Murray-Latta load station with vault drive.Top unload terminal with counterweight tensioning.Murray-Latta was known for having lifts with high tension and widely-spaced towers.Simple M-Latta tube tower.Lower lift line.Load area with half tower.
I’ve never had the privilege of riding a Murray-Latta lift yet. I must say, the tower spacing and cable tension considering this lift is a fixed grip is remarkable. I wonder how much bouncing one experiences on a Murray-Latta lift and how smooth they are.
On another note, isn’t it weird that this lift hasn’t been removed? Still standing, unused, 16 years later?
I had the experience of riding the Dinosaur at Hyak in the early 1980s before it was shut down. While fairly smooth, not much vibration, it was bouncy. Any start or stop, if you were between towers, you held on tight.
I worked on two (3 and 4 at Baker) and grew up riding a third (chair 1 at Hyak). There were definitely some super-bouncy spans on old chair 1; pretty freaky riding it at night. 3 and 4 weren’t as bad, although the span before you went up Gabl’s on 4 could get sporty on a stop.
Skied LL today for the first time in about 5 years.
Looks like they’ve finally removed this lift completely- I’ll be going back Sunday and will see if there is anything left on the lift line.
Went there last weekend and they started digging where the top terminal used to be, could be snowmaking pipes repairs, possibly tower foundation for Upper Juniper. Also, why did they stop using it and left it for 16 years, same for Eagle?
From my research into the complex history of Lake Louise, here’s how I understand it:
Olympic originally served, along with the Summit T-Bar as the main top to bottom access. Glacier and Eagle were installed in the mid 70’s to provide a second out of base link (along with the VonRoll Gondola). After the Friendly Giant/Top of the World went in, Olympic became somewhat of a redundant lift. Especially in the years where Glacier Express replaced the old triple, and the Yan quads were retrofitted with new grips.
The thing that really sealed the fate of the Olympic and Eagle chairs was the management. Around 2001/2, RCR (under the leadership of Charlie Locke) went into receivership, and was bailed out by billionaire N. Murray Edwards. Edwards initially focused on cutting costs, including shuttering Wintergreen and Fortress which had both been losing money for years. There were also cuts to Lake Louise during this time, which included shuttering the backside Temple lodge, reductions in grooming around the resort and the retirement of the Friendly Giant, Eagle and Olympic chairs. Edwards did however install a used Gondola in 2004 that indirectly replaced both the Eagle and Friendly Giant in one swoop.
I have no idea why Parks Canada let Olympic and Eagle (and the original VonRoll gondola) sit on the mountain for as long as they did. Both Yan detachables were sold to a company in Iran (along with Silver Star’s 2 quads).
The original gondola (Whitehorn gondola) was built before Olympic along with the two poma lifts. The gondola did not start in the main base, instead starting below, near the Highway, but this pod was abandonned after the removal of the gondola, the liftline is still visible.
I think Eagle pre-dates the mid 70s. The Eagle terrain pod also had a poma that paralleled the double chair. I believe both those opening around the same time as the gondola in the early 60s. Olympic was long and slow. Once Friendly Giant opened in 1989, few people wanted to ride Olympic.
I would love to know where those chairs went. Apparently, the chairs and possibly other equipment from the buckhorn at kimberly found their way to Lake Louise around 2005 when the former was ripped down. Did LL sell their fleet of chairs when olympic was deleted, or just scrap them? Would love to have one in the backyard.
I’m not sure why LL would have bought used M-L equipement from Kimberley since Olympic was the last Murray-Latta at the Lake, mabye, they wanted spares to restore Oly after the economical crisis? As for the chairs, that is a question I cannot answer, My best guess is that the chairs were probably kept by the resort when it stopped operating in 2004 and then scrapped after the removal of the rest of the lift in 2020, If anyone has more info on this, it would be appreciated :)
They wouldn’t have bought anything. Lake Louise and Kimberly were owned by the same company (RCR) until Lake Louise was sold back to Charlie Locke in 2008.
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I’ve never had the privilege of riding a Murray-Latta lift yet. I must say, the tower spacing and cable tension considering this lift is a fixed grip is remarkable. I wonder how much bouncing one experiences on a Murray-Latta lift and how smooth they are.
On another note, isn’t it weird that this lift hasn’t been removed? Still standing, unused, 16 years later?
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I had the experience of riding the Dinosaur at Hyak in the early 1980s before it was shut down. While fairly smooth, not much vibration, it was bouncy. Any start or stop, if you were between towers, you held on tight.
