. That is so typical of the arrogant as***h***s that run Heavenly. Nobody is surprised. The bottom line of my comments from the beginning is that zip lines should not be installed near chairlifts and I am absolutely right about that. Too bad you can only play word games instead of being a stand up honest person.
I can only imagine how Vail Resorts hires their managers
1. Skier or snowboarder……check
2. College degree…..check
3. Devious…….check
4. Liar…check
5. Arrogant…..check
You’re hired!
You seem to be a self proclaimed expert on Zip line locations, Vail resorts and cause of zip line accidents. But you don’t know what caused the Heavenly zip line accident?? Why don’t you drop the zip line part and just bash Vail resorts, maybe you have more information there??
Gregg, Kirk, that’s enough. Why don’t y’all exchange phone numbers or something and argue that way, but we’re not on Liftblog to argue about a zipline. All of us are here to appreciate some beautiful machines and their documentation. So please take your quarrel somewhere else.
Sorry you are wrong . We had an honest conversation about chairlift safety. Chairlift safety. The conversation documented an incident that killed a chairlift rider. If you don’t want to talk about chairlift safety then you you need to go somewhere else.
Lemme guess, you tried to drive to heavenly, there wasn’t parking, and you’ve now entered full white 47 y.o. unhinged rant mode. Boi you wanted so hard your white Oakley’s probably fell off in your Ford SUV that you refer to as “The Truck”.
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
When the original Boulder Pass double chair was split into North Bowl and Boulder triple chairs in 1988, it was a huge improvement for its time. Most of the frequent stoppages due to beginner traffic on the lower portion and the mid-mountain unloading station were eliminated.
HOWEVER, when the HSQ replaced Stagecoach double in 1998, it completely changed the relationship of the two NV base areas. Boulder was the original base area, and the focal point of activities when NV opened in 1967. When Stagecoach double went in in 1976, it felt like a distant and primative outpost because of the lack of infrastructure and a longer drive on a narrow, winding, and poorly maintained access road. Nevertheless, the focus changed to Stagecoach almost overnight with the HSQ. Boulder base quickly became sort of a red-headed stepchild, and remains so to this day, because of the need to ride the VERY slow Boulder chair in order to access North Bowl Express, and beyond, or take the shuttle to Stagecoach. Boulder sees such little use that we’ve has seasons when Boulder base didn’t open at all. Except for beginners who plan on riding Boulder for the day, few people are willing to access the resort from here, unless forced to park here and use the shuttle, because Stagecoach lot is so small and fills up very quickly every single day.
From my admittedly selfish point of view, I hope Boulder Chair is never upgraded, because, at least so far, North Bowl never has a line, at least during the week, due to the miserably slow Boulder chair. Also, most people will not regularly lap lower NV until it gets crowded up top. Finally, if easy access to a Lodge is important, the upper mountain is far superior to the lower areas in NV, because both Lodges are kind of a pain in the neck to get to and return from.
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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So the accident had nothing to do with the zip line course installation at Heavenly next to the Tamarack lift? Is that what you are saying? That’s not what I read in several sources. Come on now, let’s get to the bottom of this. Tell us exactly what happened. Let’s get to the bottom of this. We will all await your response because I am saying that the cause of the accident was a direct result of there being a zip line installation next to the chairlift.
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Hmmm. I think you’re playing word games with us. The “conventional portion” of the zip line had nothing to do with the accident. What about the other portion of the zip line installation that killed the chairlift rider? Your word games sound like the same BS that we have heard from Heavenly management for 30 years. It is also dishonest. I’m glad I don’t have to play dishonest word games like you do.
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How sad that your stupid zip line promotion ended the life of a skier on the chairlift. And even today you refuse to admit it and use word games to deflect responsibility. It is so typical of Heavenly
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And just to be absolutely precise about what happened. The haul rope broke free and became entangled in the chairlift. The chairlift rider was thrown from his chair to rocks 40 feet below. The haul rope was an integral part of the zip line operation. Heavenly admitted to working on a redesign of the zip line operation. A zip line operation, which as I said before, should not be installed near a chairlift.
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Still got it wrong, but getting closer.
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That’s funny. I asked you in a previous post to tell us all exactly what happened. You could have done that but you didn’t. You’re still playing word games I see. That is so typical of the arrogant as***h***s that run Heavenly. Nobody is surprised. The bottom line of my comments from the beginning is that zip lines should not be installed near chairlifts and I am absolutely right about that. Too bad you can only play word games instead of being a stand up honest person.
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I can only imagine how Vail Resorts hires their managers
1. Skier or snowboarder……check
2. College degree…..check
3. Devious…….check
4. Liar…check
5. Arrogant…..check
You’re hired!
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You seem to be a self proclaimed expert on Zip line locations, Vail resorts and cause of zip line accidents. But you don’t know what caused the Heavenly zip line accident?? Why don’t you drop the zip line part and just bash Vail resorts, maybe you have more information there??
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Gregg, Kirk, that’s enough. Why don’t y’all exchange phone numbers or something and argue that way, but we’re not on Liftblog to argue about a zipline. All of us are here to appreciate some beautiful machines and their documentation. So please take your quarrel somewhere else.
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Will do. Actually it was a real discussion about lift safety.
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Sorry you are wrong . We had an honest conversation about chairlift safety. Chairlift safety. The conversation documented an incident that killed a chairlift rider. If you don’t want to talk about chairlift safety then you you need to go somewhere else.
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Lemme guess, you tried to drive to heavenly, there wasn’t parking, and you’ve now entered full white 47 y.o. unhinged rant mode. Boi you wanted so hard your white Oakley’s probably fell off in your Ford SUV that you refer to as “The Truck”.
Tone it down. You’re making me like Vail.
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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
LikeLike
When the original Boulder Pass double chair was split into North Bowl and Boulder triple chairs in 1988, it was a huge improvement for its time. Most of the frequent stoppages due to beginner traffic on the lower portion and the mid-mountain unloading station were eliminated.
HOWEVER, when the HSQ replaced Stagecoach double in 1998, it completely changed the relationship of the two NV base areas. Boulder was the original base area, and the focal point of activities when NV opened in 1967. When Stagecoach double went in in 1976, it felt like a distant and primative outpost because of the lack of infrastructure and a longer drive on a narrow, winding, and poorly maintained access road. Nevertheless, the focus changed to Stagecoach almost overnight with the HSQ. Boulder base quickly became sort of a red-headed stepchild, and remains so to this day, because of the need to ride the VERY slow Boulder chair in order to access North Bowl Express, and beyond, or take the shuttle to Stagecoach. Boulder sees such little use that we’ve has seasons when Boulder base didn’t open at all. Except for beginners who plan on riding Boulder for the day, few people are willing to access the resort from here, unless forced to park here and use the shuttle, because Stagecoach lot is so small and fills up very quickly every single day.
From my admittedly selfish point of view, I hope Boulder Chair is never upgraded, because, at least so far, North Bowl never has a line, at least during the week, due to the miserably slow Boulder chair. Also, most people will not regularly lap lower NV until it gets crowded up top. Finally, if easy access to a Lodge is important, the upper mountain is far superior to the lower areas in NV, because both Lodges are kind of a pain in the neck to get to and return from.
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