Top terminal on Flagstaff Mountain.View down the line.Bottom terminal.Leaving the base.Riding up.Top terminal.Garaventa CTEC Stealth detachable terminal.
9 thoughts on “Northside Express – Deer Valley, UT”
TylerFebruary 7, 2020 / 11:56 pm
There used to be a maintenance rail on the top terminal, removed to make room for Silver Star in 2004. In the last year or two they’ve replaced that section of terminal skin and it’s now solid on both sides.
This was DV’s first major expansion, mid to late 90’s(?) When it first opened it was considered the way back part of the mountain. Kind of like how Blue Sky Basin is at Vail. It was short lived however. It’s a small town now…100’s of condos and homes all over the trails now.
This was DV’s first non-Yan detachable – interesting seeing as this lift was installed before the 1996 Yan fiasco. Does anyone know the reason why DV went with Garaventa for this lift (instead of Yan)?
Just a shot in the dark, but chances are with CTEC being new in the HSQ business, after the successful joint venture with Von Roll for building Eagle Express at Solitude, why not show some home town love to the CTEC team there in Salt Lake? I bet CTEC made a very sweet bid offer on this and it paid off in the long run! Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Yanni lifts were great leading up to their run of bad luck and poor choices and too quick of engineering, and I wish that they could have pulled thru this, they were a well respected company with good leadership from the stories the old folks on here tell. Every Yan I ride is a great ride. But I’ll always be happier being on an old Thiokol and then the continuing tradition with CTEC leading up to Doppie. I do think the CTEC/Garva’s looked more classy and professional vs the Yan HSQs.
I skied this lift a couple times last week and it really seemed like it needs a new haul rope or some tension repair. The chairs were sagging so much between the towers, that combined with massive snow levels made it risky business skiing under the liftline.
Neither of those are correct. If the tension system needs repair you’ll never notice it as a skier, since all systems are designed with a low pressure cutoff and a carriage limit switch to stop the lift before things get out of hand. If the rope needs replacement, it likewise manifests in ways you won’t see unless you’re the one doing the inspection. I’d venture a very strong guess that the heavy (loaded) side always sags in between towers- almost all lifts do- and it’s more noticeable because of the higher snow levels you mention. Additionally, Donald mentions the lift has widely-spaced towers, which accentuates any sag you see.
I wonder mostly because of how the other lifts on the mountain did not seem to have this problem as exaggerated as much. There were a couple of low spots but Northside seemed consistantly low
Clearance at the top is pretty low to begin with. We’ve been plowing Lost Boulder for clearance for probably a month now. The resort’s not really designed for 450”+
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There used to be a maintenance rail on the top terminal, removed to make room for Silver Star in 2004. In the last year or two they’ve replaced that section of terminal skin and it’s now solid on both sides.
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The towers on this lift are very widely spaced, which would explain why for a 3,700 foot line, there’s only 11 towers.
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This was DV’s first major expansion, mid to late 90’s(?) When it first opened it was considered the way back part of the mountain. Kind of like how Blue Sky Basin is at Vail. It was short lived however. It’s a small town now…100’s of condos and homes all over the trails now.
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This was DV’s first non-Yan detachable – interesting seeing as this lift was installed before the 1996 Yan fiasco. Does anyone know the reason why DV went with Garaventa for this lift (instead of Yan)?
LikeLike
Just a shot in the dark, but chances are with CTEC being new in the HSQ business, after the successful joint venture with Von Roll for building Eagle Express at Solitude, why not show some home town love to the CTEC team there in Salt Lake? I bet CTEC made a very sweet bid offer on this and it paid off in the long run! Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Yanni lifts were great leading up to their run of bad luck and poor choices and too quick of engineering, and I wish that they could have pulled thru this, they were a well respected company with good leadership from the stories the old folks on here tell. Every Yan I ride is a great ride. But I’ll always be happier being on an old Thiokol and then the continuing tradition with CTEC leading up to Doppie. I do think the CTEC/Garva’s looked more classy and professional vs the Yan HSQs.
LikeLike
I skied this lift a couple times last week and it really seemed like it needs a new haul rope or some tension repair. The chairs were sagging so much between the towers, that combined with massive snow levels made it risky business skiing under the liftline.
LikeLike
Neither of those are correct. If the tension system needs repair you’ll never notice it as a skier, since all systems are designed with a low pressure cutoff and a carriage limit switch to stop the lift before things get out of hand. If the rope needs replacement, it likewise manifests in ways you won’t see unless you’re the one doing the inspection. I’d venture a very strong guess that the heavy (loaded) side always sags in between towers- almost all lifts do- and it’s more noticeable because of the higher snow levels you mention. Additionally, Donald mentions the lift has widely-spaced towers, which accentuates any sag you see.
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I wonder mostly because of how the other lifts on the mountain did not seem to have this problem as exaggerated as much. There were a couple of low spots but Northside seemed consistantly low
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Clearance at the top is pretty low to begin with. We’ve been plowing Lost Boulder for clearance for probably a month now. The resort’s not really designed for 450”+
LikeLiked by 1 person