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Same with 4 at Baker.
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The Silver King lift at Whitewater has the same effect, must be scary for a beginner ;)
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I worked on two (3 and 4 at Baker) and grew up riding a third (chair 1 at Hyak). There were definitely some super-bouncy spans on old chair 1; pretty freaky riding it at night. 3 and 4 weren’t as bad, although the span before you went up Gabl’s on 4 could get sporty on a stop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Skied LL today for the first time in about 5 years.
Looks like they’ve finally removed this lift completely- I’ll be going back Sunday and will see if there is anything left on the lift line.
LikeLike
Went there last weekend and they started digging where the top terminal used to be, could be snowmaking pipes repairs, possibly tower foundation for Upper Juniper. Also, why did they stop using it and left it for 16 years, same for Eagle?
LikeLike
From my research into the complex history of Lake Louise, here’s how I understand it:
Olympic originally served, along with the Summit T-Bar as the main top to bottom access. Glacier and Eagle were installed in the mid 70’s to provide a second out of base link (along with the VonRoll Gondola). After the Friendly Giant/Top of the World went in, Olympic became somewhat of a redundant lift. Especially in the years where Glacier Express replaced the old triple, and the Yan quads were retrofitted with new grips.
The thing that really sealed the fate of the Olympic and Eagle chairs was the management. Around 2001/2, RCR (under the leadership of Charlie Locke) went into receivership, and was bailed out by billionaire N. Murray Edwards. Edwards initially focused on cutting costs, including shuttering Wintergreen and Fortress which had both been losing money for years. There were also cuts to Lake Louise during this time, which included shuttering the backside Temple lodge, reductions in grooming around the resort and the retirement of the Friendly Giant, Eagle and Olympic chairs. Edwards did however install a used Gondola in 2004 that indirectly replaced both the Eagle and Friendly Giant in one swoop.
I have no idea why Parks Canada let Olympic and Eagle (and the original VonRoll gondola) sit on the mountain for as long as they did. Both Yan detachables were sold to a company in Iran (along with Silver Star’s 2 quads).
LikeLiked by 1 person
The original gondola (Whitehorn gondola) was built before Olympic along with the two poma lifts. The gondola did not start in the main base, instead starting below, near the Highway, but this pod was abandonned after the removal of the gondola, the liftline is still visible.
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Yes, I know that. Lake Louise was once 2 separate ski areas (Whitehorn and Temple) that were merged in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
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I think Eagle pre-dates the mid 70s. The Eagle terrain pod also had a poma that paralleled the double chair. I believe both those opening around the same time as the gondola in the early 60s. Olympic was long and slow. Once Friendly Giant opened in 1989, few people wanted to ride Olympic.
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You’re right, Eagle was installed in 1971 and Larch was installed in 1972.
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did this have centepole chairs?
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They were bail style carriers (along with Glacier). I know I have better photos somewhere, but here’s one loading the lift.
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Nice picture, I have a picture of the old Ptarmigan M-L double, with bail style carriers, but I don’t know how to post it, can anyone help?
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Ptarmigan was center pole
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My bad, the picture must have been on Olympic.
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It would have had chairs like these ones on the still-functioning blue chair at manning park:
https://liftblog.com/blue-manning-park-bc/
I would love to know where those chairs went. Apparently, the chairs and possibly other equipment from the buckhorn at kimberly found their way to Lake Louise around 2005 when the former was ripped down. Did LL sell their fleet of chairs when olympic was deleted, or just scrap them?
Would love to have one in the backyard.
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I’m not sure why LL would have bought used M-L equipement from Kimberley since Olympic was the last Murray-Latta at the Lake, mabye, they wanted spares to restore Oly after the economical crisis? As for the chairs, that is a question I cannot answer, My best guess is that the chairs were probably kept by the resort when it stopped operating in 2004 and then scrapped after the removal of the rest of the lift in 2020, If anyone has more info on this, it would be appreciated :)
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They wouldn’t have bought anything. Lake Louise and Kimberly were owned by the same company (RCR) until Lake Louise was sold back to Charlie Locke in 2008.
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Lake Louise got back to me and said that the leftover chairs were sold off publicly a few years ago.
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@SKIER72. Nice bit of history, my local ski hill, would like to know more.
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I wonder why they kept some chairs?
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Pipestone effectively replaced Olympic.
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The Juniper combo technicaly replaced Olympic.
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